9 PM Daily Brief – October 19th, 2020

Good evening dear reader.

Here is our 9pm current affairs brief for you today

GS-2

1. India’s low rank in Global Health Index
2. Police Reforms

GS-3

3. Nutrient-based subsidy
4. Growth through infrastructure and manufacturing
5. Coal mining reforms
6. Reason for October pollution

9 PM for Preliminary examination

FACTLY

1.India’s low rank in Global Health Index

Source- The Hindu

Syllabus- GS 2- Issues relating to poverty and hunger.

Context- India has been ranked at 94 among 107 countries in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2020.

How Global Hunger Index [GHI] scores are calculated?

The GHI scores are calculated each year to assess progress and setbacks in combating hunger. It is calculated on the basis of four indicators-

1. Undernourishment: Share of the population with insufficient caloric intake.
2. Child Wasting: Share of children under age five who have low weight for their height, reflecting acute undernutrition.
3. Child Stunting: Share of children under age five who have low height for their age, reflecting chronic undernutrition.
4. Child Mortality: The mortality rate of children under the age of five.

What are the key findings?

Alarming situation for India-

• The country’s score of 27.2 is the worst among BRICS countries, and inferior to Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal.
• India’s child wasting rate was extremely high at 20.8% – the highest.
• The child stunting rate in India was 37.4 %,
• The child wasting was at 17.3 %.
• The undernourishment rate of India was at 14% and child mortality at 3.7 %.

What are the reasons for low scores and its possible solution?

1. The national policy-

• Has no appetite for a radical transformation in the delivery of adequate nutrition especially to women and children.
• Has paid inadequate attention to achieving diet diversity through the PDS.

2. Inequality- There is huge inequality because the fruits of growth are enjoyed by selected sections of society.

• Stunting prevalence is 10.1% higher in rural areas compared to urban areas.

3. Anaemia- One in two women of reproductive age is anaemic.
4. COVID-19- The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic downturn are exacerbating food and nutrition insecurity for millions of people.

Possible solution-

1. Diverse diet- Nourishment through a diverse diet that includes fat, protein and micronutrients.
2. Strengthening the Public distribution system, with a focus on women’s health, would lead to healthier pregnancies, and stronger supplemental nutrition under the ICDS scheme would give children a better chance at all-round development.

Way forward-

• Food should be priced not only by its weight or volume but also by its nutrient density, its freedom from contamination, and its contribution to ecosystem services and social justice.
• The benefits can reach more people if the government spends more to improve public education, health care, nutrition, social security and gender empowerment.

2. Police Reforms

Source: The Hindu

Syllabus: Gs2: Role of Civil Services in a Democracy

Context: To improve the functioning of the police force, the supreme court has spelt out various directives which are not been implemented yet.

Recent examples on police brutality?

• The thrashing of a Dalit Ahirwar couple by the police in Guna district of Madhya Pradesh.
• The brutal torture of J. Benicks and his father P. Jayaraj in Sattankulam town in Thoothkudi district of Tamil Nadu
• The encounter of Vikas Dube by the Uttar Pradesh police in Kanpur looked like the law had been subverted.

What is Prakash Singh case?

• The first serious attempt to reform the police forces was made when the National Police Commission (NPC) was set up in 1977.
• The NPC submitted its recommendation in eight reports to the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• None of the recommendations was implemented by states as they felt that the report was unduly critical of the political system and the functioning of the police force.
• In 1996, demand for the implementation of the NPC’s recommendations came through a retired IPS officer, Prakash Singh who filed a PIL in court.
• The landmark verdict of PIL came in 2006, the Supreme Court issued a slew of directives on police reform. (Prakash Singh Case)

Status on Implementation of Supreme court directives?

• One of the recommendations was to Set up a State Security Commission (SSC) in each State to arrest the political leader’s access to unbridled power.
• According to the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, of the States that constituted an SSC, only Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have made SSC recommendations binding on the State government.
• Only six States provided a minimum tenure of two years to the Director General of Police (DGP).
• Many States have not implemented a single directive of the Supreme Court.

