UPSC/STATE PSC
Curated by Experts For Civil Service Aspirants
The Hindu & Indian Express
News 1: India eyes IMF support ahead of G20 chair
Background:
- India will soon be taking over the G20 chair in December where the agendas such as debates and climate change will be discussed while India will take up some of the issues.
About IMF:
- The International Monetary Fund (IMF), a Bretton Woods institution, works to achieve sustainable growth and prosperity for all of its 190 member countries.
- It does so by supporting economic policies that promote financial stability and monetary cooperation, which are essential to increase productivity, job creation, and economic well-being.
Primary functions of IMF
- Facilitate international monetary cooperation
- To promote exchange rate stability and orderly exchange arrangements
- To assist in the establishment of multilateral payment systems and elimination of foreign exchange restrictions.
- Providing assistance to member countries by providing short term capital to correct maladjustment in Balance of Payments.
- Encourages the expansion of trade and economic growth
Reports published by IMF: World economic outlook, Global Financial Stability Report, Fiscal Monitor, Regional Economic Outlook
About G20:
- It is an intergovernmental forum of 19 countries and the European Union.
- It works to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stability, climate change mitigation, and sustainable development.
- Together, the G20 members represent more than 80 percent of world GDP, 75 percent of international trade and 60 percent of the world population.
Members: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union. Spain is also invited as a permanent guest.
News 2: CBDC to reduce, cost in cross-border business: RBI’s Sankar
Background:
- RBI Bank Deputy Governor R. Rabi Sankar expressed that CBDC (Central bank digital currency), which is to be introduced this year, could become a tool for reducing time and cost for cross-border transactions.
- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Budget 2022-23 announced to roll out CBDC, which is digital equivalent of a rupee, on a pilot basis this fiscal year.
About CBDC:
- A CBDC is the legal tender issued by a central bank in a digital form. It is the same as a fiat currency and is exchangeable one-to-one with the fiat currency. Only its form is different.
- It is sovereign currency in an electronic form, and it would appear as liability (currency in circulation) on a central bank’s balance sheet. CBDCs should be exchangeable at par with cash.
Benefits:
- Internationalization of CBDC is crucial to addressing the payments issue that bodies like G-20 and Bank for International Settlements (BIS) are dealing with now.
- CBDC of two countries can settle transactions without a waiting time and this reduces risk and cost of cross border transactions and ultimately leads to globalization of payment systems.
- India’s high currency to GDP ratio holds out another benefit of CBDCs. As large cash usage which involves the cost of printing, transporting, storing and distributing currency can be reduced by CBDCs.
- Central banks seek to meet the public’s need for digital currencies, manifested in the increasing use of private virtual currencies, and thereby avoid the more damaging consequences of such private currencies.
Associated challenges of adopting CBDCs:
- CBDCs, depending on the extent of its use, can cause a reduction in the transaction demand for bank deposits. This might lead to shifting away from bank deposits, which in turn might reduce the need for government guarantees on deposits.
- If banks begin to lose deposits over time, their ability for credit creation gets constrained. Since central banks cannot provide credit to the private sector, the impact on the role of bank credit needs to be well understood.
- Availability of CBDC makes it easy for depositors to withdraw balances if there is stress on any bank. So, bank runs may be easier now.
News 3 – Xi, Putin to hold talks in Uzbekistan
Background:
China’s President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold talks next week on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Uzbekistan, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also attend.
About SCO:
- SCO is a permanent intergovernmental international organization, established in 2001, and aims to maintain peace, security and stability in the region.
- Prior to creation of SCO in 2001, Shanghai Five was there which included the members China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan
- Headquarter: Beijing
- Members: China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India, Pakistan. India and Pakistan became members in 2017. In September 2021, it was announced Iran will become a full-time member.
- Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure – Shanghai Cooperation Organization (RATS-SCO): RATS is a permanent body of the SCO and is intended to facilitate coordination and interaction between the SCO member states in the fight against terrorism, extremism and separatism.
News 4: Ukraine backs UN peace force at nuclear plant
Background:
- Ukraine would support the deployment of UN peacekeepers at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia plant, a day after the UN atomic watchdog called for a security zone around the site.
Details:
- IAEA called for a demilitarised security zone to be established at the plant in southern Ukraine, which the Russians took over in March. There has been repeated shelling around the site, sparking fears of a nuclear disaster.
About Zaporizhzhia plant:
- It is Europe’s largest nuclear power plant and is included in top 10 nuclear power plants by capacity.
- It was built by the Soviet Union near the city of Enerhodar, on the southern shore of the Kakhovka Reservoir on the Dnieper river.
About IAEA:
- The IAEA was established as an autonomous organization on 29 July 1957. Though established independently of the United Nations through its own international treaty (the IAEA Statute), the IAEA reports to both the General Assembly and the Security Council of the UN.
- IAEA serves as an intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical co-operation on the peaceful use of nuclear technology and nuclear power worldwide
- Head Quarter- Vienna, Austria
- India is a member. Almost all except few countries like North-Korea are not its members.
