9 PM Daily Current Affairs Brief – May 15th, 2023
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GS PAPER - 2
This strategic-economic bloc will only tighten the leash
Source- The post is based on the article “This strategic-economic bloc will only tighten the leash” published in “The Hindu” on 15th May 2023.
Syllabus: GS2- International relations
News- India is negotiating the U.S.-driven Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF).
Why is India prioritising free trade bloc that include the US rather than China?
The one clear difference is China versus the U.S. India’s top foreign policy priority is developing a strategic partnership with the US. Its relationship with China has further deteriorated.
The big economic fear in the case of Chinja is the free trade deal’s impact on India’s manufacturing sector due to cheap Chinese goods.
What are issues related to IPEF?
The economic issues with the U.S. have been no less problematic. These are related to agriculture, intellectual property, labour and environment standards, and the digital economy.
Strategic partnership is not about accepting a completely U.S. self-interest-driven economic framework that does not suit India’s current economic interests.
Traditionally, trade deals used to be mostly about tariffs. But issues related to intellectual property, services, investment, domestic regulation, digital, and labour and environmental standards, are becoming more important.
The U.S. ‘s IPEF proposal is entirely about all these other areas. The U.S. has also found a tariffs-free trade deal as a good way to deal with the resistance of many countries to free trade agreements.
IPEF’s ‘new age’ language itself is the biggest trap. As per experts, the IPEF would result in a complete control over the economic systems of the participating countries by the US.
The IPEF is about developing a strategic-economic bloc. It is about an integrated economic system centred on the U.S. that excludes China.
The systemic integration caused by the IPEF’s will leave little room for domestic policies to help a country’s own industrialisation.
Developing country trade negotiators are used to the traditional language of free trade agreements. They find it quite difficult to understand and respond to the IPEF’s language.
IPEF is proposed to be concluded by November 2023, and real engagements only began late last year. Traditional free trade agreements take years to conclude. The US is rushing through IPEF.
What are the long-term economic implications of IPEF?
In the long run, IPEF will have a stronger effect on economic and trade flows. In the digitalising world, giving up policy spaces in key areas such as digital, labour and environment, and export constraints, would take the form of an economic dependency.
The IPEF can have implications in agriculture, in terms of genetically modified seeds and food. It could mean surrendering policy space for regulating Big Tech.
The country can compromise a comparative advantage in manufacturing due to unfair labour and environment standards.
It will also seriously affect India’s ability to create a vibrant domestic ecosystem in emerging areas such as a digital economy and green products.
GS PAPER - 3
Why India went nuclear 25 years ago
Contents
Source: The post is based on the article “Why India went nuclear 25 years ago” published in the Indian Express on 15th May 2023.
Syllabus: GS – 3: indigenization of technology and developing new technology.
Relevance: About India’s nuclear test.
News: This year marks the 25th year of Pokhran nuclear test.
About the Pokhran nuclear test
India carried out a series of three nuclear detonations. These included a 45 KT (kiloton) thermonuclear device, a 15 KT fission device and a 0.2 sub KT device. India declared itself a nuclear weapon state on May 11, 1998. A second test followed two days later and having attained the requisite degree of techno-strategic capability. Following that, India announced a self-imposed moratorium on further testing.
The US denounced India for refusing to be bounded as a non-nuclear weapon state under the strictures of the NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty). The US and most of its allies imposed sanctions on India. South Asia was described as the “most dangerous” place in the world and humiliation was poured on India.
Read more: India nuclear regime after Pokhran-II Nuclear test |
Why India became a nuclear power?
China as nuclear power: China acquired its nuclear weapon in October 1964 to address its insecurity in relation to the US and the former USSR.
China – Pakistan coalition: Soon, in the mid-1960s, China and Pakistan entered into an opaque strategic partnership focused on nuclear weapons to advance their shared security interests that were hostile to India. Pakistani scientists who had access to Western nuclear technology shared their designs and blueprints with their Chinese counterparts.
Experts maintain that Pakistan acquired the nuclear weapon in the late 1980s, courtesy to China. This enabled a secret test to validate the warhead design in Lop Nor in May 1990.
Read more: Aligning the triad: On India’s nuclear deterrence |
How does India view a nuclear-powered state?
