Daily UPSC Mains Question – July 23/2020

GS – 2

How indigenously developed technology can reach remote Indian villages by bridging the 5G digital divide. Explain in detail.150 Words

In the News:

  • A technical working group of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approved an application for recognition of the 5G Radio Interface Technology (RIT) submitted by Telecom Standards Development Society, India (TSDSI) as a candidate 5G standard, along with the RIT submitted by 3GPP.
  •  TSDSI is an autonomous Indian standards setting body, comprising industry and academia recognised by the DoT.

Digital divide:

  • The highlight is that it improves the network to bridge the digital divide, by providing enhanced performance for ITU’s Low Mobility Large Cell (LMLC) rural use case. This enhanced RIT incorporating patented innovations of Indian researchers is otherwise fully compatible with the 3GPP RIT in every respect.
  • India’s relatively late but vital contribution towards under-served populations has cleared hurdles to acceptance as a global 5G standard.
  • It primarily seeks to bridge the digital divide by enabling affordable 5G broadband through indigenous technology, leveraging India’s rural optical fibre network Bharat Net. This brings 95% of India’s villages into the coverage regions of base stations deployed at gram panchayats (GPs) served by Bharat Net.
  • The LMLC requirement mandated by ITU is only a 3 km coverage radius, insufficient for India’s rural areas and those of many other countries. The higher coverage is achieved with minimal but innovative enhancements to the 3GPP specifications, at negligible additional cost.

Developmental needs:

  • Indigenous technology development in India often encounters scepticism about our technical capacity and lack of global scale and volume. It is a well-formulated and harmonious response to the pressing developmental needs of a very large number of consumers, who unfortunately often escape global attention.
  •  Sooner rather than later, the enhancements proposed in the TSDSI RIT will get folded into the 3GPP RIT (as originally intended by India) and a single global standard will address everyone’s needs, including those on the wrong side of the digital divide.

Why import substitution industrialisation is doomed to flounder and it is not a great idea to resurrect failed policy. Comment 250 Words

In the News:

  • A consensus has emerged that India needs to distance itself from China in its international trade. There are three possible policy driven avenues to this goal: tariffs that apply to imports from China alone; tariffs on all imports of products of which China is the principal current supplier; and more favourable treatment of imports from non-China sources through free trade agreements.

Available options:

  • The first of these options will require invoking the national security clause of WTO rules, which India can justifiably do given the hostilities on the border. But it will most surely invite retaliation by China, which may include restrictions on its exports to India of products that only it can supply or supplies at costs far below those of the next best alternative. The third alternative is non-disruptive and supportive of India’s growth and jobs imperative. If the agreements are forged and strengthened with entities such as the EU, UK, Japan, Australia, Canada and eventually the US, they will complement our strategic relationships.
  • But it is the second option that seems to find the greatest favour in India at present. For it nicely fits into the broader import substitution instincts of many in India, both in the government and outside.
  •  But hard-nosed economic analysis and critical assessment of available evidence reveals it to be the most treacherous route.

Better chances of success:

  • If a country feels compelled to pursue industrial policy, it has far better chances of success if it targets products that are already exported or on the verge of becoming exports. Such a strategy benchmarks domestic firms against the best in the world.
  • Since the luxury of sustained large export subsidies (as opposed to high tariffs under ISI) is not there due to possible retaliation or countervailing duties by importing countries, making a success of such a policy automatically forces the government to address reform of domestic policies.
  •  It feels greater compulsion to remove bottlenecks such as high land and electricity prices, labour market inflexibilities and infrastructure bottlenecks.

Daily UPSC Mains Question – July 22/2020

GS – 2

The burden of a pandemic will have to be borne by governments and pharmaceutical companies alike. Explain in detail.150 Words

In the News:

  • The quest for developing a vaccine and finding a definitive treatment for COVID-19 treatment is reportedly making good progress. However, with the number of infections around the globe having crossed 14.7 million, there is no easy containment of this pandemic.
  •  Clinical trials with re-purposed antiviral and biological have been approved in different geographical settings. These medicines are believed to have some potential in shortening the recovery time in COVID-19 patients. 

Question of affordability:

  • The updated clinical management protocol of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MHFW) lists Remdesivir as a potential medicine for investigational therapy in moderate COVID-19 infections without underlying contra-indications. The protocol does not mention Favipiravir, which nevertheless finds a place in the WHO Clinical Management Protocol.
  •  Itolizumab figures neither in the MHFW nor in the WHO protocol. Affordability of medicines is a matter of particular concern. When companies attempt to recover the fixed costs or sunk costs that went into the investment and development of the medicine, the final price becomes unreasonable.
  •  This is distressing for the patient, especially when the therapeutic results or clinical benefits have not been fully established.