News 5: Army takes major infra drive along LAC in Arunachal
Background:
- After significantly upgrading firepower and infrastructure along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh, the Army is on a major drive for capability and infrastructure development in the rest of Arunachal Pradesh.
Details of infrastructure development:
- This includes road, bridges, tunnels, habitat and storage facilities, aviation facilities and upgrade of communications and surveillance, especially in the Upper Dibang Valley region, according to multiple Army officials.
- A capability development matrix was being employed and road development, construction of habitat and aviation facilities are under way.
- India has two road axis in the forested area in Lohit and Siang; now, efforts were underway to improve infrastructure across the board.
About Border Roads Organization:
- BRO was conceived and raised in 1960 for coordinating the speedy development of a network of roads in the North and the Northeastern border regions of the country.
- To support the armed forces, meet their strategic needs by committed, dedicated and cost-effective development and sustenance of the infrastructure.
- It works under the administrative control of the Ministry of Defence.
News 6: Breather for coal plants draws anguish
Background:
- The Union Environment Ministry has for the third time extended the deadline by which coal plants must install pollution-control technologies to reduce emissions, drawing criticism from environment and clean-energy activists.
Details of the extended norms:
- The Ministry first specified emission norms for the control of sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and mercury (Hg) from coal-fired power plants in December 2015.
- According to the latest notification, power plants within a 10-km radius of the NCR and in the vicinity of cities with a population of more than one million have until December 31, 2024, to meet the deadline.
- For power plants within a 10-km radius of “critically polluted” areas (as designated by the Environment Ministry), the deadline has been extended to December 31, 2025. Finally, for all other power plants across the country, the deadline stands at December 31, 2026.
Problems associated with extended deadline for compliance:
- Sunil Dahiya, analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, has expressed that the basic science and chemistry of SO2’s role behind building up PM2.5 concentrations through sulphate formation is being ignored.
- Nivit Yadav of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), said, “Our analysis shows that till date, only 4% of India’s coal power capacity has installed equipment to control SO2 emissions and another 41% has identified the vendors for equipment. The remaining 55% of the capacity has not taken any concrete steps to meet the norms.”
News 7: WHO to stress prevention of non-communicable diseases
Background:
- The member countries of the World Health Organization (WHO) South-East Asia Region on Wednesday resolved to accelerate progress for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases, including oral and eye afflictions.
Non-communicable diseases:
- As per WHO, Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), also known as chronic diseases, tend to be of long duration and are the result of a combination of genetic, physiological, environmental and behavioral factors.
- Non-communicable diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic respiratory disease and diabetes, account for almost two-thirds of all deaths in the region.
- Nearly half these deaths occur prematurely between the ages of 30 and 69 in 2021.
Socio-economic impact of NCDs:
- NCDs threaten progress towards achieving the target of reducing premature deaths from NCDs by one-third by 2030, which is one of the goals of Sustainable Development Goals.
- The rapid rise in NCDs is predicted to impede poverty reduction initiatives in low-income countries, particularly by increasing household costs associated with health care.Vulnerable and socially disadvantaged people get sicker and die soon. As they are exposed to harmful products, such as tobacco, or unhealthy dietary practices, and have limited access to health services.
- Due to low resources, NCDs rapidly drain household resources and increase out of pocket expenditure burden and push few of these people to poverty and this again hampers development of both country and the person.
About WHO:
- WHO is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health.
- The WHO Constitution states its main objective as “the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health”.
- Headquarter – Geneva, Switzerland.
News 8: BRO to maintain paths to Amarnath temple
Background:
- The J&K administration has handed over the twin routes to the Amarnath cave temple in the highly ecologically sensitive locations in south and central Kashmir to the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) for maintenance.
About Amarnath temple:
- Amarnath Temple is located in the Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir.
- Amarnath cave is the abode of Mahamaya Shakti Peetha, which is one of the 51 peethas present in India.
- The cave is an ice cave, it contains a certain amount of ice stalagmites.
- The surrounding basins of the temples are feeding glaciers for many streams, including the famous Lidder stream in Pahalgam. Both Pahalgam in south Kashmir and Sonamarg in central Kashmir are used as base camps and are covered by dense forests.
News 9: Cabinet approves PM SHRI scheme
Background:
- The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the ‘PM Schools for Rising India’ (PM SHRI) scheme to turn existing government schools into model schools for implementation of the National Education Policy, 2022.
About PM SHRI (PM Schools for Rising India) scheme:
- Type: Centrally sponsored scheme
- Outlay: Total project cost of ₹27,360 crore, with the Centre’s share being ₹18,128 crore
- Time: For a period of five years from 2022-23 to 2026-27
- Targets: Transforming nearly 14,500 schools across the country.
- Requirements: Schools will be selected only if the State government agrees to implement the NEP entirely and aligned with quality standards laid down by the Centre and schools will be monitored regularly.