The US and USSR in the Cold War envisaged nuclear power as a counterforce strategy. But, India, on the other hand, sees the nuclear weapon has a single purpose — the core mission — to deter the use of a similar capability. This is visible in India’s No First Use policy.
At a time when the nuclear policies of other countries rattling and becoming more pronounced, India’s commitment to pristine deterrence and nuclear restraint should remain persistent.
India’s nuclear policy aids the extended southern Asian region and brings China and Pakistan to the negotiation table. This will be a test of Indian acumen.
Read more: ‘No First Use’ nuclear policy depends on circumstances: Rajnath Singh |
What should be done?
The introduction of the CDS (chief of defence staff) is a work in progress. So, the civil-military command and control needs to be regularly reviewed and simulation exercises conducted.
The role of the Defence Minister in the Indian nuclear ladder needs to be reviewed as part of the rewiring of the higher defence management pyramid.
Read more: India’s nuclear doctrine after 25 years of Pokhran – Explained, pointwise |
Women-dependency of Indian agriculture: Gender discrimination in farms
Contents
Source: The post is based on the article “Gender discrimination in farms” published in the Business Standard on 15th May 2023.
Syllabus: GS – 3: Inclusive growth and issues arising from it.
Relevance: About women-dependency of Indian agriculture.
News: Indian agriculture is becoming increasingly women-dependent.
About the women-dependency of Indian agriculture
Various research studies and data compiled through agriculture censuses and various surveys found that,
-About 80% of the country’s economically active female population is employed in the farm sector. Women comprise about one-third of the agricultural labour force, and nearly 48% of self-employed farmers.
-Nearly 95% of animal husbandry-related work is performed by women. Their involvement in the production of field crops is 75%, and that of horticultural crops 79%. More than 50% of post-harvest activities are carried out by women.
On the whole, the work participation rate for women is 41.8% in rural areas against 35.31% in urban areas.
Must read: FEMINIZATION OF INDIAN AGRICULTURE |
What are the various reasons for increasing women-dependency in Indian agriculture?
Migration of men: More men are migrating from villages in search of paid employment because of the fragmentation and shrinking of land holdings. So, the management of small and marginal farms is becoming the responsibility of women. For example, the Economic Survey 2017-18 maintained that growing rural-to-urban migration by men was leading to “feminisation” of the agriculture sector.
Low payment: Typically, female labour is employed in farms for low-skilled but labour-intensive jobs. Besides being hard-working, women are generally preferred over men because they are willing to accept low-paid irregular employment.
Nature of jobs: Women are deemed ideally suited for work like grass cutting, weeding, collecting cotton sticks, detaching fibre from cotton seeds, and de-husking grains. They also look after domestic animals and make value-added products like curd, butter, and ghee, and dealing with gobar (cowdung).
Significantly, there are a few intricate farm operations which require some training, for which women are deemed more suitable than men. For instance, producing hybrid cotton seeds, transplanting paddy, etc.
What are the challenges associated with women-dependency in Indian agriculture?
a) The ownership of farms in official land records is mostly in the names of males, b) The bulk of the benefits of government welfare schemes tend to accrue to men — as land pattas (titles) are in their names, c) Women are often denied access to credit because of lack of ownership of land, property, or other assets to serve as collateral, d) Women face difficulties in getting membership of cooperative societies or farmers producer organisations (FPOs), e) Women labourers are paid lower wages than men for doing the same kind of work, f) Women are not considered for decision-making in agri activities.
Read more: The multidimensional factors behind informalisation of female workforce |
What should be done to utilise women-dependency in Indian agriculture?
Women’s empowerment through enhanced access to resources like land, property, credit, technology, and training is essential to ameliorate the plight of rural women and improve their calibre to serve as engines of agricultural growth lies.
According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), farm output in developing countries can be raised by 2.5 to 4% by ensuring men and women equal access to resources, skill development, and opportunities in agriculture. So, the role played by women in the agricultural value chain farm development policies needs to be gender-sensitive.
Specialised farm implements and equipment, designed with female ergometry in view, are needed to reduce the physical strain of strenuous work on farm women.
Incentivising ownership of land and property in the name of women by offering concessions in registration fees and other charges can help in empowering women. The government should facilitate access to benefits in government welfare programmes.
Information warfare and its limitations
Source: The post is based on the article “Information warfare and its limitations” published in Business Standard on 15th May 2023.