What is the reason for the  poor implementation of police reforms?

• Politicians-criminals-police nexus: According to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (2018), there were 1,580 MPs and MLAs facing criminal charges.

With fourteen years passed by, the Court has to take strict actions on the States and the Centre to ensure that its directives are implemented effectively else the country will witness an upheaval of the kind that the U.S. saw following the death of George Floyd.

3. Nutrient-based subsidy

Syllabus: GS-3- Agriculture

Context: Cap on subsidised fertiliser only addresses the issue of its diversion, doesn’t fix overuse by farmers.

What is nutrient-based subsidy (NBS) regime for fertilisers?

• Under the scheme, a fixed amount of subsidy, based on the nutrient content present in them is provided on each grade of subsidized Phosphatic and Potassic (P&K) fertilizer except Urea.
• It was expected that the NBS scheme will control farmers from applying too much urea containing only nitrogen.

Was the NBS regime successful?

• No, the actual results prove otherwise. Between 2009-10 and 2019-20, urea consumption increased.
• The reason for this is, Since April 2010, the maximum retail price (MRP) of urea has been raised by hardly 11 per cent.
• Whereas the MRPs of other fertilisers that were decontrolled, with the government only giving a per-tonne subsidy based on their nutrient content has gone up from 2.5 to 4 times during these 10 years.

What are the steps taken to prevent overuse of Urea?

• Compulsory neem-coating of all urea from December 2015.
• Making fertiliser subsidy payment to companies’ conditional upon actual sales to farmers being registered on point-of-sale machines with retailers after biometric authentication.
• Along with this, there is an upcoming plan to cap the total number of subsidised fertiliser bags that any person can purchase during an entire cropping season.

What is the reason for the policy failure?

• Urea Under-priced: The basic MRP of urea hasn’t been revised at all in its nearly six-and-a-half years. So, less cost leading to more consumption.
• Failed to bring urea under NBS: This would have pushed up its MRP thereby encouraging farmers for balanced use of fertilisers.
• Failed policy approach: Even, the measures taken to prevent over use of Urea merely address the issue of subsidised fertilisers, especially urea, getting diverted to bulk buyers/traders or even non-agricultural users. It does not address overuse by farmers themselves.

What is the way forward?

• Bringing urea under nutrient-based subsidy (NBS) regime.
• Increasing the MRP of Urea to Rs 10,000 per tonne over two years and simultaneously reducing the NBS rates of phosphorus, potash and sulphur.
• In the long run, NBS should be replaced by a flat per-acre cash subsidy that could be used to purchase any fertiliser.

4. Growth through infrastructure and manufacturing

Source-Live Mint

Syllabus- GS 3- Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment.

Context- India needs to create 90 million non-farm jobs by 2030 to avoid economic stagnation.

What is the importance of these two sectors?

• Construction- 24 million non-farm jobs could come from construction alone by 2030, 16 million from real estate and 8 million from infrastructure.
• Manufacturing- Thus sector could generate one-fifth of the incremental annual GDP (about $750 billion) and close to 11 million new non-farm jobs by 2030.

How India can trigger construction growth and what are the reforms needed?

To generate its share of employment, the construction sector needs to grow at about 8.5%, nearly double its 4.4% growth rate over financial years 2012-13 to 2018-19. The following steps can trigger this growth-

1. Spend about 8% of GDP on infrastructure annually for the next 10 years.
2. Build 25 million affordable homes over the decade.

Reforms required-

1. Real estate reforms-

• India could include generously increasing incentives for home ownership and creating rental stock.
• Tax incentives– At the central level, substantially raising tax deductions limits on mortgages and rental incomes, as well as introducing tax incentives for investments in rental housing stock could be considered.

For example- The US, which offers tax deductible interest of up to $750,000 on mortgage loans and an effective low-income housing tax credit incentive.