Various laws:

  • Akin to the flexibilities in the TRIPS agreement which helped in making antiretroviral affordable during the AIDS crisis, some countries are resorting to enabling legislation and procedural modifications of existing regulations to address affordability of anti-COVID-19 medicines.
  • Indian patent laws too are armed with sufficient powers to ensure reasonable pricing for pharmaceutical products. India has used compulsory licensing only once in 2012 for Sorafenib. Section 92 of the Act enables grant of compulsory licensing in circumstances of national emergency or extreme urgency. Compulsory licences may not be the solution in all such situations.
  •  Nevertheless, the pricing will have to reflect the magnitude of the crisis and the socioeconomic realities in individual countries.
  • The burden of a global pandemic will have to be borne by governments and pharmaceutical companies alike. Unprecedented public health crises call for situation-specific decisions from pharmaceutical companies and profit maximisation should take a back seat.
  • At least there is a strong case for reconfiguring the pricing strategies of the re-purposed medicines for COVID-19 treatment.

The pandemic and the lock down will have a lasting impact on children and we need to know how to deal with it. Comment 250 Words

In the News:

  • Schooling is more than just learning and writing exams. Children are waiting to run in their school playgrounds, hop onto swings, and high-five their peers. They are never happy about being kept away from school for long.

Many concerns:

  • As we debate when schools should be re-opened in India, it is important to also ask how children and teachers are going to respond to the reopening of schools. The debate on the pros and cons of online education must now shift to how school spaces can be made safer and hygienic to counter community infection.
  •  There are various kinds of schools in India: rural and urban, government and private, single-sex and co-educational, and so on. Within them, there are multiple categories. For example, Navodaya Vidyalayas and Army Schools are very different from schools managed by the State government or municipal corporations in terms of infrastructure and management.
  • One cannot visualise a pan-Indian response of the school system to reopening. Similarly, children’s response will also vary according to their age. A six-month gap for primary school students may be huge to counter, but may be easier to overcome for older children.
  • We must discuss how these months of disruption and the so-called continuity of learning through online education will affect learning, teaching, the environment and culture in schools once they reopen.

Episodic memory:

  • The episodic memory of this pandemic time will affect the learning and memory of children. Tulving’s theory of memory distinguishes semantic memory from episodic memory. Evidence from neuropsychology suggests that these two types of memories don’t operate in isolation but are interdependent.
  •  For example, our ideas of family, society, and the nation as matters of general knowledge are influenced by our experiences of them. This pandemic has its own share of vocabulary which will contribute to a newer language.
  •  We must be prepared to deal with the many challenges that will come with reopening schools. Our lives, brought to an abrupt halt by this pandemic, must not be abruptly started again.
  •  It should be a smooth transition. Otherwise, it won’t just accelerate the spread of the virus but also severely affect our children’s future well-being and learning.

Daily UPSC Mains Question – July 21/2020

GS – 2

Indigo layoffs betoken larger crisis, engulfing even sound firms. Government must step up. Explain in detail.150 Words

In the News:

  • Lockdowns and physical distancing have battered the economy. The damage has been noticeably severe on some businesses such as aviation and hospitality. Over the last few days, two airlines have resorted to shrinking their headcount to cope with the fallout.
  • Market leader Indigo announced that it will lay off 10% of its 27,000 strong workforce. Earlier, Air India said it will implement a leave without pay scheme for a section of its employees that can stretch five years. These are symptoms of a severe underlying crisis.

Revival package:

  • Domestic airlines face the prospect of accumulated losses of a staggering Rs 1.30 lakh crore over the two years to fiscal 2022. A vibrant industry characterised by a competitive low cost model will be history. The knock-on effect will include other industries, such as the struggling hotel segment.
  • The situation for these beleaguered industries hasn’t been made easy by state governments alternating between lockdowns and temporary unlock phases. Steep fall in business shows up in the form of lay-offs. While states must figure out how to fully restore economic activity at the earliest, the government has to revisit its economic revival package.
  • The one announced in May placed banks at the focal point of the revival. Two months after the announcement banks are lukewarm, not surprisingly as they face the prospect of another deluge of bad loans even before they have fully recovered from earlier ones.
  •  Underlying assumptions of the first revival package were misplaced. It’s time for government to come up with another one where it directly does the heavy lifting.