Syllabus: GS 3 – Role of Media and Social Networking Sites in Internal Security Challenges
Relevance: concerns associated with social media
News: The article discusses the concerns associated with the advancement of social media and technology.
What are the concerns with the advancement of technology?
Technological advancement has created a whole new world of possibilities for information warfare.
Authoritarian countries are employing technology to intervene in other countries without directly interfering with them.
This information warfare has made people believe false information while it is also being misused for one’s national interest.
For example, a Russian firm named “Internet Research Agency” (IRA) and other Russian agents have run campaigns to push the Brexit referendum in favour of Russia and to push US presidential elections in favour of Donald Trump, etc.
In both the above cases, Russia used information warfare for its own benefit without involving both countries. These information warfare methods have scaled up and industrialized.
Even in India information warfare is used to run internet-based campaigns. These campaigns influence the people over certain political parties and gain trust in them.
What does the future of information warfare look like, and how can people protect themselves against it?
The media has split into two – an elite media supported by subscriptions versus a mass market based on clickbait. The elite media is more immune to information warfare.
Therefore, it lies in the hands of people to opt for the type of media they want.
If they are looking for trusted information, they should buy subscriptions of elite media and stop using mass and social media to gather information. Otherwise, there are chances that people will get trapped into the conspiracy theories of social media.
Moreover, with the improvements in machine learning and large language models (LLM), information warfare is becoming worse.
Further, hiring someone who could produce convincing fake news used to be expensive in India and a lot of the fake information was identifiable through the embedded cultural markers. However, these protections have declined in India.
What lies ahead?
Information warfare might become less disruptive in the coming time because there has been a rise in trustable sources along with a rise in awareness amongst the people.
Further, with the rise of LLM-free knowledge and people becoming skeptical about the news on social media, information warfare might have less influence on the people in the future.
The nutritional value of millets
Contents
Source: The post is based on the article “The nutritional value of millets” published in The Hindu on 15th May 2023.
Syllabus: GS 3 – Agriculture
Relevance: About Millets
News: The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has declared 2023 to be the ‘International Year of Millets’.
What are millets?
Read Here: India’s Wealth: Millet For Health – Explained
In 2021-2022, India accounted for 40.51% of the world’s pearl millet production and 8.09% of sorghum.
Why are millets preferred?
Read Here: Millet Production in India – Explained
What are the types of nutrition present in the millets?
Foxtail millet is rich in the amino acid lysine; finger millet has more crude fibre than wheat and rice; proso millet has a significant amount of the amino acids’ leucine, isoleucine, and methionine.
Where are these nutrients stored?
Each millet kernel consists of three major parts, called pericarp, endosperm, and germ.
The pericarp has an outer covering called the husk. The husk and pericarp together protect the kernel from bad weather, disease, and physical injury.
The endosperm is the largest part of the kernel and its storage centre. It has a protein covering called aleurone.
The endosperm is relatively poor in mineral matter, ash and oil content but a major contributor to the kernel’s protein (80%), starch (94%) and B-complex vitamins (50-75%).
Similarly, pearl millet has a relatively larger germ, which is rich in oil (32%), protein (19%) and ash (10.4%), with over 72% of the total mineral matter.
How does processing affect the nutrients?
Processing and preparing millets for consumption can affect nutrients in three ways — enhance them, suppress/remove them, and ignore them.
Removing the Husk: The husk is removed from the grains because it is composed of cellulosic matter that the human body cannot digest. However, according to one study when husk was removed from pearl millets, their phytic acid and polyphenol contents dropped.
Decorticating the grain: Decorticating refers to removal of any other outer covering which exposes the seed. Studies have found mechanical and hand-worked decortication removed crude and dietary fibre from the grain.
However, decortication makes the grain more edible and visually attractive.
Milling and Sieving: While milling grind the grains into flour, sieving removes large impurities, including bran. Studies have found the longer the grains were milled, the more protein, fat, and fibre contents were removed.
Sieving made the flour more digestible and its nutrients more accessible to the body. However, it also reduced nutrient content due to the loss of bran.
Germination and fermentation: These refer to soaking grains in water for an extended duration. It showed a positive improvement in the overall nutritional characteristics of millets.
Polishing: Polishing is the process of transforming brown rice into white rice by rubbing off the bran and germ. Studies have found that polishing removed 8-10% of grain weight and also removed 60-80% of iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and manganese.
