9 PM Daily Current Affairs Brief – June 1st, 2022

Current Affairs Compilations for UPSC IAS Prelims 2022

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 2

• Why Misuse Of Aadhaar Information Is A Real Danger
• Questioning the safety of Aadhaar
• The sedition law must go
• A judicial course that calls for introspection

GS Paper 3

• India’s EV ambition rides on three wheels
• Guns and status: VIP security cover is a system that’s lost its moorings from professional threat assessment
• Opinion: How trade can boost India’s growth
• How trade deals can take our beverages to global markets
• Is it time for India to go for competitiveness legislation?
• Not by autonomy alone

Prelims Oriented Articles (Factly)

• Explained: Astra Mk-1 air-to-air missile — features, strategic significance
• Explained: How India, Bangladesh are rebooting their rail link
• Health Ministry issues norms to tackle monkeypox
• Killer Asteroids Are Hiding in Plain Sight.A New Tool Helps Spot Them
• Machine learning helps predict new materials for nano alloys, semiconductors & rare earths
• The story behind the GDP-GVA Gap
• ICCR’s Gen Next Democracy Network programme concludes
• Explained: What is liquid nano urea, produced by IFFCO, which can potentially revolutionize the use of nitrogen fertilizers in India?

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 2

Why Misuse Of Aadhaar Information Is A Real Danger

Context: Union government withdrew a notification from a Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) office cautioning people against sharing photocopies of their Aadhaar card, just two days after the advisory was issued.

The govt has claimed that it would be “misinterpreted”.

The advisory had urged people to use masked Aadhaar.

The masked Aadhaar facility has been in place since 2018. It came about following a report by the Centre for Internet and Society that publicly available datasets had sensitive details such as full Aadhaar number and bank account details of individuals.

Why UIDAI was right to issue the advisory?

The dangers of providing the full Aadhaar number to several agencies are evident in the way these numbers have been used by fraudsters for criminal purposes. For instance – identity theft, Know Your Customer (KYC)-related fraud have been documented in news reports.

The UIDAI has itself registered far more potential fraud cases related to the issue highlighted above in recent years compared to the past.

Other scams that are of a higher order have also been revealed recently, related to biometrics theft that have allowed scamsters to steal welfare benefits at the expense of genuine beneficiaries.

The Internet is full of leaked data and this poses a major threat to user privacy.

How identity can be verified using one’s Aadhaar copy?

One way is to scan the QR code on one’s Aadhaar copy (through UIDAI’s QR Code Reader app).

By scanning the QR code, the entity (that wants to verify your identity) receives a document with one’s personal details and photo. The entity can then match the details on one’s Aadhaar copy with this digitally signed document.

So, if someone morphs one’s Aadhaar copy, the fraud will be caught once the QR code is scanned, because details on the Aadhaar copy won’t match the ones on the QR Code Reader app.

Scanning the QR code tells the entity if the Aadhaar copy is genuine (or not). It won’t however tell them if the person who submitted the Aadhaar copy is you. To check this, the entity must match the photo thrown up by the scanned Aadhaar QR code with your face – in person. Or, like banks and other RBI regulated entities, conduct video verification.

Unfortunately, not all players follow this process. Often, service providers simply accept the Aadhaar copy as proof of identity without scanning the QR code on UIDAI’s QR Code Reader app. They also don’t verify through in-person, video or live selfie-based verification.

If a service provider fails to conduct this diligence, a fraudster can use a stolen Aadhaar copy to impersonate someone.

What happens if Aadhaar OTP or biometrics are also stolen?

Once a scammer has access to OTP or biometrics, it becomes easier to commit financial frauds. For instance: Telangana police’s recently warned about frauds perpetrated using the Aadhaar-enabled Payment System (AePS).

– AePS is a facility that lets one perform banking transactions like cash withdrawal and fund transfer. These transactions are done through a mini-ATM carried by a banking correspondent. For an AePS transaction, all you need is a person’s Aadhaar number, bank name and fingerprints.

So, criminals can withdraw funds from a victim’s bank account by stealing her Aadhaar number and biometrics. This type of AePS-related fraud recently happened in Haryana with criminals allegedly stealing victims’ biometrics from a government website.

A divided view on safety of Aadhaar

The UIDAI has been indecisive about the inherent dangers in the indiscriminate use of the Aadhaar number or the Aadhaar card by citizens. This is evident from its series of flip-flops on the issue, even before this latest withdrawal notice.

There seems to be a contradiction of views within the authority on the issue of potential misuse of the Aadhaar number.

– On the one hand, in statements advising caution and user discretion in revealing one’s Aadhaar number, it is seeking to treat these as sensitive information just like the biometrics provided by citizens to the authority.

– Yet, on the other, it has sought to universalise the open use of the Aadhaar as an identity document with missionary zeal and has downplayed the risks of doing so.

Way forward

The UIDAI must popularise the use of the masked Aadhaar facility as a start and rethink ways to tighten the scrutiny over how Aadhaar numbers are issued and utilised.

Law enforcement agencies must crack down on data leaks and websites carrying unmasked Aadhaar-related information.

Further, to protect the public against misuse of Aadhaar data, a data protection law is critical.

Questioning the safety of Aadhaar

News: Two days after issuing an advisory asking people to refrain from sharing photocopies of their Aadhaar Card, the Unique Identification Development Authority of India (UIDAI) has opted to withdraw the notification.