Revive Activity:

  • At this point the overriding priority must be to revive economic growth, because the systemic shock is hurting even sound businesses. If more borrowing is needed to revive activity which could be through more infrastructure spending and tax benefits for the worst affected businesses, it should be done.
  •  RBI is already monetising the deficit through its liquidity operations. If the monetisation already carried out is to make sense, the economy needs to revive. Absent that, macroeconomic and social instability are inevitable.
  • Unless businesses can survive this phase, there will be little interest in government’s plans for structural transformation. There can be no long term without the short term.

Oil economy eroding in Gulf countries, but India can intensify engagement in new sectors. Comment.150 Words

In the News:

  • The successful launch of the UAE’s first mission to Mars – which also marks the first Arab space mission to the red planet – is a significant feat that highlights new ambitions in the Arab Gulf.
  • Christened Al-Amal, or Hope, the spacecraft blasted off from Tanegashima Space Center in Japan and will reach Mars by February next year. The objective of the probe is to build the first full picture of Mars’ climate throughout the Martian year.

Catalyse growth:

  • Besides joining the race to Mars – the US and China too are launching their own Mars missions in the coming weeks to take advantage of a window where Earth and its red neighbour are closest – the UAE wants this mission to catalyse growth in its STEM sector.
  •  That in turn is part of the wider trend in the Arab Gulf to reorient their oil-dependent economies to focus more on areas such as IT, green energy, AI and the fourth industrial revolution.
  • This creates an ocean of opportunities for India-UAE or even India-Gulf Cooperation Council ties. After all, given India’s prowess in IT and commendable proficiency in space technology – India too has gone to Mars with Mangalyaan – there is much that can be shared in terms of knowledge and human resources. Besides, the UAE is already the No 1 host of Indian migrants, with Indian professionals already well-established in tech and education sectors there.
  • This can be enhanced further if Arab Gulf nations are looking to boost STEM-driven industries. Finally, the pitch for tech self-sufficiency among Arab Gulf nations is driven by a desire to outcompete regional rival Iran. With India-Iran relations hitting a rough patch due to geopolitical complications, India-Arab Gulf cooperation can hit a purple patch, compensating for the former.

Daily UPSC Mains Question – July 20/2020

GS – 2

The need of the hour is to implement the existing recommendations for anti-torture law of various commissions. Explain in detail.150 Words

In the News:

  • Torture is not defined in the Indian Penal Code, but the definitions of ‘hurt’ and ‘grievous hurt’ are clearly laid down. Though the definition of ‘hurt’ does not include mental torture, Indian courts have included psychic torture, environmental coercion, tiring interrogative prolixity, and overbearing and intimidatory methods, among others, in the ambit of torture.
  • Voluntarily causing hurt and grievous hurt to extort confession are also provided in the Code with enhanced punishment. Under the Code of Criminal Procedure, a judicial magistrate inquires into every custodial death.

Vague, harsh & retributive:

  • A fresh draft of the Prevention of Torture Bill was released in 2017 for seeking suggestions from various stakeholders. The Bill was not only vague but also very harsh for the police to discharge its responsibilities without fear of prosecution and persecution. It was inconsistent with the existing provisions of law.
  •  It included ‘severe or prolonged pain or suffering’ as a form of torture but that was left undefined. The proposed quantum of punishment was too harsh. Though the 262nd Law Commission Report recommended that the death penalty be abolished except in cases of ‘terrorism-related offences’, the Bill provided for the death penalty for custodial deaths.
  • Overall, the proposed Bill was not a reformative one. It was vague, harsh and retributive in nature. The need of the hour is to strike at the root cause of the problem and implement recommendations of various commissions to bring in necessary reforms.

Those who did not consider an anticipated pandemic as a reason to have a good public health care system were insouciant. Comment.250 Words

In the News:

  • Human beings have two remarkable traits, the second of which we had little reason to suspect that we possessed until the rise of new technologies such as the Internet.
  • The first is the capacity to anticipate events and tendencies, map their future in the short, mid, and long term, and act accordingly. The second is a trait which we do not know we possessed until a few decades ago. It should be ‘cognitive generosity’.