- These schools will be equipped with modern infrastructure including labs, smart classrooms, libraries, sports equipment, art room etc. which is inclusive and accessible.
- These schools shall also be developed as green schools with water conservation, waste recycling, energy-efficient infrastructure and integration of organic lifestyle in curriculum.
News 10: Positive secularism is allowed: student to SC in case
Background:
- India believes in ‘positive secularism’ based on tolerance of all religious faiths and not ‘negative secularism’ followed in countries like France which holds that display of religion in public is offensive, Aishat Shifa, a student from Karnataka who has challenged the ban on wearing hijab to school, told the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Secularism:
- Secularism is a doctrine which opposes intra-religious and inter-religious forms of domination. It promotes freedom within religions and equality, between, as well as within, religions.
- Western model of secularism does not allow interference of the state in religion and vice-versa.
- Indian secularism opposes both inter-religious and intra-religious domination, deals with religious freedom of individuals and minority communities, and encourages state supported religious reform.
- India also does not have an official religion and normally is disengaged with religion but may engage with religion if required so as to support peaceful coexistence.
“Western dictionaries define secularism as absence of religion but Indian secularism does not mean irreligiousness.It means profusion of religions.”
News 11: New Delhi, Dhaka hail Ganga panel
Background:
India and Bangladesh welcomed the establishment of a joint technical committee to study the use of Ganga waters in Bangladesh, a joint statement issued on the third day of the visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said on Wednesday.
Ganga water sharing treaty:
- The Ganga Water Sharing Treaty is a 30-year agreement which is expected to be reviewed or renewed in 2026.
- The treaty was signed on 12 December 1996 and is essentially regarding the sharing of lean-season flows.
- India shall release downstream of Farakka Barrage, water at a rate not less than 90% (ninety per cent) of Bangladesh’s share.
India – Bangladesh cooperation:
- The Indian side also raised the “urgent” irrigation-related requirements in Tripura which can be addressed with the waters of the Feni, and urged Bangladesh for “early signing of the interim water sharing agreement” on the river.
- Multiple rail track projects such as Benapole-Jashori and others will create a smooth flow of goods and people within Bangladesh overcoming infrastructure bottlenecks.
- India and Bangladesh have been in talks for the construction of an Inland Container Depot (ICD) at Sirajganj in the north-west of capital Dhaka and help in movement of bulk items.
- Both countries reviewed the progress of the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline which will further boost energy supply in Bangladesh.
About Feni River:
- It is a trans-boundary river between Bangladesh and India (Tripura)
- The Feni River originates in South Tripura district and flows through Sabroom town and then enters Bangladesh
News 12: Encroached drains, construction boom: Why Bengaluru drowned
Background:
- Recently, the tech city Bengaluru, was submerged under water triggering fears, health hazards and property damages.
Reasons behind flooding:
- Heavy rains contributed to the collapse of urban infrastructure
- Unauthorized and unabated construction and encroached drain stopped the natural drainage and led to urban flooding
- As per experts, poor drainage system, drains were clogged with solid and building demolition waste, unscientific remodeling which included narrowing and concretization of drains, loss of interconnectivity among lakes (as concretized drains increases the velocity of rainwater), and encroachment of buffer areas has exacerbation of flooding in Bengaluru.
Solutions to reduce flooding:
- New culverts and drains need to be introduced so as to move water along valley sections in Bengaluru.
- Widening of existing drains
- Water sensitive urban design and planning and green infrastructure approach for stormwater management.
- Mapping areas that were previously affected by floods, on the basis of geography will help create flood risk assessment.
News 13: Covid distress: One in 6 MSME loan accounts under Govt pandemic relief package turns NPA
Background:
- Under the Right to Information Act, it was found that loans provided under Extended Credit Line Guarantee Scheme have turned bad in just 27 months.
Details:
- The defaults are mainly in the lower end of the loan bands (upto 20 lakhs).
- National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Ltd, has said in response to RTI, 16.4% of the total 98.86 lakh accounts, disbursed since May 2020 may turn into NPA.
- Rationale provided by some experts, mention that as per current NPA categorization norms, if even one loan account of customers turns bad, all loan accounts will be categorized as NPAs, even if the other accounts continue to be serviced.
- As per a report of SBI, ECLGS was crucial in keeping MSMEs afloat, as it saved an estimated 13.5lakh MSME accounts, 1.5 crore jobs and prevented 14% of outstanding MSME loans amounting to 18 lakh crore turning bad.
About ECLGS scheme:
- Ministry: Ministry of Finance
- To provide financial assistance to pandemic hit economy by provide Rupees 3 lakh unsecured loan to MSMEs and companies
News 14: IIM dropout, BBA, MBA students among 7 held for drugs smuggling through darknet
Background: Seven persons, including an IIM dropout and a fashion designer, have been arrested by the Delhi police for allegedly sourcing drugs such as LSD, MDMA and marijuana from abroad through darknet and supplying it to college and school students through courier service
Darknet:
One liner:
- Russia is the world’s second largest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia.