However, rice polishing is considered desirable because most consumers favour the resulting taste and texture and prefer the shorter cooking time while it benefits retailers with longer shelf-life.
How to weather-proof food security
Source- The post is based on the article “How to weather-proof food security” published in “The Hindu” on 15th May 2023.
Syllabus: GS 3- Indian economy – Pricing and inflation
News – There is a degree of comfort in the corridors of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as the consumer price index (CPI) inflation figure for April 2023 slid to 4.7 percent, and food price inflation has fallen to even lower, 3.84 percent.
What is the inflation scenario of the country?
The food and beverages component in the Indian CPI has a weightage of 45.86%. Managing this component to around 4% is critical to control overall inflation.
This component of inflation cannot be managed only through monetary policy, nor even by fiscal policy. It is often triggered by external shocks, such as droughts and breakdown of supply chains.
There is a possibility of El Nino, and it could cause below-normal rainfall, even a drought. All droughts since 1947 have been El Nino years, but all El Nino years are not necessarily drought years. IMD’s revised forecast about the monsoon will clear the picture.
The unseasonal rains are also not good for agriculture.
The biggest crop of the kharif season is rice. Rice inflation for April was 11.4% Wheat inflation is still very high at 15.5%. The overall cereal and products inflation is still at an uncomfortable level of 13.7%.
There is a concern about milk and milk products. Inflation in this category in is also high. It has the highest contributions amongst all commodities.
Experts give two reasons for this inflation. Lumpy skin disease had its impact. The milk production growth rate collapsed to almost zero in FY23.
The fodder price inflation has been very high, between 20 and 30%, in recent months. Both these factors have been straining milk prices. These are not likely to come down this fiscal in the business-as-usual scenario.
How high inflation in rice and wheat can be easily managed by the government?
More than 800 million people are getting free rice and wheat under the PM-Garib Kalyan Yojana. So, they are well protected from cereal inflation.
The rice stocks with the FCI are more than three times the buffer stock norms for rice.
If the government wants to control rice price inflation, it can unload 5 million tonnes of rice from the Central Pool in open market operations, and easily bring down the rice inflation to around 4%.
What is the way forward to control the food and beverages inflation?
There is a need to focus on cereal and milk inflation. Both have high weights in CPI. The policy instruments to keep their inflation around 4% are the buffer stocking policy and import policy.
There is a need to lower import duties on fat and skimmed milk. These are currently at 40% for fat and 60% for skimmed milk powder. Indian prices of SMP and fat are much higher than the global prices. That could help in reining milk and milk product prices.
These policy actions must be pre-emptive in nature and not reactive to the event. There is a lag of two to three months for these policy actions to show their results.
India’s Quantum dreams: The impact of tech on economy could be significant
Contents
Source- The post is based on the article “India’s Quantum dreams: The impact of tech on economy could be significant” published in the “Business Standard” on 15th May 2023.
Syllabus: GS3- Awareness in the field of IT and computers
News– National Quantum Mission was approved by the Union Cabinet in April, with a total outlay of ~6,003 crore over the next six years. The investments will be directed towards research and development and creating an innovative ecosystem in quantum technology.
What is the progress of the country in the field of quantum technology?
As per Nasscom, numerous players are actively engaged in this field. It includes 10-15 government agencies, 20-30 service providers, 15-20 start-ups, and 40-50 academic institutions.
About 92% of 100 projects initiated in India as of February 2022 are government-sponsored. The projects are operated by remote access to quantum computers through cloud platforms provided by companies like IBM, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon.
IBM was the first company to make an actual quantum computer available on the cloud in 2016. IBM has been playing a pivotal role in India’s quantum computing journey.
Since 2021, IBM has prioritised access to quantum computing to boost quantum programming skills in India. By installing Qiskit and some Application Programming Interfaces, anyone can start programming.
BosonQ Psi became the first start-up from India to join the IBM Quantum Network.
What is the potential of quantum technology for India?
India may achieve quantum advantage where quantum computers outperform classical supercomputers within the next year or two.
This can solve many problems at the scale of India’s population. It can identify fraudulent transactions from billions of digital transactions.
The impact of quantum technologies on India’s economy could be significant. Nasscom’s study suggests that widespread adoption of quantum technology across industries could contribute $280-310 billion to the Indian economy by 2030.