Combination of two traits:

  • Now, if these two traits are combined, the remarkable capacity for decisions and actions on the basis of anticipatory knowledge’s and the disposition to be generous and share the knowledge’s.
  • The striking genomic similarity of the novel corona virus with SARS is now well known and many who had studied SARS had anticipated the inevitability of more contagious pandemics than SARS in the offing and had sounded the alarm for the whole world to know and act upon the knowledge.
  • There is no quick profit in public health issues of this preventive kind. If one tenth of the anticipatory gifts are to be exploited for immediate private gain on the part of corporations and investment bankers were put to use in the preventive domain of public health, not only would the crisis will be swiftly contained, it might even have been pre-empted by suitable medical safeguards.

An arcane distinction:

  • There is a distinction between 1) Effectively controlling the spread of a pandemic is one of the many reasons we would and should consider for proposing a good public health care system, and 2) Were there a good public health care system, it would effectively control the spread of a pandemic.
  • But given the highly detailed warnings that were given by scientists after SARS of its anticipated offshoots that would be both highly contagious and lethal (a combination of properties that was not standard true of the influenzas and other viruses of the last many years) and the urgent need to prepare for it — again with highly detailed suggestions about the development of cluster vaccines, production and distribution of medications, hospital equipment such as respirators, accessories such as masks, etc. — the distinction is academic and arcane.

Daily UPSC Mains Question – July 18/2020

GS – 2

India’s plan for naval coalition building alone will not credibly deter China’s military power in the Indian Ocean. Comment 150 Words

In the News:

Possible conflict point:

  • Beijing has long opposed a coalition of democracies in the Indo-Pacific region. The Chinese leadership sees the maritime Quadrilateral as an Asian-NATO that seeks only to contain China’s rise. India’s intention to involve Australia in the Malabar drill could only be construed as a move directed against Beijing.
  • Following the stand-off in Ladakh, many Indian analysts believe the time is right for India to shed its traditional defensiveness in the maritime domain. The realists advocate an alliance with the U.S., Japan and Australia to counter Chinese moves in the Indian Ocean.
  • If China responded churlishly through aggressive posturing in the Eastern Indian Ocean, it could needlessly open up a new front in the India-China conflict.

The prospect of modest gains:

  • Unlike the U.S. and its Pacific partners, whose principal motivation in forming a maritime coalition is to implement a ‘rules-based order’ in the Indo-Pacific littorals, India’s priority is to acquire strategic capabilities to counter a Chinese naval presence in the Indian Ocean.
  •  While India has acquired airborne surveillance assets from the U.S., the Indian Navy is yet to develop the undersea capability to deter Chinese submarines in the eastern Indian Ocean. With U.S. defence companies hesitant to part with proprietary technology — in particular, vital anti-submarine warfare tech — the pay-off for New Delhi, in exchange for signing up the ‘military-quad’, is modest.
  • Maritime watchers know cooperation with the U.S. and Japan without attendant benefits of strategic technology transfers will not improve the Indian Navy’s deterrence potential in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

Need for careful thought:

  • The sobering reality for New Delhi is that naval coalition building alone will not credibly deter Chinese naval power in the Indian Ocean. Upgrading the trilateral Malabar to a quadrilateral, without acquiring the requisite combat and deterrence capability, could yield gains for India in the short term, but would prove ineffective in the long run.

The UGC’s insistence on conducting final year varsity tests could end up harming the future of students on many counts. Explain 250 Words.

In the News:

  • The University Grants Commission’s insistence on online or pen-paper or a blend of the two modes in conducting examinations, albeit with a much delayed timeline, has been widely criticised. Punjab, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Odisha and Tamil Nadu have already raised objections.
  •  Uttar Pradesh has announced that its universities will hold examinations. Delhi University students have termed the decision arbitrary and discriminatory, and have challenged it in the Delhi High Court.

Ground realities:

  • It is a matter of concern that our education system continues to be examination-centric and these guidelines fail to take into account the fact that the validity of examinations fundamentally depends on their reliability.
  •  Most examinations in India merely test an ability to recall facts or information rather than an understanding of those facts or an ability to use them in practical situations. Most teachers too are not trained in setting good papers particularly for online open-book examinations.
  •  Certification through examination is important but cannot and should not be the sole goal of education. Hundreds of our students every year take unfortunate steps because of examination stress. A one size fits all cannot apply to our universities as we have all kinds of universities, i.e. unitary, affiliating, private and subject specific.