It stated that the action was to avert any possibility of ‘misinterpretation’ of the (withdrawn) press release, asking people to exercise “normal prudence” in using/sharing their Aadhaar numbers.

What did the UIDAI advisory say?

It had suggested holders to use a masked Aadhaar card instead of the conventional photocopy. It had further cautioned that the document must not be downloaded from a cybercafé or public computer and, if done for some reason, must be permanently deleted from the system.

– ‘Masked Aadhaar’ hides the first eight digits of the twelve-digit ID with ‘XXXX’ characters.

The notice informed that only entities possessing a ‘User Licence’ are permitted to seek Aadhaar for authentication purposes. Private entities like hotels or film halls cannot collect or keep copies of the identification document.

What does the law say?  

The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 makes it clear that Aadhaar authentication is necessary for availing subsidies, benefits and services that are financed from the Consolidated Fund of India.

– In the absence of Aadhaar, the individual is to be offered an alternate and viable means of identification to ensure she/he is not deprived of the same.

– Separately, Aadhaar has been described as a preferred KYC (Know Your Customer) document but not mandatory for opening bank accounts, acquiring a new SIM or school admissions.

The requesting entity would have to obtain the consent of the individual before collecting his/her identity and ensure that the information is only used for authentication purposes on the Central Identities Data Repository (CIDR).

– This centralised database contains all Aadhaar numbers and holder’s corresponding demographic and biometric information.

UIDAI does not receive or collect the holder’s bank, investment or insurance details.

The Aadhaar Act forbids sharing Core Biometric Information (such as finger print, iris scan, among other biometric attributes) for any purpose other than Aadhaar number generation and authentication.

The Act makes it clear that the authenticated information cannot be used for anything other than the specified purpose. More importantly, no Aadhaar number (or enclosed personal information) collected from the holder can be published, displayed or posted publicly.

Identity information or authentication records would only be liable to be produced pursuant to an order of the High Court or Supreme Court, or by someone of the Secretary rank or above in the interest of national security.

Is identity theft via Aadhaar possible?

In 2017, the UIDAI in response to an RTI stated that more than 200 central and State government websites publicly displayed details of some Aadhaar beneficiaries such as their names and addresses. This was made possible by the lack of robust encryption.

This data could be potentially used to fraudulently link the rightful beneficiary’s Aadhaar with a distinct bank account, embezzling the beneficiary by impersonation, made possible by the sizeable identity documents available.

CIS states that brokers are known to buy tonnes of Aadhaar documents from mobile shops and other places where the identification document is shared. Additionally, there have been instances where employees of service providers were caught stealing biometric information collected solely for Aadhaar authentication.

What are some of the structural problems that the UIDAI faces?  

The Aadhaar Data Vault is where all numbers collected by authentication agencies are centrally stored. Its objective is to provide a dedicated facility for the agencies to access details only on a need-to-know basis.

CAG’s latest report stipulated that UIDAI neither specified any encryption algorithm (as of October 2020) to secure the same nor a mechanism to illustrate that the entities were adhering to appropriate procedures. It relied solely on audit reports provided to them by the entities themselves.

Further, UIDAI’s unstable record with biometric authentication has not helped it with de-duplication efforts, the process that ensures that each Aadhaar Number generated is unique.

The CAG’s report stated that apart from the issue of multiple Aadhaars to the same resident, there have been instances of the same biometric data being accorded to multiple residents.

Biometric authentications can be a cause of worry, especially for disabled and senior citizens with both the iris and fingerprints dilapidating.

Though the UIDAI has assured that no one would be deprived of any benefits due to biometric authentication failures, the absence of an efficient technology could lead to frauds.

The sedition law must go

Context: Recently, the Supreme Court directed the Union government and the states to refrain from using the law of sedition. In addition, the Supreme Court has also kept all previous cases under Section 124A of the IPC in abeyance till the matter is reconsidered in a comprehensive way.

Hence, it will be inappropriate to continue its use while the Supreme Court is re-examining its constitutionality.

What are the various court decisions regarding Section 124A?

Bal Gangadhar Tilak’s case (1897): The Privy Council declined to grant permission to appeal against an order of conviction and sentence by the High Court of Bombay.

– The council affirmed that “disaffection” only meant “absence of affection in any degree towards the British rule or its administration or representatives”, and that exciting of mutiny or rebellion or actual disturbance of any sort was “absolutely immaterial”!

Niharendu Dutt Majumdar And Ors. vs Emperor: The Federal Court held that if the language of Section 124A were to be read literally “it would make a surprising number of persons in India guilty of sedition and that no one however supposes that it is to be read in this literal sense”.

– It then declared that “the gist of the offence was public disorder or the likelihood of public disorder” (AIR 1942 FC 22), the decision in Tilak’s case remained unnoticed.

In 1947, the interpretation of Section 124A was reiterated by a Bench of five judges of the Privy Council in which it was declared that the Federal Court had proceeded on an “entirely wrong construction of Section 124A, and if the Federal Court had given their attention to Tilak’s case (1897) they should have recognised it as an authority… by which they were bound”.

With the advent of the Constitution of India on January 26, 1950, this interpretation of Section 124A became “the law in force immediately before the commencement of the Constitution”. It continued unaltered only because of the operation of Article 372 of the Constitution.