The technology may reach critical maturity by 2026–2027. It can lead to an increase in enterprise adoption.
What can be various potential uses of quantum technology?
Quantum technology can solve crucial problems in finance, chemistry, life sciences, and
logistics. It is already helping enterprises.
Quantum computing can provide better solutions to complex optimization problems. It can explore problems in chemistry and pharma related to protein folding and drug design.
The next-generation computing methods can unlock new scientific possibilities in areas like computational chemistry for new materials and energy solutions to address climate change.
Quantum computing can have application in currency arbitrage, credit scoring and portfolio optimisation for a client in the financial services domain.
What is the way forward for India in the field of quantum technology?
Quantum computing is still in its early stages globally, but India cannot afford to ignore its role in it.
Countries across the world are going to have quantum encryption. India cannot afford to be without it. India will have to develop them indigenously.
A quantum industry is going to develop all over the world. It is important to have a partnership with that industry.
Digital India’s two realities: A yawning gap between tech use & tech skills
Contents
- 1 What are major insights from Multiple Indicator Surveys for 2020-21, published by the NSSO about the digital divide in India?
- 2 How has digital technology impacted the job market in India?
- 3 What are the challenges related to skilling in digital technology?
- 4 What are some positive things about India’s future in IT skill development?
Source- The post is based on the article “Digital India’s two realities: A yawning gap between tech use & tech skills” published in the “Business Standard” on 15th May 2023.
Syllabus: GS3- Economy.
News– The article explains the issues of digital divide and skilling in digital technology in India
What are major insights from Multiple Indicator Surveys for 2020-21, published by the NSSO about the digital divide in India?
More than 70% of Indian youth aged between 15 and 29 cannot send emails with files
attached. Nearly 60 per cent cannot copy and move a file or folder. Over 80% cannot transfer files between a computer and other devices.
Only 8.6% can create electronic presentations with presentation software. The data shows that the Indian youth fares poorly in most of the basic ICT skills.
How has digital technology impacted the job market in India?
As per a recently published report by the WEF, in the next five years, the churn in Indian labour markets will be led by technology-driven sectors.
Jobs in fields such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, data analysts and scientists, and data entry clerks will lead to this labour churn.
“Labour-market churn” refers to the expected job movement being created, and existing roles destroyed as a proportion of current employment.
Generative artificial intelligence is emerging as the next frontier in tech and IT skills. Firms have already begun hiring for new roles such as prompt engineers, AI trainer, ethics coach.
Job roles involving generative AIs will not require candidates to be trained in hardcore computer engineering skills. Instead, candidates from the humanities stream, with English or history as their majors, will be better able to use these natural language tools.
Technology has influenced our daily lives and we have become used to technology. The use of personal tech has become second nature to those born between the late 2000s and early 2010s.
There remains a massive demand-and-supply gap for computer skills. There exists a wide gap in tech-skilling in tier 2 and tier 3 cities.
Only about 40 to 45% of Indian graduates are readily employable. Many technology companies have created large training infrastructures and have also worked with engineering schools to develop the curriculum and pedagogy.
On the government front, challenges persist. One of the biggest challenges of the Skill India Mission is that the government is organized in verticals. The issues around employment and skills are horizontal and involve different ministries.
What are some positive things about India’s future in IT skill development?
Mobile and internet penetration in the hinterland has been a harbinger of change by democratising access to information.
It is easier to make available educational content for consumers from every background. Country is moving forward to close the demand-supply gap.
Tiger translocation project: Need and significance – Explained, pointwise
Contents
- 1 Introduction
- 2 About the Tiger Translocation project
- 3 What is the need for the Tiger translocation project?
- 4 What are the reasons behind the failure of India’s first tiger translocation project?
- 5 What are the advantages of the Tiger translocation project?
- 6 What are the lessons learnt from the Tiger translocation project?
- 7 What should be done?
For 7PM Editorial Archives click HERE → |
Introduction
The Tiger Translocation Project in India, the country’s first interstate endeavour, aimed to bolster the tiger population in Odisha’s Satkosia Tiger Reserve. This involved moving tigers from well-populated reserves in Madhya Pradesh, like Bandhavgarh and Kanha. However, the project faced significant hurdles, and the relocated tigers couldn’t adapt to their new habitat. Despite these challenges, the project remains a crucial learning experience, emphasising the need for strategic conservation efforts to protect India’s rich biodiversity.