• Rationalizing stamp duties and registration fees, introducing regulatory amendments in rent-control policies, launching digitally-enabled, single-window clearances to reduce time delays in affordable housing construction.
• Bringing the goods and services tax on modern construction methods in line with in-situ buildings.

2. High land-price-to- average-income ratio– In terms of per square-meter price to per-capita GDP, it is about 6.0 in Mumbai and 3.8 in Bengaluru versus 0.5 in Bangkok and 0.2 in Beijing. To narrow this gap, India could do two things.

• Release 20 to 25% of underused but buildable public-sector land.
• Reform zoning regulations in the top 300 cities by population.

What are the proposed ways to turbocharge Manufacturing

1. Structural reforms– India could introduce targeted, time-bound and conditional incentives to reduce the cost disadvantage that Indian manufacturers face while competing with companies from China and Vietnam, among other countries.
2. Free trade warehousing zones– Indian states could also create powerful demonstration effects by establishing port-proximate manufacturing clusters that contain free-trade warehousing zones.

• They could provide land at lower costs, plug-and-play infrastructure, and common utilities, apart from expedited approvals.

3. Reduction in costs– India also needs to consider reducing its factor costs of power and logistics. Both these costs could be reduced 20–25% by enabling franchised and privatized distribution company models, reducing cross-subsidy surcharges, and establishing multi-modal freight ecosystems.

Read also:-  Daily Current Affair

Way forward-

• If adequately set up for success, manufacturing and construction could be pivotal in driving India’s growth over the next decade.
• The government has to introduce sector-specific policies to raise productivity in manufacturing and real estate sectors.

5. Coal mining reforms

Source- Live Mint

Syllabus- GS 3- Effects of liberalization on the economy, changes in industrial policy and their effects on industrial growth.

Context– Centre was all set to allow commercial and even foreign players to mine coal from 19th October, with the aim of making India among the biggest exporters of the dry fuel, but announced yet another delay in the process.

What provisions does coal Ordinance contain?

1. It allows Coal mining by any Company.

• Earlier: Only those in Power, Iron & Steel and Coal washery Business could bid for Mines.

2. It also does away with captive end-use criteria i.e. Coal can be commercially mined and sold to any buyer in an open market.

• Earlier: The Coal mined by a licensee could be used for only specified purpose like for its own Thermal power plant i.e. they could not be sold in Open market like that of Coal India Ltd (Public Sector Enterprise).

What are the advantages accruing from this changed regulatory regime?

1. Expands the pool of Potential bidders-This will lead to better competition during auctions thus fetching better revenues for the government.

• Foreign Direct Investment– The move will promote FDI in the sector.

2. Fixed royalty- Previously, the floor price was a fixed royalty of ₹150 per tonne, and bidders contested by bidding upwards of this. This time around, the floor price is fixed at 4% of the annual revenue realized from the coal mine.

• This change from fixed royalty to variable royalty gives miners protection from fluctuations in prices.

3. Import Substitution– The move will boost both production and mining efficiency besides substituting import of coal worth Rs 30,000 crore.

What are the challenges?

1. Underwhelming response– No bids have been received for 15 of the 38 coal blocks that are up for auction, continuing the trend of tepid participation.

• None of the big foreign miners like BHP, Glencore and Peabody are participating, and domestic companies dominate the list of bidders.

2. Lower royalty revenue– Muted demand for coal due to an economic slump means that auction prices may be depressed. States are already complaining about a possible drop in royalty revenue.
3. Federal Challenges– In a writ petition to the SC, Jharkhand has said the Centre’s decision to commence commercial mining process flouts Schedule-V of the Indian Constitution, which refers to the ‘scheduled areas’ falling under the state government.

• The suit argued that depressed demand for coal due to the ongoing economic slowdown would lead to lower prices accruing to the state.