– Article 372 stated that all laws in force in the territory of India immediately before the commencement of the Constitution shall continue in force therein until altered or repealed or amended by a competent legislature or other competent authority.

In 1955, the Supreme Court held that the words “laws in force made by a legislature or other competent authority in the territory of India” in Article 13(3) of the Constitution could only mean a legislative authority.

In 1962, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court held that though Section 124A “clearly violated” the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression in Article 19(1)(a), it was not unconstitutional only because it was protected from challenge by the words “in the interests of public order” in Article 19(2).

A judicial course that calls for introspection

News: Recently, the Supreme Court of India ordered the release of A.G. Perarivalan, a convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

About the Case

The Governor had not taken a decision on the recommendation of remission by the State Cabinet for a long time.

After sitting over the recommendation for more than two years, the Governor eventually referred the matter to the President of India for his decision.

The Court has invoked the extraordinary constitutional route under Article 142, for grant of remission and consequent premature release, in order to do ‘complete justice’ in the case.

Arguments in favorof the decision

The decision has been hailed by some major political parties as a blow for federalism.

In Sriharan’s case (2016), the court held that murder under Section 302 in the IPC falls within Lists II and III (State and Concurrent lists) of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution. Therefore, the State was fully empowered to take a call and recommend remission in this case.

In the present case, the court held that it was a simple murder attracting Section 302 of the IPC. Therefore, the Governor’s decision to forward the recommendation to the President is against the letter and spirit of Article 161. Thus, it was against the spirit of federalism.

Why does the court’s decision to do expedient justice demand a constitutional call for introspection?

The decision has stirred up questions on constitutionality of the decision in the context of Article 142.

It seems to be a violation of the separation of powers viz. Executive and Judiciary. In the case, the Court’s bench has exercised the power which was exclusively conferred on the President of India and State Governors under Articles 72 and 161.

In Sriharan’s case (2016), the court held that the term ‘consultation’ stipulated in Section 435 Cr.P.C. implies ‘concurrence’ of the Central government. The remission would have trans-border ramifications and also a central agency was involved.

The entire investigation of the crime was by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) alone.

There are limits on the Governor’s competency (under Article 161), to grant pardon or remission in respect of the offences committed under the Arms Act, 1959, the Explosive Substances Act, 1908, the Passports Act, 1967, the Foreigners Act, 1946, etc.

The court’s reasoning in the present case amounted to reductionism and oversimplification. This is because the case involves commission of the heinous offence against the Indian state, trans-border repercussions and the integrity/security of the country.

The Bench of the SC invoked Article 142 of the Constitution to usurp the power of the Governor (another pillar of democracy) expressly conferred by Article 161 of the constitution on the Governor alone.

The Constitution itself does not lay down any timeframe for the Governor to act on the advice of the Council of Ministers. Therefore, this cannot be ground for the court’s decision for remission.

In such a case, a long consultative process was imperative due to filing of several litigations.

The Tamil Nadu State Assembly resolution and the consequent Cabinet recommendation was to ‘respect Tamil sentiment’. This ignores the sentiments of the victims of the crime

Way Forward

The verdict deserves a relook in the context of the Constitutional angle.

In Rajbala vs State of Haryana (2016), the SC wrote, “A judge should always bear in mind that erroneous and fallacious exercise of discretion is perceived by a visible collective i.e., We The people”.

The SC should also pay heed to the distressed cries of the real and imperceptible victims while evolving principles of constitutional moralism and justice dispensation.

GS Paper 3

India’s EV ambition rides on three wheels

Context: Three-wheeler EVs have come to dominate the EV landscape in India. Given the success of e-three-wheelers, it is worth taking a closer look at their dominant position, how they got here, and what India’s EV policy can do to sustain their success and extend it to the other categories.

Domination of three-wheelers in EV segment

Three-wheeler EVs like e-autos and e-rickshaws account for close to 65% of all EVs registered in India.

• In contrast, two-wheeler EVs come at a distant second with over 30% of registrations and passenger four-wheeler EVs at a meagre 2.5%.

Under the targets for FAME-II, e-three-wheelers have crossed over 4 lakh vehicles of the 5-lakh target since 2019. The numbers are expected to be higher given the prevalence of unregistered vehicles in India.

At the current rate, e-three-wheelers are expected to breach the 5-lakh target by 2023.

State wise trends of e-three-wheeler registrations in India

The EV registrations data show that Assam, Bihar, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal account for close to 80% of all e-three-wheeler registrations, with U.P. accounting for close to 40% of all registrations.

Of these five States, Assam, Delhi, U.P., and West Bengal have formalized EV policies while Bihar has a draft policy with a final policy due to be introduced later in 2022.

Indigenously designed and produced, e-three-wheelers like e-rickshaws have become a common sight in these States.

What are the reasons behind this growth?

State-specific factors

With financial assistance from FAME-II, local manufacturers have built a truly Indian EV with its unique design catering to Indian commuter needs. Costing between ₹1 lakh and ₹1.5 lakh, e-three-wheelers are produced by scores of local workshops and small enterprises and have come to dominate the e-three-wheeler market.

The EV policies put in place by these States as part of FAME-II have been instrumental in driving this growth. The focus of the EV policies of these five States is on accelerating adoption of EVs among consumers and promoting local manufacturing.

– All five States provide road tax exemption of 100% and on registration fees.