About the Tiger Translocation project
Launched in 2018, the Tiger Relocation Project aimed to boost Odisha’s Satkosia Tiger Reserve’s tiger population. Two tigers, Mahavir from Kanha and Sundari from Bandhavgarh in Madhya Pradesh, were moved to Satkosia.
The project had two goals: a) to lessen territorial conflicts by reducing tiger numbers in overcrowded areas, and b) to reintroduce tigers in regions where their populations had dwindled.
The project, titled “Augmentation and Recovery of Tiger Population in Satkosia Tiger Reserve,” had a budget of Rs 19 crore. The plan was to move six tigers (three pairs) from various Madhya Pradesh reserves to Odisha. So far, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has spent Rs 8 crore of the total budget.
Note: Recently, India has inked a memorandum of understanding with Cambodia “on biodiversity conservation with a special focus on tiger reintroduction in Cambodia.
Read more: Tiger – Endangered Species |
What is the need for the Tiger translocation project?
Overpopulation: The need for tiger translocation arises when certain tiger reserves face overpopulation. This overpopulation can lead to insufficient prey and territorial disputes among tigers, thus causing a threat to their survival. For example, in some reserves of Madhya Pradesh, the surplus population of tigers created a need for relocation.
Declining Tiger Populations: Tiger translocation is needed when certain regions experience a significant decline in their tiger populations due to reasons like poaching, habitat loss, and human-animal conflict. In such cases, introducing new tigers can help rebuild the population. This need was clearly seen in the case of the Satkosia Tiger Reserve in Odisha, where the tiger population had dwindled to only two by 2018.
Rising Human-Tiger Conflicts: In areas with high tiger density, instances of human-tiger conflicts often increase. This creates a need for tiger translocation to other areas with fewer tigers to reduce these conflicts and protect both human and tiger lives. This need was prevalent in areas like the Kanha Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, where high tiger populations led to increased human-tiger interactions.
Ecosystem Imbalance: One need for tiger translocation is to restore the balance within ecosystems. Tigers are apex predators, and their presence helps maintain the health of the entire ecosystem by regulating prey populations. Translocating tigers to areas with diminished populations can help restore the balance and prevent potential imbalances caused by overpopulation of prey species.
Read more: Explained: How many tigers are too many |
What are the reasons behind the failure of India’s first tiger translocation project?
The failure of India’s first tiger relocation project, involving the translocation of tigers from Madhya Pradesh to the Satkosia Tiger Reserve in Odisha, was attributed to a number of factors:
Lack of Community Engagement: A key reason was the lack of effective engagement with local communities. The villagers living on the fringes of the reserve were not adequately consulted or informed prior to the translocation. This resulted in severe protests as villagers feared that the tigers would threaten their lives, livestock, and livelihoods.
Inadequate Preparations and Planning: The translocation was reportedly done in haste, without adequate preparation. The capacity for tiger monitoring was poor, and protection measures were not up to the mark. This left the relocated tigers vulnerable to threats like poaching and human-tiger conflict.
Territorial Disputes: The presence of an existing tigress in the Satkosia reserve led to territorial disputes. The new tigress, Sundari, was chased away from the core area of the reserve and ended up venturing into human habitation, leading to increased human-tiger conflict.
Poaching and Human-Tiger Conflict: Within months of the translocation, one of the relocated tigers, Mahavir, was found dead due to poaching. Sundari, the relocated tigress, allegedly mauled two villagers to death, leading to her tranquilization and eventual return to Madhya Pradesh.
Relocation of Local Villages: The translocation was also complicated by the displacement of local villagers from their homes within the reserve. This sparked opposition and led to additional conflicts between the reserve’s management and the local communities.
Read more: Tiger Reserves in India (Updated 2023) |
What are the advantages of the Tiger translocation project?
Preserving Genetic Diversity: Translocation can also help maintain genetic diversity among tiger populations. Introducing new tigers into a different population can bring new genetic material, reducing the risks associated with inbreeding and helping to maintain a healthy and diverse tiger gene pool.
Promoting Ecotourism: Tigers are a major draw for ecotourism, which can bring significant economic benefits to local communities. By increasing tiger populations in certain areas through translocation, these projects can help boost local economies by attracting tourists.