- Russia is the world’s top natural gas exporter.
Recent Posts
- Items provided through FPS
- The scale of rations
- The price of items distributed through FPS across states.
- Kyoto Protocol of 2001
- Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) as well as REDD+ mechanisms proposed by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
- United Nations-mandated Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDG)
- Paris Agreement
- Carbon Neutrality
- multistrata agroforestry,
- afforestation,
- tree intercropping,
- biomass production,
- regenerative agriculture,
- conservation agriculture,
- farmland restoration,
- silvopasture,
- tropical-staple tree,
- intercropping,
- bamboo and indigenous tree–based land management.
Petrol in India is cheaper than in countries like Hong Kong, Germany and the UK but costlier than in China, Brazil, Japan, the US, Russia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, a Bank of Baroda Economics Research report showed.
Rising fuel prices in India have led to considerable debate on which government, state or central, should be lowering their taxes to keep prices under control.
The rise in fuel prices is mainly due to the global price of crude oil (raw material for making petrol and diesel) going up. Further, a stronger dollar has added to the cost of crude oil.
Amongst comparable countries (per capita wise), prices in India are higher than those in Vietnam, Kenya, Ukraine, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Venezuela. Countries that are major oil producers have much lower prices.
In the report, the Philippines has a comparable petrol price but has a per capita income higher than India by over 50 per cent.
Countries which have a lower per capita income like Kenya, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Venezuela have much lower prices of petrol and hence are impacted less than India.
“Therefore there is still a strong case for the government to consider lowering the taxes on fuel to protect the interest of the people,” the report argued.
India is the world’s third-biggest oil consuming and importing nation. It imports 85 per cent of its oil needs and so prices retail fuel at import parity rates.
With the global surge in energy prices, the cost of producing petrol, diesel and other petroleum products also went up for oil companies in India.
They raised petrol and diesel prices by Rs 10 a litre in just over a fortnight beginning March 22 but hit a pause button soon after as the move faced criticism and the opposition parties asked the government to cut taxes instead.
India imports most of its oil from a group of countries called the ‘OPEC +’ (i.e, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Russia, etc), which produces 40% of the world’s crude oil.
As they have the power to dictate fuel supply and prices, their decision of limiting the global supply reduces supply in India, thus raising prices
The government charges about 167% tax (excise) on petrol and 129% on diesel as compared to US (20%), UK (62%), Italy and Germany (65%).
The abominable excise duty is 2/3rd of the cost, and the base price, dealer commission and freight form the rest.
Here is an approximate break-up (in Rs):
a)Base Price | 39 |
b)Freight | 0.34 |
c) Price Charged to Dealers = (a+b) | 39.34 |
d) Excise Duty | 40.17 |
e) Dealer Commission | 4.68 |
f) VAT | 25.35 |
g) Retail Selling Price | 109.54 |
Looked closely, much of the cost of petrol and diesel is due to higher tax rate by govt, specifically excise duty.
So the question is why government is not reducing the prices ?
India, being a developing country, it does require gigantic amount of funding for its infrastructure projects as well as welfare schemes.
However, we as a society is yet to be tax-compliant. Many people evade the direct tax and that’s the reason why govt’s hands are tied. Govt. needs the money to fund various programs and at the same time it is not generating enough revenue from direct taxes.
That’s the reason why, govt is bumping up its revenue through higher indirect taxes such as GST or excise duty as in the case of petrol and diesel.
Direct taxes are progressive as it taxes according to an individuals’ income however indirect tax such as excise duty or GST are regressive in the sense that the poorest of the poor and richest of the rich have to pay the same amount.
Does not matter, if you are an auto-driver or owner of a Mercedes, end of the day both pay the same price for petrol/diesel-that’s why it is regressive in nature.
But unlike direct tax where tax evasion is rampant, indirect tax can not be evaded due to their very nature and as long as huge no of Indians keep evading direct taxes, indirect tax such as excise duty will be difficult for the govt to reduce, because it may reduce the revenue and hamper may programs of the govt.
Globally, around 80% of wastewater flows back into the ecosystem without being treated or reused, according to the United Nations.
This can pose a significant environmental and health threat.
In the absence of cost-effective, sustainable, disruptive water management solutions, about 70% of sewage is discharged untreated into India’s water bodies.
A staggering 21% of diseases are caused by contaminated water in India, according to the World Bank, and one in five children die before their fifth birthday because of poor sanitation and hygiene conditions, according to Startup India.
As we confront these public health challenges emerging out of environmental concerns, expanding the scope of public health/environmental engineering science becomes pivotal.
For India to achieve its sustainable development goals of clean water and sanitation and to address the growing demands for water consumption and preservation of both surface water bodies and groundwater resources, it is essential to find and implement innovative ways of treating wastewater.
It is in this context why the specialised cadre of public health engineers, also known as sanitation engineers or environmental engineers, is best suited to provide the growing urban and rural water supply and to manage solid waste and wastewater.