– Assam, Delhi and West Bengal have linked incentives to the battery size (in kWh) with additional benefits on interest rate on loans and scrappage incentives in some cases.

– U.P. offers 100% interest-free loans to State government employees for purchasing EVs in the State and 30% subsidy on the road price of EVs to families with a single girl child. To promote sales of EVs manufactured within the State, U.P. exempts SGST on all such vehicles.

– Bihar’s draft EV policy also focuses on adoption and manufacturing.

These States have performed exceptionally well in the FAME-II scheme and are on their way to achieve the target of 5 lakh e-three-wheelers.

High population density and shortage of affordable public transport in all these states, may also be contributing factors.

Overall factors

Developing both the demand and supply sides.

Subsidies, tax exemptions, and interest-free loans.

Why e-three-wheelers are more popular?

Inexpensive means of transport for millions, are easy to maintain, and have relatively low operating costs

The indigenous design allows for easy local manufacturing in workshops and small enterprises and makes them relatively easy to charge and maintain compared to their two-wheeler and four-wheeler counterparts.

Issues with e-two and four wheelers: This segment has problems both on the demand and supply side.

Since two-wheelers and four-wheelers are essentially associated with personal use, consumers are justifiably apprehensive in adopting such vehicles given the host of issues which come with it.

The recent incidents of fires in e-scooters have added to the apprehension.

Reliable manufacturers with proven track records in the two-wheeler and four-wheeler EV space in India are hard to come by.

This further adds to the supply side crunch and there are very few affordable offerings for the consumer.

Way forward

Subsequent EV policies must pay special attention to safety issues, and incorporate appropriate design and passenger safety standards.

State-level policies have led to an increasingly fragmented manufacturing industry with non-uniform standards. This fragmentation has led to legacy automakers struggling to compete with the large number of manufacturers in every State. EV policies must address this issue so that legacy automakers are not demotivated from competing in the e-three-wheeler space.

Future EV policies must therefore take into account the existing and emerging stakeholders on the demand and supply sides for effective implementation.

With the prevailing trajectory of EVs, India must take lessons from its e-three-wheeler success story to sustain its EV ambitions.

Guns and status: VIP security cover is a system that’s lost its moorings from professional threat assessment

Context: Singer and Punjab Congress politician Sidhu Moose Wala was murdered a day after his security cover was reduced. It has raised questions over the system of providing security to the VIPs.

As per data from the Bureau of Police Research and Development, more than 66,000 police personnel were providing protection to more than 19,000 ministers, MPs, MLAs, judges, bureaucrats, and others in 2019, in the Centre and states.

What is the mechanism to decide on the security cover for VIPs?

No real assessment of threat is done while providing or reducing or withdrawing the security cover.

Security covers are almost dependent upon the political favors by the people in power.

What are the implications of the absence of a system?

First, it has given birth to the VIP security culture, which is seen as a status symbol. This system is almost absent in other democracies.

Second, it has resulted in an irrational system of security cover. Bengal (~3000), Punjab (~2500) and Bihar top the list in the number of people under security cover, even though these states are not suffering from any entrenched insurgencies or violent movements. Whereas, Maoist-hit Chhattisgarh had only 315 people under security cover.

Third, India has 155.78 police personnel per lakh population, against the UN recommended standard of 222 cops per lakh. The bulk of this ‘protection force’ is drawn from state police ranks. Thus, it results in overworked police, which has its own implications.

Fourth, furthermore, the distribution of the police force is not even. It is leaving a major part of non-urban India being seriously under-policed.

Undoubtedly, protection is essential for a number of public figures. However, there is a lack of initiative to review this system, among people in power.

Opinion: How trade can boost India’s growth

News: India’s exports have reached $418 billion in FY 2021-22. These figures have surpassed the pre-pandemic level of $331 billion in FY 2018-19.

Status of India’s Exports

National

– Total merchandise trade, including imports of $610 billion, amounts to $1.28 trillion for FY 2021-22.

State-wise statistics

– As per the Export Preparedness Index (EPI) 2021 for Indian states, there were wide variations across the states due to high variation in trade policy, business ecosystem, export ecosystem and performance.

What were the driving forces?

The government’s proactive policy schemes, such as merchandise exports scheme, duty exemption scheme, export promotion capital goods, transport and marketing assistance scheme have helped the export sector.

In addition, the RBI’s gold card scheme and interest equalisation scheme and the export promotion council’s market access initiative were also useful. 

India’s Export Potential

The annual growth rate of India’s exports between 2011 to 2020 is a little over 1%. This is way below 3% and 4.2%, respectively, for China and Bangladesh.

According to India’s Trade Portal estimates, there are a huge difference in India’s exports potential and actual exports in many sectors, especially pharmaceuticals, gems and jewellery and chemicals.

India is endowed with a large share of the working-age population for the next couple of decades.

Importance of India’s Export

The revival of exports has provided relief at a time when major components of aggregate demand such as consumption and investment had been slowing down.

These milestones on the trade front are a sign of a rising India. It would certainly accelerate the growth.

The trade achievements are a sign of growing confidence in the Indian economy.

The acceleration of merchandise and services exports could potentially make the Indian economy a $5-trillion economy.

What are the opportunities?

Many of the manufacturing giants are moving away from the labour-intensive assembly of network products, which offers India an opportunity.