More discrimination possible:

  • In case the infection does not subside (which seems to be the real prospect as per the World Health Organization’s latest communication), it would mean that the UGC either extends the deadline further or universities are forced to conduct online exams.
  •  In the latter case, the UGC would have imposed a patently discriminatory policy on the students — issues with access to the Internet, electricity and study materials, as well as a lack of a study environment in homes would go unaddressed — and it would only manifest the disparity prevalent in the education system.
  •  In the former case, it only furthers the uncertainty, and even if the UGC decides to allow universities not to conduct examinations, this entire exercise would be pointless. 
  • UGC will eventually take the decision that would be equitable, fair, pragmatic and beneficial and not one that is risky and exclusionary of any set of students. Unprecedented times call for bold steps and unprecedented decisions, and the UGC must act accordingly.
  • Let the voices of sanity be taken into account and results be declared taking into account student performance in earlier semesters and internal evaluation of the final semester. Let the mental health of students and their anxieties be taken into account.

Daily UPSC Mains Question – July 19/2020

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Before India joins other democracies, is it necessary to whither democracy in India? Comment 250 Words

In the News:

  • The UK has rejected Huawei as a 5G partner, and says that it is now forging an alliance of ten democracies (D-10) to create alternative suppliers for 5G and other technologies from China. A major role is being envisaged for New Delhi in this venture.

Grand strategies:

  • Countries fixated on “grand strategies”, like the US and Australia, want to use the denial of India’s huge market to strangle the rise of Chinese technology.  In the 1950s and 1960s the UK and US saw us as an answer to Communist China’s growth model.  India never did live up to its role and set off on its own course, throwing off the Anglo-American embrace.
  • “Democracy” in India doesn’t quite mean the same thing it does in London or Washington. It remains a long work in progress. Whether it’s in governance institutions, caste or communal equations or police and legal institutions, large areas of iniquity and inequity remain.
  •  Our variant is an electoral democracy which holds periodic elections and gives us successive governments which haven’t quite yielded economic and social justice, leave alone decent governance. Democracy is working well elsewhere, but our place in the D-10 is really honorary, occasioned by the geopolitical needs of the UK, US and other countries.

Indian Characteristics:

  • Democracy with Indian characteristics comes with a dash of authoritarianism. The numerous people incarcerated on political grounds across the country and charged under the colonial statute of sedition.
  • The biggest blot on the Indian “democratic” system is its police. Instead of insisting on, and advancing, the rule of law, political leaders in the country have given the police a free rein to conduct extra-judicial killings.
  • Political corruption, extra-judicial killings, tax harassment, have  been around for a long time .Upholding political morality and respecting due process are part of the immune system that protects the body politic of a democracy. Wantonly weakening it is to invite disease and destruction.
  • The crisis we face is not going away, notwithstanding the concerted spin. Along with our economy, our democracy is going under. We’re not even flailing our hands to stay afloat.

India must continue to remain politically engaged with Tehran despite its partnership plan with China. Explain 250 Words

In the News:

  • Recent reports that Iran had launched the track laying programme for the 628 km long rail link between Chabahar and Zahidan last week sparked concerns that India was being excluded from the project.
  • This keeps the door open for Ircon International Limited (IRCON) which has been associated with the project even as India continues with the development of Chabahar port.

Why Iran needs China:

  • China had proposed a long-term comprehensive, strategic partnership programme that would involve its investment in Iranian infrastructure and assured supplies of Iranian oil and gas at concessional rates.
  • China patiently permitted a limited barter trade; China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (SINOPEC) prolonged its negotiations on developing the Yadavaran oilfield while China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) pulled out of the South Pars gas project last year, after initially promising to take over the French company Total’s stake.
  • U.S. had announced that it wanted the UN Security Council (UNSC) to continue the ban on Iranian acquisition of conventional weapons. Even though the U.S. unilaterally quit the JCPOA, it is threatening to invoke the automatic snapback of sanctions provisions of JCPOA.
  •  The United Kingdom and France have criticised the U.S.’s duplicity but are unlikely to exercise a veto. At the same time, Iran hopes that there might be a change in the White House that opens options for dialogue. Russia and China are the only countries to veto the U.S.’s moves in the UNSC. 

Advantages and a lesson:

  • Iran may well be considering a long-term partnership with China, but Iranian negotiators are wary of growing Chinese mercantilist tendencies. It is true that China has greater capacity to resist U.S. sanctions compared to India but Iran realises the advantage of working with its only partner that enjoys a sanctions waiver from U.S. for Chabahar since it provides connectivity for land-locked Afghanistan.
  • Nevertheless, India needs to improve its implementation record of infrastructure projects that it has taken up in its neighbourhood.
  • There are numerous tales of Indian cooperation projects in Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, etc suffering delays and cost overruns that only make it easier for China to expand its footprint in India’s neighbourhood. The key is to continue to remain politically engaged with Iran so that there is a better appreciation of each other’s sensitivities and compulsions.

