“Wattan Ko Jano”
This is initiative being carried out by the Ministry of Home Affairs in coordination with the State Government.It sponsors youths from different regions to visit across India with the theme of “Know your Country”.
Recently many youths from Jammu and Kashmir are visiting across India as part of this scheme , they are in the in the age-group of 15 to 24 and are mostly from militancy-affected families, orphanages, and weaker sections of society.
Radicalization happens because of misinformation and wrong perception.By this initiative one gets to know the country and it can be counted as a counter-radicalization strategy.
Stand Up India
“Stand Up India Scheme” to promote entrepreneurship among SC/ST and Women entrepreneurs.
- Provides for refinance window through Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI)
- Creation of a credit guarantee mechanism through the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company
- Focus is on handholding support for both SC/ST and Women borrowers
Government decides to directly shift from BS-IV to BS-VI Emission norms
Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has decided to leapfrog from BS-IV to BS-VI emission norms directly by 01.04.2020
What are BS norms?
Bharat Stage emission standards, introduced in 2000, are emission standards that have been set up the Central government to regulate the output of air pollutants from internal combustion engine equipment, including motor vehicles. The different norms are brought into force in accordance with the timeline and standards set up by the Central Pollution Control Board which comes under the Ministry of Environment and Forests and Climate Change.
The Bharat Stage norms are based on European regulations. In 13 major cities, Bharat Stage IV emission standards were put in place in April 2010. BS-IV norms were supposed to come into effect nationwide from April 2017.
Why the industry is resisting:–
There are two major industries which now face problems: first is the oil refineries that will need a substantial investment to upgrade. These upgrades will allow the refineries to supply fuel types that can match the BS-V and BS-VI standards
Second, the automobile manufacturers also need to progress gradually and skipping a step like BS-V might put extra pressure on the manufacturers to produce compliant vehicles.
River Information System of India
Background:- Recently Union Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways inaugurated the River Information System (RIS) System.
The first of its kind in India, the new system will facilitate safe and accurate navigation on National Waterway – 1 on the Ganges River. RIS is being implemented under the overall responsibility of Inland Waterway Authority of India, a statutory body administered by the Ministry of Shipping.
River Information Services (RIS) are combination of modern tracking equipment related hardware and software designed to optimize traffic and transport processes in inland navigation. The system enhances swift electronic data transfer between mobile vessels and shore (Base stations) through advance and real-time exchange of information. RIS aims to streamline the exchange of information between waterway operators and users. This would facilitate:-
• Enhancement of inland navigation safety in ports and rivers.
• Better use of the inland waterways
• Environmental protection
RIS enables achievement of safe and efficient inland water transport by avoiding the following risks:-
i) Ship- to – Ship collisions
ii) Ship – Bridge collisions
iii) Groundings
Ganga Gram Yojana
Background -The central government recently launched Ganga Gram Yojana at a village in Uttar Pradesh.
- 200 villages are selected for this scheme.The aim is to divert and create alternative drainage and sewage treatment on these river bank villages so as to keep Ganga clean.
Free Basics
Background – The Free basic ( name change from internet.org) is an initiative by Facebook and collaborating Internet service provider (ISP) to allow certain sites/application browsing charges to be made free.Though there exists a multitude of articles, debates and analysis , the issues as the name goes is pretty “Basic”
Is there anything basic about free basic:-
The simplest answer would be NO.However Facebook puts up a very compelling argument saying that ” Internet is basic ” and almost all its statements germinate from the idea of “Right to internet”
Indeed, Internet seems pretty basic in this world which one should have access to.However the collaborating ISPs , especially in India are known to charge exorbitant prices and the bad network coverage/call drops are well known. One would be surprised if a comparison of data charges made between India and developed countries. Instead of creating a better infrastructure and working towards making data affordable , Facebook and ISPs are trying to provide Freebies , which of course is discriminatory.
One would not be supersized if Facebook puts the argument of “Positive discrimination ” (as in case of our constitution). Anyway , Internet is not basic as we think , at least in a country where millions don’t have access to the real basics – Food, Cloth and Housing.
And , given that India’s potential large user base , it is indeed fascinating for Facebook to come up with this idea.Internet is what it is becasue there exists no discrimination in accessing the Internet space, and it would not remain same if Free Basic goes ahead.
The real need of the hour is to make internet – affordable, available and accessible from any region at anytime.Freebies of this nature can do no good as long as India is concerned.
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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.