As the Economic Survey (2019-20) suggests, “assemble in India”, particularly in network products, will increase India’s share in world exports to 6% and create 80 million jobs.

What are the challenges/threats? 

Despite India’s offering of a big market and cheap manpower, the space vacated by manufacturing giants such as Japan, Korea, Malaysia and China have been captured by Vietnam, Bangladesh, Mexico and Thailand.

India’s rank in the logistics performance index is 44 while China’s rank is 26 and South Korea’s 25.

The price competitiveness of India’s exports is lower compared to China, South Korea and others. This is because the unit cost of a container of exports is significantly higher for India compared to others. 

Way Forward

It is time to address sector-specific and market-specific problems to fully capitalise on exports across sectors. India’s key strength is in labour-intensive manufacturing.

India has to increase its participation in global value chains (GVCs). India should capitalise on the “China+1” strategy, avoid protectionism and inverted duty structures.

India needs to find out the reasons which caused MNCs relocation to countries like Vietnam, Bangladesh and Mexico.

Work on institutions facilitating trade, processes for exports and imports and logistics.

Work upon reduction in trade and transaction costs as well as ensuring reliability and timely delivery, which is important to becoming part of GVCs.

There are also opportunities arising out of geo-political conflicts and the intention of the world to diversify its supply chain portfolio.

The states having scores below the national average should usher reforms like reducing red tape and complex laws including taxation.

The complexities of trade and business can be reduced by recently concluded FTAs with the UAE, and Australia. This will reduce tariffs and give market access. These FTAs may help in streamlining policies. Further, India is negotiating FTAs with the UK, GCC and Canada.

The government should bring down non-tariff barriers such as administrative fees, labelling requirements, anti-dumping duties and countervailing measures.

In addition to the merchandise exports, India should focus and diversify its services exports from IT and IES exports to other categories including travel and tourism and business, commercial and financial services.

How trade deals can take our beverages to global markets

News: Recently a study titled ‘Contribution of Non-alcoholic Beverage Sector to Indian Economic Growth & Atmanirbhar Bharat’ was released.

Findings of the study

The beverage processing in the country is low.

India’s 19th rank in terms of revenue in 2019 was below China and other developing countries like Mexico, Brazil, Indonesia, and Nigeria.

India’s Potential/Strength

India has a lot of strength in raw material availability, and is one of the largest global producers of horticulture products.

It leads the global production of bananas, mangoes, lemons, lime, papaya and also other ingredients needed for non-alcoholic beverage processing like milk and sugar.

India has a large and growing domestic market as well as export opportunities.

These can be key drivers for scaling up beverage processing as well as investment in research and development and product innovation.

What are the challenges?

Overall per capita sales revenue continues to be low, due to high prices. India hardly exports any beverages.

In 2020, India ranked 59th among global exporters of fruit and vegetable juices (HS code 2009), while Brazil ranked first. Further, foreign investment in the sector is only around 1% of the overall investment.

Less than 10% of the fruits grown in this country are used for beverage processing.

Around 25-30% of India’s fruits and vegetables are wasted along supply-chain paths. This figure is less than 10% in countries with strong beverage processing industries.

High GST rates: India’s GST rates are higher than countries with which it has trade agreements (or FTA plans). It impacts the competitiveness of its firms in export markets. For example, zero-sugar carbonated drinks and carbonated fruit-based drinks attract 40% tax (20% GST + 12% compensation cess) in India, whereas Australia has imposed a standard 10% tax on all goods.

In the past, India kept most of its food processing industry, including beverage processing, outside its trade pacts.

Importance of the sector

Beverage processing can help increase farmer incomes.

– For example, Apple supply chain participant farmers, after training by beverage companies, got a 20% higher yield per hectare, 5% higher prices, and 59% more income per harvest season vis-à-vis their counterparts in the same district.

Way Forward

The government incentives like the production linked incentive scheme can unleash our strength in beverage processing.

India can use trade agreements to seek greater market access for its exports.

– This should be a key area for discussion in trade agreements with the UK, Canada and the EU. For example, Countries like Brazil, China, Japan, the US, UK, Thailand and Mexico use their trade agreements to promote processed food exports (including non-alcoholic beverages).

Given its strength in raw materials, India needs to enhance its domestic manufacturing capabilities at a fast pace. Further, India should adopt a well-planned export strategy to promote Brand India in export markets.

There should be rationalization of GST on carbonated sugar-sweetened beverages, zero-sugar drinks and nutritious/essential drinks like fruit juices and packaged water among others.

The rationalization will increase domestic market sales, enhance tax revenue collections from the sector, and enable our companies to scale up and export.

– For example, Denmark’s residents used to travel to neighbouring countries to purchase untaxed sugary foods and beverages. However, when Denmark scrapped the sugar tax, the government earned more, reduced sales of illegal soft drinks, increased investment in manufacturing, and stopped people crossing the border to buy cheaper soda.

Is it time for India to go for competitiveness legislation?

News: Recently, Cuts International, Institute for Competitiveness and Institute for Studies in Industrial Development published a white paper on ‘Improving India’s Competitiveness for Inclusive Economic Growth’. It discussed some of the pillars for improving and sustaining India’s competitiveness.

What are the economic reforms discussed?

It includes digital growth, trade policy reforms and a mix of inward and outward looking measures.

The economic reforms can help in fulfilling the agenda of alleviating poverty and creating better jobs.