Traditionally, engineering and public health have been understood as different fields.
Currently in India, civil engineering incorporates a course or two on environmental engineering for students to learn about wastewater management as a part of their pre-service and in-service training.
Most often, civil engineers do not have adequate skills to address public health problems. And public health professionals do not have adequate engineering skills.
India aims to supply 55 litres of water per person per day by 2024 under its Jal Jeevan Mission to install functional household tap connections.
The goal of reaching every rural household with functional tap water can be achieved in a sustainable and resilient manner only if the cadre of public health engineers is expanded and strengthened.
In India, public health engineering is executed by the Public Works Department or by health officials.
This differs from international trends. To manage a wastewater treatment plant in Europe, for example, a candidate must specialise in wastewater engineering.
Furthermore, public health engineering should be developed as an interdisciplinary field. Engineers can significantly contribute to public health in defining what is possible, identifying limitations, and shaping workable solutions with a problem-solving approach.
Similarly, public health professionals can contribute to engineering through well-researched understanding of health issues, measured risks and how course correction can be initiated.
Once both meet, a public health engineer can identify a health risk, work on developing concrete solutions such as new health and safety practices or specialised equipment, in order to correct the safety concern..
There is no doubt that the majority of diseases are water-related, transmitted through consumption of contaminated water, vectors breeding in stagnated water, or lack of adequate quantity of good quality water for proper personal hygiene.
Diseases cannot be contained unless we provide good quality and adequate quantity of water. Most of the world’s diseases can be prevented by considering this.
Training our young minds towards creating sustainable water management systems would be the first step.
Currently, institutions like the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M) are considering initiating public health engineering as a separate discipline.
To leverage this opportunity even further, India needs to scale up in the same direction.
Consider this hypothetical situation: Rajalakshmi, from a remote Karnataka village spots a business opportunity.
She knows that flowers, discarded in the thousands by temples can be handcrafted into incense sticks.
She wants to find a market for the product and hopefully, employ some people to help her. Soon enough though, she discovers that starting a business is a herculean task for a person like her.
There is a laborious process of rules and regulations to go through, bribes to pay on the way and no actual means to transport her product to its market.
After making her first batch of agarbathis and taking it to Bengaluru by bus, she decides the venture is not easy and gives up.
On the flipside of this is a young entrepreneur in Bengaluru. Let’s call him Deepak. He wants to start an internet-based business selling sustainably made agarbathis.
He has no trouble getting investors and to mobilise supply chains. His paperwork is over in a matter of days and his business is set up quickly and ready to grow.
Never mind that the business is built on aggregation of small sellers who will not see half the profit .
Is this scenario really all that hypothetical or emblematic of how we think about entrepreneurship in India?
Between our national obsession with unicorns on one side and glorifying the person running a pakora stall for survival as an example of viable entrepreneurship on the other, is the middle ground in entrepreneurship—a space that should have seen millions of thriving small and medium businesses, but remains so sparsely occupied that you could almost miss it.
If we are to achieve meaningful economic growth in our country, we need to incorporate, in our national conversation on entrepreneurship, ways of addressing the missing middle.
Spread out across India’s small towns and cities, this is a class of entrepreneurs that have been hit by a triple wave over the last five years, buffeted first by the inadvertent fallout of demonetization, being unprepared for GST, and then by the endless pain of the covid-19 pandemic.
As we finally appear to be reaching some level of normality, now is the opportune time to identify the kind of industries that make up this layer, the opportunities they should be afforded, and the best ways to scale up their functioning in the shortest time frame.
But, why pay so much attention to these industries when we should be celebrating, as we do, our booming startup space?
It is indeed true that India has the third largest number of unicorns in the world now, adding 42 in 2021 alone. Braving all the disruptions of the pandemic, it was a year in which Indian startups raised $24.1 billion in equity investments, according to a NASSCOM-Zinnov report last year.
However, this is a story of lopsided growth.
The cities of Bengaluru, Delhi/NCR, and Mumbai together claim three-fourths of these startup deals while emerging hubs like Ahmedabad, Coimbatore, and Jaipur account for the rest.
This leap in the startup space has created 6.6 lakh direct jobs and a few million indirect jobs. Is that good enough for a country that sends 12 million fresh graduates to its workforce every year?
It doesn’t even make a dent on arguably our biggest unemployment in recent history—in April 2020 when the country shutdown to battle covid-19.
Technology-intensive start-ups are constrained in their ability to create jobs—and hybrid work models and artificial intelligence (AI) have further accelerated unemployment.
What we need to focus on, therefore, is the labour-intensive micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME). Here, we begin to get to a definitional notion of what we called the mundane middle and the problems it currently faces.
India has an estimated 63 million enterprises. But, out of 100 companies, 95 are micro enterprises—employing less than five people, four are small to medium and barely one is large.
The questions to ask are: why are Indian MSMEs failing to grow from micro to small and medium and then be spurred on to make the leap into large companies?
