1)Networking the Networks:-
- The Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley will inaugurate the three day International Conference on ‘Networking the Networks’ in the national Capital.
- This Conference is relevant in the context that South Asia region is vulnerable to the illicit financial flows from drugs, human trafficking, tax fraud etc. Informal money transfer systems are also popular in the world and can be easily misused by the criminal networks for the transfer of crime proceeds, as well as for terrorism financing.
- One of the ways to effectively combat the criminal networks is to disrupt their financial flows. But the criminal networks are of transnational nature and money movements are executed very fast. So to combat these criminal networks and their illicit financial flows, law enforcement agencies need fast operational cooperation with their foreign partners, and capacities to deal with the financial crimes.
- There are different regional organizations for law enforcement cooperation – e.g. Central Asian Regional Information and Coordination Center (CARICC), Southeast European Law Enforcement Center (SELEC) etc. But their capacities are not fully utilized for tracing of illicit financial flows and for the law enforcement – financial intelligence cooperation.
- Participants will also produce recommendations on best practices and solutions which can be applied to the nascent South Asia Regional Information and Coordination Center (SARICC)
- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime also participates in this conference.
2) National Clean Development Mechanism Authority (NCDMA):-
- A new website – http://www.ncdmaindia.gov.in has been launched by the National Clean Development Mechanism Authority (NCDMA) in the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change
- It will capture the entire life cycle of CDM( Clean Development Mechanism) Projects.
3)Biodiversity International:-
- Bioversity International is a global research-for-development organization with a vision – that agricultural biodiversity nourishes people and sustains the planet.
- The organization delivers scientific evidence, management practices and policy options to use and safeguard agricultural biodiversity to attain global food and nutrition security, working with partners in low-income countries in different regions where agricultural biodiversity can contribute to improved nutrition, resilience, productivity and climate change adaptation.
- Why agricultural biodiversity matters:-
- It is the source of genetic material that is vital to future generations.
- Agricultural biodiversity can provide a cost-effective way for farmers to manage pests and diseases
- For example – In the Central Highlands of Vakinankaratra, Madagascar, growing fodder radish next to rice acts as a natural barrier that significantly reduces the rice damage caused by the larvae and adults of black Dynastid beetles
- In Uganda, pest and disease damage was substantially reduced when farmers grew different varieties of common bean with different resistance together. Growing a combination of varieties together also makes farming systems more resilient to new pests and diseases
- Agricultural biodiversity gives farmers options to manage climate risks
- Agricultural biodiversity can contribute to health and nutrition
- We know of 7000 plant species in the world that are edible, but over 50% of our plant-derived calories come from only 3 species: rice, wheat and maize (FAO, 1997).
A diverse diet is the basis of food pyramids and nutrition guidelines around the world. A healthy diet includes multiple food groups, made of diverse foods. The heavy reliance on a narrow diversity of food crops puts future food and nutrition security at risk. Nutrient content varies among species and among varieties within a species. - For example:
Minor millets have protein levels close to that of wheat and are rich in B vitamins, calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium and zinc. Yet they account for less than 1% of the food grains produced in the world (FAO, 1995). Millets are resilient plants that require little water and are mostly grown in marginal areas where major cereals would fail.
- We know of 7000 plant species in the world that are edible, but over 50% of our plant-derived calories come from only 3 species: rice, wheat and maize (FAO, 1997).
- Agricultural biodiversity can play a role in sustaining soil health, food and habitat for important pollinators and natural pest predators that are vital to agricultural production
- Traditional knowledge and culture is often based on local species diversity a
- for example -In the Indian state of Maharashtra alone, around 1,600 flowering plants are used in traditional medicine, many of which are threatened with extinction. Much of this diversity is preserved in ‘sacred groves’ and women are often the ones who retain knowledge of their uses.
- The Challenge ahead :-
- In order to feed the projected population of 9 billion people by 2050, how can food production be sustainably expanded by 60% globally and up to 100% in developing countries?This is the global challenge ahead of us.
- Solution:-
- Ecological intensification and diversification – This area of work focuses on how agricultural and tree biodiversity improves resilience at the field and landscape level.
- Landscape restoration and management :-Working with communities, this research focuses on biophysical, social and institutional mechanisms that influence the flow and delivery of ecosystem services.