What are the issues?

There is an inherent lack of cohesion between various ministries, departments and agencies working towards competitiveness. For example, the ministry of commerce and industry has two departments, both entrusted for different aspects.

The National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council could not make any impact.

What are the pillars for improving India’s competitiveness for inclusive economic growth?

There is a need for a ‘whole of government’ approach, within the Centre, and with and among states.

A robust institutional structure is essential for achieving business competitiveness, capacity building, supply chain resilience and negotiating free trade agreements (FTAs).

There is a need for a law and an institution which can persuade all organizations to pursue competitiveness. It requires policy convergence of both inward and outward looking policies through an overarching legislation with a supervisory body. India can take a cue from the US Competes Act, an umbrella legislation that covers all US policies aimed for global economic leadership.

Other key areas include information and communication technology (ICT), 6G technology.

Exports of goods and services depend on robust domestic linkages and production capacity.

There is a need for strengthening of trade linkages and our industrial base to limit inverted duty structures.

Action is also needed on non-tariff factors: incentivize innovation, strengthen the intellectual property regime, reduce logistical costs and ease the running of a business.

India must also leverage advanced technologies such as 6G, Internet of Things and blockchain.

Way Forward

A National Competitiveness Commission under a new law would provide a robust forum for policy dialogue. It would also ensure proper policy implementation in India.

India’s priorities are competitiveness enhancement, self-reliance and exports-led growth. The administrative reforms act as enablers.

The idea of competitiveness-focused legislation needs to be floated and acted upon. It would enable India to carve out a position for itself on the global stage.

In India, the Centre announced a ₹76,000 crore package for semiconductors by way of its production linked incentive (PLI) scheme.

India is trying to boost its manufacturing capacity through Atmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India. India can strengthen its global forward and backward linkages through the supply chain resilience initiative (SCR) and collaboration with other ASEAN countries in the Indo-Pacific region.

India’s department of telecom (DoT) has constituted six task forces on 6G Technology.

The MEA’s New, emerging and strategic technologies (NEST) division promotes national interests and ensures India’s active participation in international forums on technology governance.

The multiple ministries and departments involved in various functional aspects should talk to each other in a meaningful way.

Not by autonomy alone

News: Recently, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and other political leaders have demanded for making agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) more autonomous.

This has also raised questions on the poor state of state police forces.

What are the issues in the State Police forces?

(1) In fact, almost all the State governments have done nothing to free their own police forces from political interference.

(2) The police machinery and infrastructure have been inherited from the British. These are deeply colonised entities that cannot enforce the law without draconian powers.

– For example, the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act or UAPA, the anti-dowry, anti-domestic violence and SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act etc. Further, the Observer Research Foundation has published that there are 26,134 clauses in various laws that call for imprisonment of corporate offenders.

(3) There is a lack of political consensus and understanding among the police forces about the fair application of the rule of law.

– For example, when the Supreme Court tried to dilute some of the draconian clauses of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. It led to a huge political outcry, and the law was amended to make arrests compulsory if any offence is alleged.

(4) The multiple cases of vigilante justice suggests that public faith in the police force’s ability to deliver on law and order and justice is weak. Mobs and crowds sometimes tend to take the law in their own hands because they do not expect the police to do their jobs with diligence. A Lokniti Survey 2018 found that less than 25% of the 15,000 people who responded across 22 states said they had trust in the police.

(5) Our police forces are simply not equipped to be effective. They are underfunded, understaffed and incapable of doing their jobs even when they want to. The politicians seeking to get elected choose to spend more of the state resources on freebies and “private goods”, and not “public goods” like policing and law and order.

(6) The UN-recommended police-to-population ratio is 222 per 1,00,000 population. India’s police-to-population ratio is well below 150. In the poorer states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, and even West Bengal, this ratio is lower, below 100 per 1,00,000 population.

Way Forward

Short-term

There is a dire need for reinventing the methods of policing. The technology like drones, street cameras, bodycams, monitoring of social media websites, and facial-recognition software etc. should be deployed.

The key to effective policing lies in developing deep information linkages with India’s multiple communities of caste, religion and tribe. The police need to develop an information base. The network should be based on the Dunbar principle i.e., to gather intelligence on smaller, homogeneous groups, and use artificial and human intelligence. It will help in predictive policing. The police can take proactive action to prevent trouble.

The police will be better served if it monitors and gathers deep information on smaller groups in the population, rather than just blindly relying on numbers or technology to do their jobs.

Much of the policing has to be done by the communities themselves, and not just by the men in uniform or police personnel.

Long-Term solutions

There is a need for expanding the number of police personnel or ensuring that an adequate amount of the funding goes to police machinery. For instance, India probably needs at least one million more men in uniform.

The government should take steps for de-politicisation and the reform of police administration and staffing.

Prelims Oriented Articles (Factly)

Explained: Astra Mk-1 air-to-air missile — features, strategic significance

What is the News?

The Ministry of Defence has signed a contract with the Hyderabad-based Bharat Dynamics Ltd(BDL) for the supply of the Astra Mark-1 for deployment on fighter jets of the Indian Air Force and Indian Navy. 

What is Astra Mark-1?

The Astra Mk-1 is a beyond visual range(BVR) air-to-air missile (AAM).