At the Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship (GAME), we have advocated for a National Mission for Mass Entrepreneurship, the need for which is more pronounced now than ever before.
Whenever India has worked to achieve a significant economic milestone in a limited span of time, it has worked best in mission mode. Think of the Green Revolution or Operation Flood.
From across various states, there are enough examples of approaches that work to catalyse mass entrepreneurship.
The introduction of entrepreneurship mindset curriculum (EMC) in schools through alliance mode of working by a number of agencies has shown significant improvement in academic and life outcomes.
Through creative teaching methods, students are encouraged to inculcate 21st century skills like creativity, problem solving, critical thinking and leadership which are not only foundational for entrepreneurship but essential to thrive in our complex world.
Udhyam Learning Foundation has been involved with the Government of Delhi since 2018 to help young people across over 1,000 schools to develop an entrepreneurial mindset.
One pilot programme introduced the concept of ‘seed money’ and saw 41 students turn their ideas into profit-making ventures. Other programmes teach qualities like grit and resourcefulness.
If you think these are isolated examples, consider some larger data trends.
The Observer Research Foundation and The World Economic Forum released the Young India and Work: A Survey of Youth Aspirations in 2018.
When asked which type of work arrangement they prefer, 49% of the youth surveyed said they prefer a job in the public sector.
However, 38% selected self-employment as an entrepreneur as their ideal type of job. The spirit of entrepreneurship is latent and waiting to be unleashed.
The same can be said for building networks of successful women entrepreneurs—so crucial when the participation of women in the Indian economy has declined to an abysmal 20%.
The majority of India’s 63 million firms are informal —fewer than 20% are registered for GST.
Research shows that companies that start out as formal enterprises become two-three times more productive than a similar informal business.
So why do firms prefer to be informal? In most cases, it’s because of the sheer cost and difficulty of complying with the different regulations.
We have academia and non-profits working as ecosystem enablers providing insights and evidence-based models for growth. We have large private corporations and philanthropic and funding agencies ready to invest.
It should be in the scope of a National Mass Entrepreneurship Mission to bring all of them together to work in mission mode so that the gap between thought leadership and action can finally be bridged.
Heat wave is a condition of air temperature which becomes fatal to human body when exposed. Often times, it is defined based on the temperature thresholds over a region in terms of actual temperature or its departure from normal.
Heat wave is considered if maximum temperature of a station reaches at least 400C or more for Plains and at least 300C or more for Hilly regions.
a) Based on Departure from Normal
Heat Wave: Departure from normal is 4.50C to 6.40C
Severe Heat Wave: Departure from normal is >6.40C
b) Based on Actual Maximum Temperature
Heat Wave: When actual maximum temperature ≥ 450C
Severe Heat Wave: When actual maximum temperature ≥470C
If above criteria met at least in 2 stations in a Meteorological sub-division for at least two consecutive days and it declared on the second day
It is occurring mainly during March to June and in some rare cases even in July. The peak month of the heat wave over India is May.
Heat wave generally occurs over plains of northwest India, Central, East & north Peninsular India during March to June.
It covers Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, parts of Maharashtra & Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telengana.
Sometimes it occurs over Tamilnadu & Kerala also.
Heat waves adversely affect human and animal lives.
However, maximum temperatures more than 45°C observed mainly over Rajasthan and Vidarbha region in month of May.
a. Transportation / Prevalence of hot dry air over a region (There should be a region of warm dry air and appropriate flow pattern for transporting hot air over the region).
b. Absence of moisture in the upper atmosphere (As the presence of moisture restricts the temperature rise).
c. The sky should be practically cloudless (To allow maximum insulation over the region).
d. Large amplitude anti-cyclonic flow over the area.
Heat waves generally develop over Northwest India and spread gradually eastwards & southwards but not westwards (since the prevailing winds during the season are westerly to northwesterly).
The health impacts of Heat Waves typically involve dehydration, heat cramps, heat exhaustion and/or heat stroke. The signs and symptoms are as follows:
1. Heat Cramps: Ederna (swelling) and Syncope (Fainting) generally accompanied by fever below 39*C i.e.102*F.
2. Heat Exhaustion: Fatigue, weakness, dizziness, headache, nausea, vomiting, muscle cramps and sweating.
3. Heat Stoke: Body temperatures of 40*C i.e. 104*F or more along with delirium, seizures or coma. This is a potential fatal condition.
Norman Borlaug and MS Swaminathan in a wheat field in north India in March 1964
Political independence does not have much meaning without economic independence.
One of the important indicators of economic independence is self-sufficiency in food grain production.
The overall food grain scenario in India has undergone a drastic transformation in the last 75 years.
India was a food-deficit country on the eve of Independence. It had to import foodgrains to feed its people.
The situation became more acute during the 1960s. The imported food had to be sent to households within the shortest possible time.
The situation was referred to as ‘ship to mouth’.