Daily UPSC Mains Question – July 16/2020

GS – 2

Strategic investments by global tech companies are heartening. Regulators must up their game. Explain in detail. 250 Words

In the News:

  • One Indian company stood out during the lockdown and attendant economic gloom. Reliance Industries announced that it has raised a cumulative Rs 2.12 lakh crore through a variety of channels over the last few months. Of particular interest is the strategic partnership with global technology giants Google and Facebook, backed by their investment in its technology arm Jio Platforms.

Salient feature:

  • The salient feature here is that it highlights the potential of the Indian market for global technology giants and the talent pool it offers which can be tapped for designing products that could potentially be exported too.
  • In this context, Reliance also announced that it has developed a complete 5G solution from scratch. The unusual development of two technology giants partnering the same Indian company gives us a pointer where we are headed. Bundling by large technology platforms introduces a level of efficiency in service provision that was unavailable earlier.
  •  Simultaneously, it introduces a regulatory challenge that is altogether new. For example, even as bundling brings in efficiency, regulators the world over grapple with the challenge of gauging when it begins to thwart competition.
  •  Disruption in technology emerges in niche areas. Bundling may disadvantage a stand-alone product and take us down the road to monopoly. India’s policy makers have to figure out how to keep competition bubbling without undermining natural market evolution.

Encourage start-ups:

  • In this context a recent report by a government appointed committee, headed by former Infosys chief S Gopalakrishnan, is instructive. Data is at the heart of technology businesses.
  • As the committee pointed out, there’s a strong case to ensure anonymised non-personal data remains openly accessible to encourage start-ups. It makes the case for a non-personal data regulator to keep markets competitive.
  •  At the same time, the government needs to get cracking on an improved version of the personal data protection bill, which will uphold the Supreme Court judgment that privacy is a fundamental right in letter as well as in spirit.

Sharp falls in working age population will require many countries to pursue liberal immigration policies. Comment 150 Words

In the News:

  • A new study in Lancet projecting India’s population peaking much earlier than expected, at 1.6 billion in 2048 before declining to 1.09 billion in 2100, points to a narrowing window for demographic dividend.
  •  Similar trends of population decline have been forecast for much of the world, except sub-Saharan Africa.

Demographic trends:

  • The implications of these demographic trends are far reaching. Sharp falls in working age population will require many countries to pursue liberal immigration policies or alternatively improve workforce participation rate among women and elderly. Labour productivity improvements demand increased investments in education and healthcare. Countries unable to stabilise their working age population are priming themselves for economic stagnation.
  •  The biggest challenge will be to sustain large public social security nets without overburdening a smaller workforce with higher taxes.

Economic slowdown:

  • For India, struggling with a sustained economic slowdown that has killed jobs, pushing the long awaited second generation of economic reforms cannot wait longer. Powered by a young workforce, India must utilise the narrowing window to lay a strong economic foundation and robust infrastructure built to last a 100 years or so.
  •  India’s inability to invest in human capital for the masses will hurt as developments in AI, robotics and telecom change the nature of skilled and unskilled labour. Social and economic policies can no longer afford to exclude women. Both female
  • workforce participation rate and female sex ratio at birth have slipped this decade. Focus on jobs, schools, hospitals and environment. Everything else in Indian politics is noise. Cultural identity wars are oversold, and counterproductive.

Daily UPSC Mains Question – July 17/2020

GS – 2

China’s moves are spurring support for coordination between other Indo-pacific partners with their desire for US leadership. Comment 250 Words

In the News:

  • India’s deadly encounter with China in the Galwan Valley is not an outlier in Beijing’s recent behaviour in Asia. China’s coronavirus “mask diplomacy” has given way to tense geopolitical confrontations with a growing array of its neighbours, from stand-offs with Vietnam and Malaysia in the South China Sea to threatening Australia with boycotts of wine, beef, barley, and Chinese students.

Catalyst for change:

  • Beijing’s blatant aggressiveness is accelerating long-standing debates about the underlying costs of reliance on China and spurring support for closer coordination between other Indo-Pacific partners.
  •  The Quadrilateral Dialogue between Australia, India, Japan, and the United States is growing stronger and even expanding. And recently as well, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers issued one of their strongest statements to date on the South China Sea, insisting that maritime disputes must be resolved in accordance with the UN Law of the Sea treaty.