Note: BVM missiles are capable of engaging beyond the range of 20 nautical miles or 37 kilometres. AAMs are fired from an airborne asset to destroy an airborne target.

Developed and designed by: The Defense Research and Development Organization(DRDO) for deployment on fighter jets like Sukhoi-30 MKI and Tejas of the IAF and the Mig-29K of the Navy.

Range: 110 km.

Speed: The missile can travel at speeds more than four times that of sound and can reach a maximum altitude of 20 km making it extremely flexible for air combat.

Significance: ​​AAMs with BVR capability provides large stand-off ranges to fighter aircraft. This can neutralize adversary airborne assets without exposing themselves to adversary air defence measures. 

Note: Stand-off range means the missile is launched at a distance sufficient to allow the attacking side to evade defensive fire from the target.

Source: The post is based on the article “Explained: Astra Mk-1 air-to-air missile — features, strategic significance” published in Indian Express on 1st June 2022.

Explained: How India, Bangladesh are rebooting their rail link

What is the News?

India and Bangladesh are rebooting their rail links by launching several rail services between the two countries.

What are the rail links launched between India and Bangladesh?

Passenger Trains

Bandhan Express: It was resumed by rebooting a long-forgotten rail link between Kolkata and the industrial hub of Khulna, the third-largest city of Bangladesh. In 1965, this route was served by the Barisal Express which was stopped due to the India-Pakistan war. 

Maitree Express: It runs between Kolkata and Dhaka Cantonment.

Mitali Express: It will connect New Jalpaiguri in North Bengal with Dhaka. This train was announced by PM during his visit to Dhaka in March 2021.

Freight Trains

Haldibari-Chilahati Rail Link: In August 2021, India and Bangladesh inaugurated a railway link between Haldibari in India and Chilahati in Bangladesh. This rail link was part of the Broad Gauge main route from Kolkata to Siliguri. However, the war of 1965 effectively cut off all the railway links.

The other rail links which are operational between India and Bangladesh are — Petrapole (India) – Benapole (Bangladesh); Gede (India) – Darshana (Bangladesh); Singhabad (India)-Rohanpur (Bangladesh); and Radhikapur (India)–Birol (Bangladesh).

Source: The post is based on the article “Explained: How India, Bangladesh are rebooting their rail link” published in Indian Express on 1st June 2022.

Health Ministry issues norms to tackle monkeypox

What is the News?

The Ministry of Health has released “Guidelines on Management of Monkeypox Disease”.

What is Monkeypox?

Click Here to read about it

What is the natural host of Monkeypox?

The natural reservoir of the virus is yet unknown. But certain rodents (including rope squirrels, tree squirrels, Gambian pouched rats, and dormice) and non-human primates are known to be naturally susceptible to monkeypox.

What are the countries in which Monkeypox has been detected so far?

Monkeypox has been reported as endemic in several central and western African countries such as Cameroon, Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo and Sierra Leone. 

However, cases have also been reported in certain non-endemic countries — The USA, United Kingdom, Belgium, France, Germany, and Italy among others.

What are the key features of the Guidelines on Monkeypox?

A person suspected to have the Monkeypox must have a history of travel to the affected countries in the last 21 days, an unexplained rash and one of the other symptoms.

Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) – a network that tracks infectious diseases in the country – has been asked to remain alert about the cases.

International travellers to countries reporting cases of monkeypox have been advised to not come in close contact with sick persons and dead or live wild animals. They have also been asked not to consume the meat of wild animals or use creams, lotions or powder made of it.

The airport health authorities have been asked to familiarize themselves with symptoms of monkeypox and conduct strict thermal screening and history of travel.

Source: The post is based on the article “Health Ministry issues norms to tackle monkeypox” published in The Hindu on 1st June 2022.

Killer Asteroids Are Hiding in Plain Sight.A New Tool Helps Spot Them

What is the News?

A former NASA astronaut has developed a tool that could help us find killer asteroids. 

What is the tool developed to detect killer asteroids?

The tool developed doesn’t rely on a new telescope or even new observations. Instead, it looked at older images stored in the digital archives at the National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory(NOIRLAB). 

Then, the researchers let the algorithm get to work searching 412,000 different images. The goal was to separate out possible killer asteroids from over 68 billion dots of cosmic light showcased in the images.

In essence, the researchers developed a way to discover what has already been seen but not noticed.

Note: Killer asteroids, simply mean that they are asteroids capable of killing thousands, if not millions, were they to impact the Earth. It does not necessarily mean that they are on a collision course for Earth.

Source: The post is based on the article “Killer Asteroids Are Hiding in Plain Sight. A New Tool Helps Spot Them” published in Indian Express on 1st June 2022.

Machine learning helps predict new materials for nano alloys, semiconductors & rare earths

What is the News?

Scientists have used machine learning to develop a design map of alloys at the nanoscale which can help predict the match of pairs of metals that can form bimetallic nanoalloys.

What are Nanoalloys?

Nano alloys are those in which one metal forms the core and another stays on the surface like a shell. These are also called core-shell nanocluster alloys.

These are a new frontier in the quest of scientists for new materials and have applications in biomedicine and other areas.

What is the issue with Nanoalloys?

It is important to know under what conditions core-shell structures are formed in the nanocluster alloys and which metal forms the core and which stays on the surface like a shell. 

A number of factors like cohesive energy difference, atomic radius difference, surface energy difference and electronegativity of the two atoms may play a part in the core and shell preference of the atoms.