Presently, Food Corporation of India (FCI) godowns are overflowing with food grain stocks and the Union government is unable to ensure remunerative price to the farmers for their produce.
This transformation, however, was not smooth.
In the 1960s, it was disgraceful, but unavoidable for the Prime Minister of India to go to foreign countries with a begging bowl.
To avoid such situations, the government motivated agricultural scientists to make India self-sufficient in food grain production.
As a result, high-yield varieties (HYV) were developed. The combination of seeds, water and fertiliser gave a boost to food grain production in the country which is generally referred to as the Green Revolution.
The impact of the Green Revolution, however, was confined to a few areas like Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh in the north and (unified) Andhra Pradesh in the south.
Most of the remaining areas were deficit in food grain production.
Therefore the Union government had to procure food grain from surplus states to distribute it among deficit ones.
At the time, farmers in the surplus states viewed procurement as a tax as they were prevented from selling their surplus foodgrains at high prices in the deficit states.
As production of food grains increased, there was decentralisation of procurement. State governments were permitted to procure grain to meet their requirement.
The distribution of food grains was left to the concerned state governments.
Kerala, for instance, was totally a deficit state and had to adopt a distribution policy which was almost universal in nature.
Some states adopted a vigorous public distribution system (PDS) policy.
It is not out of place to narrate an interesting incident regarding food grain distribution in Andhra Pradesh. The Government of Andhra Pradesh in the early 1980s implemented a highly subsidised rice scheme under which poor households were given five kilograms of rice per person per month, subject to a ceiling of 25 kilograms at Rs 2 per kg. The state government required two million tonnes of rice to implement the scheme. But it received only on one million tonne from the Union government.
The state government had to purchase another million tonne of rice from rice millers in the state at a negotiated price, which was higher than the procurement price offered by the Centre, but lower than the open market price.
A large number of studies have revealed that many poor households have been excluded from the PDS network, while many undeserving households have managed to get benefits from it.
Various policy measures have been implemented to streamline PDS. A revamped PDS was introduced in 1992 to make food grain easily accessible to people in tribal and hilly areas, by providing relatively higher subsidies.
Targeted PDS was launched in 1997 to focus on households below the poverty line (BPL).
Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) was introduced to cover the poorest of the poor.
Annapoorna Scheme was introduced in 2001 to distribute 10 kg of food grains free of cost to destitutes above the age of 65 years.
In 2013, the National Food Security Act (NFSA) was passed by Parliament to expand and legalise the entitlement.
Conventionally, a card holder has to go to a particular fair price shop (FPS) and that particular shop has to be open when s/he visits it. Stock must be available in the shop. The card holder should also have sufficient time to stand in the queue to purchase his quota. The card holder has to put with rough treatment at the hands of a FPS dealer.
These problems do not exist once ration cards become smart cards. A card holder can go to any shop which is open and has available stocks. In short, the scheme has become card holder-friendly and curbed the monopoly power of the FPS dealer. Some states other than Chhattisgarh are also trying to introduce such a scheme on an experimental basis.
More recently, the Government of India has introduced a scheme called ‘One Nation One Ration Card’ which enables migrant labourers to purchase rations from the place where they reside. In August 2021, it was operational in 34 states and Union territories.
The intentions of the scheme are good but there are some hurdles in its implementation which need to be addressed. These problems arise on account of variation in:
It is not clear whether a migrant labourer gets items provided in his/her native state or those in the state s/he has migrated to and what prices will s/he be able to purchase them.
The Centre must learn lessons from the experiences of different countries in order to make PDS sustainable in the long-run.
For instance, Sri Lanka recently shifted to organic manure from chemical fertiliser without required planning. Consequently, it had to face an acute food shortage due to a shortage of organic manure.
Some analysts have cautioned against excessive dependence on chemical fertiliser.
Phosphorus is an important input in the production of chemical fertiliser and about 70-80 per cent of known resources of phosphorus are available only in Morocco.
There is possibility that Morocco may manipulate the price of phosphorus.
Providing excessive subsidies and unemployment relief may make people dependent, as in the case of Venezuela and Zimbabwe.
It is better to teach a person how to catch a fish rather than give free fish to him / her.
Hence, the government should give the right amount of subsidy to deserving people.
The government has to increase livestock as in the case of Uruguay to make the food basket broad-based and nutritious. It has to see to it that the organic content in the soil is adequate, in order to make cultivation environmentally-friendly and sustainable in the long-run.
In short, India has transformed from a food-deficit state to a food-surplus one 75 years after independence. However, the government must adopt environmental-friendly measures to sustain this achievement.
Agroforestry is an intentional integration of trees on farmland.
Globally, it is practised by 1.2 billion people on 10 per cent area of total agricultural lands (over 1 billion hectares).
It is widely popular as ‘a low hanging fruit’ due to its multifarious tangible and intangible benefits.