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Steve Ovett, the famous British middle-distance athlete, won the 800-metres gold medal at the Moscow Olympics of 1980. Just a few days later, he was about to win a 5,000-metres race at London’s Crystal Palace. Known for his burst of acceleration on the home stretch, he had supreme confidence in his ability to out-sprint rivals. With the final 100 metres remaining,
[wptelegram-join-channel link=”https://t.me/s/upsctree” text=”Join @upsctree on Telegram”]Ovett waved to the crowd and raised a hand in triumph. But he had celebrated a bit too early. At the finishing line, Ireland’s John Treacy edged past Ovett. For those few moments, Ovett had lost his sense of reality and ignored the possibility of a negative event.
This analogy works well for the India story and our policy failures , including during the ongoing covid pandemic. While we have never been as well prepared or had significant successes in terms of growth stability as Ovett did in his illustrious running career, we tend to celebrate too early. Indeed, we have done so many times before.
It is as if we’re convinced that India is destined for greater heights, come what may, and so we never run through the finish line. Do we and our policymakers suffer from a collective optimism bias, which, as the Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman once wrote, “may well be the most significant of the cognitive biases”? The optimism bias arises from mistaken beliefs which form expectations that are better than the reality. It makes us underestimate chances of a negative outcome and ignore warnings repeatedly.
The Indian economy had a dream run for five years from 2003-04 to 2007-08, with an average annual growth rate of around 9%. Many believed that India was on its way to clocking consistent double-digit growth and comparisons with China were rife. It was conveniently overlooked that this output expansion had come mainly came from a few sectors: automobiles, telecom and business services.
Indians were made to believe that we could sprint without high-quality education, healthcare, infrastructure or banking sectors, which form the backbone of any stable economy. The plan was to build them as we went along, but then in the euphoria of short-term success, it got lost.
India’s exports of goods grew from $20 billion in 1990-91 to over $310 billion in 2019-20. Looking at these absolute figures it would seem as if India has arrived on the world stage. However, India’s share of global trade has moved up only marginally. Even now, the country accounts for less than 2% of the world’s goods exports.
More importantly, hidden behind this performance was the role played by one sector that should have never made it to India’s list of exports—refined petroleum. The share of refined petroleum exports in India’s goods exports increased from 1.4% in 1996-97 to over 18% in 2011-12.
An import-intensive sector with low labour intensity, exports of refined petroleum zoomed because of the then policy regime of a retail price ceiling on petroleum products in the domestic market. While we have done well in the export of services, our share is still less than 4% of world exports.
India seemed to emerge from the 2008 global financial crisis relatively unscathed. But, a temporary demand push had played a role in the revival—the incomes of many households, both rural and urban, had shot up. Fiscal stimulus to the rural economy and implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission scales had led to the salaries of around 20% of organized-sector employees jumping up. We celebrated, but once again, neither did we resolve the crisis brewing elsewhere in India’s banking sector, nor did we improve our capacity for healthcare or quality education.
Employment saw little economy-wide growth in our boom years. Manufacturing jobs, if anything, shrank. But we continued to celebrate. Youth flocked to low-productivity service-sector jobs, such as those in hotels and restaurants, security and other services. The dependence on such jobs on one hand and high-skilled services on the other was bound to make Indian society more unequal.
And then, there is agriculture, an elephant in the room. If and when farm-sector reforms get implemented, celebrations would once again be premature. The vast majority of India’s farmers have small plots of land, and though these farms are at least as productive as larger ones, net absolute incomes from small plots can only be meagre.
A further rise in farm productivity and consequent increase in supply, if not matched by a demand rise, especially with access to export markets, would result in downward pressure on market prices for farm produce and a further decline in the net incomes of small farmers.
We should learn from what John Treacy did right. He didn’t give up, and pushed for the finish line like it was his only chance at winning. Treacy had years of long-distance practice. The same goes for our economy. A long grind is required to build up its base before we can win and celebrate. And Ovett did not blame anyone for his loss. We play the blame game. Everyone else, right from China and the US to ‘greedy corporates’, seems to be responsible for our failures.
We have lowered absolute poverty levels and had technology-based successes like Aadhaar and digital access to public services. But there are no short cuts to good quality and adequate healthcare and education services. We must remain optimistic but stay firmly away from the optimism bias.
In the end, it is not about how we start, but how we finish. The disastrous second wave of covid and our inability to manage it is a ghastly reminder of this fact.