America and geopolitics:

  • If crises and wars tend to be the crucibles in which new orders and institutions are forged, the COVID-19 crisis is likely to be no exception — it may be remaking the geopolitics of the Indo-Pacific.
  • The ongoing crisis seems to have imbued countries in the region with a new seriousness of purpose about the risks of a slow slide toward Chinese hegemony. At the same time, the crisis is also raising renewed questions about the durability of American leadership. U.S. policy needs to start supporting, rather than attempting to commandeer, regional efforts to build a less China-centric future for the Indo-Pacific.

US versus China:

  • Across the Indo-Pacific, the desire for U.S. leadership remains strong, with the U.S. still viewed more favourably than China. Similarly, the U.S. public continues to express widespread support for America’s alliances and partnerships.
  • Facing the unprecedented health and economic crises spawned by COVID-19, the U.S. and Asian partners will need to coordinate more closely than ever. They have a unique chance to build more equal and capable regional partnerships and institutions in the long recovery ahead.
  • For American and Asian leaders, the choice is stark: encourage and foster this trend, recognising that stronger regional coordination will require more compromises as well as tougher choices, or resist it and risk being left behind.

Groups labelled Covid-19 super spreaders represent some of the most vulnerable categories in Indian society. Explain in detail.250 Words

In the News:

  • The term super spreader means an individual who transmits infection to many others than is typical. It emerged in the context of the research on transmission of a wide range of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, Ebola, and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which shows that 80% of the infections in a population are transmitted by only 20% of those infected — the so-called 20/80 rule.

Challenge of containment:

  • Why some individuals tend to be super spreaders is a question epidemiologists continue to grapple with, more so in the context of COVID-19, the science around which continues to evolve.
  •  Initial evidence indicates that factors such as the mode of transmission through finer aerosols that can be suspended in the air for long, an individual’s ability to shed higher loads of virus than is typical of others and the presence of an infected individual in indoor, closed spaces could make such persons super spreaders.
  •  A particularly challenging aspect of this pandemic has been the large proportion of asymptomatic infected patients who can shed high virus loads before experiencing symptoms and can spread infection to many contacts without their knowledge. Because of this complexity, practices such as universal masking, social distancing, and hand hygiene have become key to containing the pandemic.

The fallout:

  • Research documents a range of negative consequences (direct and indirect) associated with negative stereotyping, such as discrimination and hostility, negative attitudes, and a lingering effect of lack of self-control and aggression.
  • The groups labelled super spreaders represent some of the most vulnerable groups in Indian society.
  • Vegetable vendors and others that supply essential services during this crisis are not only more vulnerable for infection because of the nature of their profession but are also more likely to face adverse outcomes, if infected, because of their marginality.
  •  These groups are less likely to have access to good health care, more vulnerable to economic shocks caused by the illness, and little voice in the political process to defend their rights.

Government support is key:

  • The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had urged the citizens to “not label any community or area for the spread of COVID-19”. State and local governments are undertaking testing drives to identify the infected among these groups.
  • But by simply excluding them from their livelihoods, if found positive, and providing them no other form of support, they are failing to protect them from the consequences of negative stereotyping and marginality.
  •  Beyond exhortations and free testing, the governments should develop a supportive infrastructure for these groups. For example, the governments could provide them cost-free masks and sanitiser’s and supports the families of infected individuals.
  • Public officials and the media could also refrain from the indiscriminate use of the term super spreaders, when referring to these groups, to avoid the resultant negative stereotyping and its adverse effects on these groups.

World Snake Day – July 16

Context:

  • World Snake Day is an important day when it comes to increasing awareness about the different species of snake all around the world. Snakes tend to have a negative connotation.          

About the day:

  • This holiday is celebrated both virtually and physically, bringing together snake-lovers to rejoice in their common wonder at the marvels of nature’s creation.
  •  In 1967 a Snake Farm was started in Texas, which was subsequently brought into popular culture in the 1970’s through a song by the famous rock band the Ramones.
  •  Since then, its tourist appeal has only grown, and it has become an irresistible stop for many travelers on road-trips in the area. July 16th is, naturally, the busiest day of their year, and brings World Snake Day to the attention of many who would otherwise remain ignorant of it.
  • Small NGOs capitalize on the day to conduct awareness programs about snakes for the general public.