The net carbon sequestered in agroforestry is 11.35 tonnes of carbon per ha
A panacea for global issues such as climate change, land degradation, pollution and food security, agroforestry is highlighted as a key strategy to fulfil several targets:
In 2017, a New York Times bestseller Project Drawdown published by 200 scientists around the world with a goal of reversing climate change, came up with the most plausible 100 solutions to slash–down greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Out of these 100 solutions, 11 strategies were highlighted under the umbrella of agroforestry such as:-
Nowadays, tree-based farming in India is considered a silver bullet to cure all issues.
It was promoted under the Green India mission of 2001, six out of eight missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) and National Agroforestry and Bamboo Mission (NABM), 2017 to bring a third of the geographical area under tree cover and offsetting GHG emissions.
These long-term attempts by the Government of India have helped enhance the agroforestry area to 13.75 million hectares.
The net carbon sequestered in agroforestry is 11.35 tonnes of carbon per ha and carbon sequestration potential is 0.35 tonnes of carbon per ha per year at the country level, according to the Central Agroforestry Research Institute, Jhansi.
India will reduce an additional 2.5-3 billion tonnes of CO2 by increasing tree cover. This extra tree cover could be achieved through agroforestry systems because of their ability to withstand minimum inputs under extreme situations.
Here are some examples which portray the role of agroforestry in achieving at least nine out of the 17 SDGs through sustainable food production, ecosystem services and economic benefits:
SDG 1 — No Poverty: Almost 736 million people still live in extreme poverty. Diversification through integrating trees in agriculture unlocks the treasure to provide multifunctional benefits.
Studies carried out in 2003 in the arid regions of India reported a 10-15 per cent increase in crop yield with Prosopis cineraria (khejari). Adoption of agroforestry increases income & production by reducing the cost of input & production.
SDG 2 — Zero hunger: Tree-based systems provide food and monetary returns. Traditional agroforestry systems like Prosopis cineraria and Madhuca longifolia (Mahua) provide edible returns during drought years known as “lifeline to the poor people”.
Studies showed that 26-50 per cent of households involved in tree products collection and selling act as a coping strategy to deal with hunger.
SDG 3 — Good health and well-being: Human wellbeing and health are depicted through the extent of healthy ecosystems and services they provide.
Agroforestry contributes increased access to diverse nutritious food, supply of medicine, clean air and reduces heat stress.
Vegetative buffers can filter airstreams of particulates by removing dust, gas, microbial constituents and heavy metals.
SDG 5 — Gender equality: Throughout the world around 3 billion people depend on firewood for cooking.
In this, women are the main collectors and it brings drudgery and health issues.
A study from India stated that almost 374 hours per year are spent by women for collection of firewood. Growing trees nearby provides easy access to firewood and diverts time to productive purposes.
SDG 6 — Clean Water and Sanitation: Water is probably the most vital resource for our survival. The inherent capacity of trees offers hydrological regulation as evapotranspiration recharges atmospheric moisture for rainfall; enhanced soil infiltration recharges groundwater; obstructs sediment flow; rainwater filtration by accumulation of heavy metals.
An extensive study in 35 nations published in 2017 concluded that 30 per cent of tree cover in watersheds resulted in improved sanitisation and reduced diarrheal disease.
SDG 7 — Affordable & Clean Energy: Wood fuels are the only source of energy to billions of poverty-stricken people.
Though trees are substitutes of natural forests, modern technologies in the form of biofuels, ethanol, electricity generation and dendro-biomass sources are truly affordable and clean.
Ideal agroforestry models possess fast-growing, high coppicing, higher calorific value and short rotation (2-3 years) characteristics and provide biomass of 200-400 tonnes per ha.
SDG 12 — Responsible consumption and production: The production of agricultural and wood-based commodities on a sustainable basis without depleting natural resources and as low as external inputs (chemical fertilisers and pesticides) to reduce the ecological footprints.
SDG 13 — Climate action: Globally, agricultural production accounts for up to 24 per cent of GHG emissions from around 22.2 million square km of agricultural area, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization.
A 2016 study depicted that conversion of agricultural land to agroforestry sequesters about 27.2± 13.5 tonnes CO2 equivalent per ha per year after establishment of systems.
Trees on farmland mitigate 109.34 million tonnes CO2 equivalent annually from 15.31 million ha, according to a 2017 report. This may offset a third of the total GHG emissions from the agriculture sector of India.
SDG 15 — Life on Land: Agroforestry ‘mimics the forest ecosystem’ to contribute conservation of flora and faunas, creating corridors, buffers to existing reserves and multi-functional landscapes.
Delivery of ecosystem services of trees regulates life on land. A one-hectare area of homegardens in Kerala was found to have 992 trees from 66 species belonging to 31 families, a recent study showed.
The report of the World Agroforestry Centre highlighted those 22 countries that have registered agroforestry as a key strategy in achieving their unconditional national contributions.
Recently, the Government of India has allocated significant financial support for promotion of agroforestry at grassroot level to make the Indian economy as carbon neutral. This makes agroforestry a low-hanging fruit to achieve the global goals.