4. Monopoly- The Adani Group, which includes its four subsidiaries, accounts for nearly one-sixth of all bids submitted and has bid for 11 of the 23 mines up for auction, if all Adani Group companies secure their respective blocks, a significant number of new mines will be under the ambit of one conglomerate.
5. Climatic Concerns– When countries across the world are moving away from fossil fuel resources this step to enhance Coal production is criticized by environmentalists.
6. Health Concerns– Coal burning releases Carbon dioxide, particulate matter, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and mercury- thus damaging the health of many people around the region.
7. Environmental Challenges– One of the proposed auctions of a mine site is near Maharashtra’s Tadoba- Andhari Tiger Reserve. The State government has raised concerns that mining at the site can lead to destruction of wildlife corridors.

Way forward-

• Government needs to balance its commitments towards Climate Change and its imperative to push the developmental agenda. Promotion of Clean Coal Technology which is at present Cost prohibitive is the way to move ahead.
• As the new auctions usher in a new regime in India’s complex history of coal mining, the full implications on both production and revenues realized will be keenly watched.

6. Reason for October pollution

Source: The Indian Express

Syllabus: GS-3- Environment

Context:   Delhi’s air quality started to dip as the AQI touched very poor for the very first time this October.

Why does air pollution rise in October each year?

• Air pollution in Delhi and the whole of the Indo Gangetic Plains is a complex phenomenon that is dependent on a variety of factors. The first and foremost is the input of pollutants, followed by weather and local conditions.
• Once monsoon season ends, the main direction of winds changes to north westerly from easterly winds.
• According to a study conducted by scientists at the National Physical Laboratory, 72 per cent of Delhi’s wind in winters comes from the northwest, while the remaining 28 per cent comes from the Indo-Gangetic plains.
• The dip in temperature is also behind the increased pollution levels. The inversion height which is the layer beyond which pollutants cannot disperse into the upper layer of the atmosphere is lowered and concentration of pollutants in the air increases.
• Wind speed dips in winters which are responsible for dispersing pollutants. AQI dips even more when factors such as farm fires and dust storms are added to the already high base pollution levels in the city.

What is the role of farm fires?

• Stubble burning which is a way to get rid of paddy stubble quickly and at a low cost, gained widespread acceptance when governments of Punjab and Haryana passed laws delaying the sowing of paddy.
• The aim of passing this law was to conserve groundwater as the new sowing cycle would coincide with monsoons and less water would be extracted.
• This left very little time for farmers to harvest paddy, clear fields and sow wheat for the next cycle.
• The paddy straw and stalks have high silica content and are not used to feed livestock.
• The alternatives like the happy seeder machine which helps covering the residue, are seen as unavailable, and money and time consuming by smaller farmers.
• A 2015 source-apportionment study on Delhi’s air pollution conducted by IIT-Kanpur also states that 17-26% of all particulate matter in Delhi in winters is because of biomass burning.
• The System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) has developed a system to calculate the contribution of stubble burning to Delhi’s pollution.
• Last year, during peak stubble burning incidents, its contribution rose to 40%.

What are the other big sources of pollution in Delhi?

• Dust and vehicular pollution are the two biggest causes of dipping air quality in Delhi in winters.
• Dust pollution contributes to 56% of PM 10 and the PM2.5 load at 59 t/d, the top contributors being road 38 % of PM 2.5 concentration, the IIT Kanpur study said.
• According to the IIT Kanpur study, 20 % of PM 2.5 in winters comes from vehicular pollution.

What are the steps taken by the government to address the pollution?

• The effort to reduce vehicular pollution, which experts say is more harmful as it is released at breathing level, the following has been done:
• The introduction of BS VI (cleaner) fuel
• Push for electric vehicles
• Odd-Even as an emergency measure
• Construction of the Eastern and Western Peripheral Expressways

Way forward

• With vehicles back on the road, temperature dipping and stubble burning starting, Delhi’s air is set to get worse and so the steps introduced by the government should be implemented properly to find some relief from the pollution in Delhi.
  

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