About snake:

  • The snake is one of the oldest mythological characters and has been revered by civilizations the world over. There are about 3,458 species of snakes known so far, ranging from the semi-frozen tundra of northern Canada to the steamy jungles of the equator and most of the world’s oceans.
  • Snakes are highly effective predators and play a vital role in maintaining the balance of nature in each of these realms. Snakes are also fascinating in that they have a prehistoric lineage, thus giving us a glimpse back to a prehistoric time when the earth was ruled by reptiles—many people have no idea that modern reptiles are literally the living, breathing cousins of dinosaurs.
  • Snakes are found in every continent except Antarctica in the sea, forests, deserts, prairies.
  • Snakes consume many different animals including insect’s small rodents and frogs. Snakes eat their prey whole because their lower jaw can separate from the upper jaw. Very large snakes can even eat small deer, pigs, monkeys, and even primates.                                                   
  • Snakes uses a variety of techniques defend themselves, including camouflage, biting and envenoming those they feel are threatening them. Sometimes they simply curl up in a tight ball to hopefully avoid being seen.

Daily UPSC Mains Question – July 15/2020

GS – 2

Information overload about the corona virus pandemic can add to the dangers posed by the pathogen. Explain. 150 Words

In the News:

  • In the late 1970s, media invented the term ‘compassion fatigue’.
  • There were so many public demands being made for charitable donations for victims the world over of man-made crises, like wars, and natural calamities, like floods or famines, that people began to feel an exhaustion of empathy: They just shut their minds and hearts to the sufferings of others. All the media, both mainstream and social, are full of facts and figures regarding Covid-19, to the almost total exclusion of anything else.

Information overload:

  • The advertising industry often uses the term ‘information overload’. Any ad, in the press or other media, has an optimum retention value. People will remember, and relate to, the product being advertised given a certain, variable number of exposures.
  •  Over-exposure of any product through excessive publicity can cause people to mentally block out the message sought to be delivered. Like compassion fatigue, information overload follows the law of diminishing returns.
  • While the clear and present danger of the corona virus and the threat it poses to all of us is only too real and needs to be stressed, at the same time there is the possibility that, bombarded by a set of dos and don’ts about the pathogen, our numbed senses become inured to the warnings.

Way forward:

  • The more we are urged to exercise caution against the corona virus, the less heed many of us will pay to such vital advice, what with the pent-up restlessness generated by the restrictions of protracted lockdowns.
  • The mantra to help us to remember not to cut corners in precautions like hand hygiene and mask-wearing might be to mentally substitute Covid with Co-avoid.

India’s loss in failing to develop the Chabahar port project in Iran might be China’s again. Explain 250 Words

In the News:

  • Right from the beginning of its tenure, the government has underlined the geostrategic importance it attaches to the Chabahar port project. The project, signed in 2003, has been a symbol of traditionally important India-Iran ties.

Fulcrum of India’s outreach:

  • Connected by sea lanes to ports on India’s west coast, Chabahar would form the fulcrum of India’s outreach to Russia and Central Asia, enhancing connectivity, energy supplies and trade. Given that Pakistan had blocked Indian aid to Afghanistan and all trade over land, Chabahar provided India an alternative to permanently bypass its troublesome neighbour.
  • As a result, the government fast-tracked plans for the project, and in 2016,  a trilateral trade and transit agreement was signed.
  • According to the MoUs, India would be granted a 10-year lease to develop and operate two terminals and five berths, access to the Chabahar free trade zone, and the opportunity to build the 628 km rail line from Chabahar to Zahedan, just across the border from Afghanistan.
  • The government acted quickly to develop Chabahar port facilities, sent exports to Afghanistan in 2018, and has moved over half-a-million tonnes of cargo, including grains and food supplies, for Afghanistan again, through the port.
  • However, the rail line has never taken off for a number of reasons despite a commitment from state-owned IRCON, to undertake its construction at an estimated $1.6 billion.
  • While contract changes by the Iranian side and delayed responses from the Indian side were part of the problem, the main hurdle has been the fear of American penalties. 

Strategic autonomy:

  • Regardless of the reasons for India’s inability to join the railway project, the decision can only be seen as an opportunity lost. The impression that India wavered due to U.S. pressure, especially after India cancelled oil imports from Iran, also questions New Delhi’s commitment to strategic autonomy.
  • While Iran claims it will fund the railway using its own resources, it seems to have embarked on the Chabahar-Zahedan project with a confidence borne from an imminent deal with China for a 25-year, $400 billion strategic partnership on infrastructure, connectivity and energy projects. In a world where connectivity is seen as the new currency, India’s loss could well become China’s gain.
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