For instance, the periodic table has 95 metals of different categories ranging from alkalis to alkaline earth which can potentially form 4465 pairs. It is experimentally impossible to determine how they behave in forming nanocluster alloys. 

But machine learning can be programmed to predict the behaviour of these pairs. The machine is taught to recognise patterns by feeding in a number of patterns with well-defined attributes. 

However, scientists faced a stumbling block as Machine Learning could not be applied with confidence on small data sets of sizes less than or around 100.

How was this problem solved by researchers?

Researchers circumvented this problem by calculating the Surface-to-core relative energy on a variety of possible binary combinations of alkali metals, alkaline earth, basic metals, transition metals and p-block metals to create a large data set of 903 binary combinations

Source: The post is based on the article “Machine learning helps predict new materials for nano alloys, semiconductors & rare earths” published in PIB on 31st May 2022.

The story behind the GDP-GVA Gap

What is the News?

According to the data released by the government, the two measures of India’s economy— ‘gross value added’ and ‘gross domestic product’—have grown at widely different paces. 

What is the difference between GVA & GDP?

GDP calculates national income by adding up all expenditures in the economy. On the other hand, GVA calculates the national income from the supply side by looking at the value-added in each sector of the economy.

The two measures of national income are linked as follows:

GDP = GVA + Taxes earned by the government — subsidies provided by the government

For instance, if the government earned more from taxes than it spent on subsidies, GDP will be higher than GVA. 

But if the government provided subsidies in excess of its tax revenues, the absolute level of GVA would be higher than that of GDP.

Hence, simply put, GDP provides the demand side of the economy and GVA the supply side.

What explains the gap between GDP & GVA?

In FY21, GDP growth lagged GVA growth as the Centre brought onto the books several years of dues owed to the Food Corporation of India. Food subsidy costs ballooned in one go in a year when tax collections were severely hit due to the lockdown. This created a massive gap between the GDP and GVA. 

In FY22, Tax Collections grew at a rapid pace(28%) due to a quick recovery in economic activity, while subsidies, despite remaining elevated, fell by over a third due to the base effect. This resulted in GDP growing 8.7%, while GVA rose just 8.1%.

Was the GDP & GVA gap there before FY21?

Yes. Overall, GDP  tends  to  be higher  than  GVA as tax collections often remain bigger than subsidy payouts.

Will the GDP-GVA divergence continue?

Skyrocketing price pressures have forced the Center to announce a slew of measures from tax cuts to additional subsidies, both of which will weigh on GDP in FY23. 

Moreover, additional subsidies worth ₹2.0 trillion would inflate GVA, while fuel tax cuts may pull GDP down unless tax revenue from other channels bridges the gap. 

However, the real impact will not be known until the statistics ministry comes out with the second advanced estimate of the GDP next year.

Source: The post is based on the article “The story behind the GDP-GVA Gap” published in Livemint on 1st June 2022.

ICCR’s Gen Next Democracy Network programme concludes

What is the News?

Ten day’s Gen Next Democracy Network programme of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations(ICCR) has concluded.

What is Gen Next Democracy Network programme?

Launched by: Indian Council for Cultural Relations(ICCR).

Under the programme, youth from democratic countries come to India to get acquainted with India’s heritage, culture and functioning of Indian democracy.

In 2022, youths from six countries-Ghana, Bangladesh, Peru, Nepal, Brunei and Norway visited India.

Source: The post is based on the article “ICCR’s Gen Next Democracy Network programme concludes” published in AIR on 30th May 2022.

Explained: What is liquid nano urea, produced by IFFCO, which can potentially revolutionize the use of nitrogen fertilizers in India?

What is the News?

The Prime Minister has officially inaugurated the country’s first liquid nano urea plant at Kalol, Gujarat.

What is Liquid Nano Urea?

It is essentially urea in the form of a nanoparticle. Urea is chemical nitrogen fertilizer, white in colour which artificially provides nitrogen, a major nutrient required by plants.

Purpose: It has been developed to reduce the burden of urea subsidy, reduce the unbalanced and indiscriminate use of conventional urea, increase crop productivity and reduce soil, water, and air pollution.

Developed by: Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative (IFFCO)’s Nano Biotechnology Research Center(NBRC) at Kalol.

What are the advantages of Liquid Nano Urea over Conventional Urea?

Higher Efficiency: While conventional urea has an efficiency of about 25%, the efficiency of liquid nano urea can be as high as 85-90%. 

Gets Directly absorbed by plant: Conventional urea fails to have the desired impact on crops as it is often applied incorrectly and the nitrogen in it is vaporized or lost as a gas. On the other hand, liquid nano urea is sprayed directly on the leaves and gets absorbed by the plant. 

Higher Shelf Life: Liquid nano urea has a shelf life of a year and farmers need not be worried about “caking” when it comes in contact with moisture.

No Burden of Urea Subsidy: Liquid nano urea produced by IFFCO comes in a half-litre bottle priced at Rs 240, and carries no burden of subsidy currently. By contrast, a farmer pays around Rs 300 for a 50-kg bag of heavily subsidized urea.

Source: The post is based on the article “Explained: What is liquid nano urea, produced by IFFCO, which can potentially revolutionize the use of nitrogen fertilizers in India?” published in Indian Express on 1st June 2022.