Educational Opportunities: Such projects provide excellent opportunities for research and learning about tiger behaviour, ecology, and conservation needs, which can be useful for future conservation strategies.
Inspiring Conservation Efforts: Successful translocation projects can inspire and inform similar conservation efforts for other species, contributing to broader biodiversity conservation goals.
Read more: What numbers do not reveal about tiger conservation |
What are the lessons learnt from the Tiger translocation project?
Engaging Local Communities is Essential: The hostility of local communities to the relocated tigers was a significant factor in the failure of the Satkosia project. Future projects must prioritize building trust with local communities, clearly communicating the benefits of the project, and addressing their concerns.
Robust Monitoring and Protection Measures are needed: The death of Mahavir due to poaching underlines the need for strong protection and monitoring mechanisms. Future projects must ensure robust anti-poaching measures and continuous monitoring of the relocated tigers.
Consideration of Tiger Behavior and Habitat Suitability: The fact that Sundari shows that understanding tiger behaviour and careful selection of release sites is crucial. Future projects should prioritize areas that can sustain additional tigers and avoid human-tiger conflict.
Preparedness of the Field Staff and Management: Future projects must ensure that all involved parties are well-prepared and trained to handle the challenges of such a complex operation.
Clear and Coordinated Inter-State Cooperation: The prolonged process of relocating Sundari back to Madhya Pradesh due to lingering between the two states suggests that clear protocols and strong cooperation between states are required for the smooth execution of inter-state translocation projects.
What should be done?
Strengthening Monitoring and Protection Measures: More robust measures need to be put in place to safeguard relocated tigers. These could include increased patrolling, the use of technology like GPS tracking collars, and stricter anti-poaching laws.
Training Field Staff and Management: Field staff and management need to be adequately trained to handle the challenges associated with tiger translocation. They should be prepared to monitor and protect the relocated tigers and manage any issues that arise.
Prioritizing Voluntary Relocation of Villages: Where possible, voluntary relocation of villages from core tiger habitats should be prioritized. This will help in creating inviolate spaces for tigers and reducing instances of human-tiger conflict.
Read more: Increasing tiger population in India and government initiatives – Explained, pointwise |
Sources: The Hindu, Indian Express, DTE, The Times of India (Article 1 and Article 2), Financial Express and Hindustan Times
Syllabus: GS 3 – Environment and Bio-diversity: Conservation
Is there room for a dairy behemoth?
Source: The post is based on the article “Is there room for a dairy behemoth?” published in the Livemint on 15th May 2023.
Syllabus: GS – 3: Marketing of agricultural produce and issues and related constraints.
Relevance: About the challenges faced by the dairy cooperatives.
News: Many cooperatives are struggling financially. In this situation, creating a pan-India mega-brand will be hard.
About India’s milk revolution
Operation Flood was launched in 1970. Various successful dairy cooperatives emerged in different states. Amul is the largest fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) brand, surpassing the turnover of giants like Hindustan Unilever. Besides Amul, there’s Nandini in Karnataka (the second-largest dairy cooperative), Aavin in Tamil Nadu, Milma in Kerala, Gokul in Maharashtra, Verka in Punjab, Saras in Rajasthan, and Sudha in Bihar (the largest cooperative in eastern India).
Read more: Amul vs Nandini threatens to limit choices for consumers |
What is the success of India’s milk revolution?
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The other success of the operation are,
-India is the largest producer of milk in the world—accounting for a fifth of global output—even though productivity per animal is low.
-Milk is the largest farm product valued at close to ₹10 trillion annually and produced by over 80 million rural families.
-Per capita milk availability grew over four-fold, from 107 gm per day in the 1970s to 427 gm in 2021, despite a growing population.
-Farmer members of cooperatives receive between 75-85% of what the consumer pays for dairy products. This compares with 25-50% share in other farm products.
-Multinational dairy giants were unable to crack India’s dairy market due to the strength of successful cooperatives.
Due to its success, the cooperation ministry (set up in July 2021) will help usher in the White Revolution 2.0 by setting up cooperative societies in 200,000 of the 500,000 uncovered villages.
Must read: Challenges Facing Dairy Sector in India – Explained, Pointwise |
What are the challenges faced by the dairy cooperatives in India today?
Financial struggles: A 2020 research paper on farm value chains found that 95 of the 175 milk unions it studied were in loss. The bulk of loss-making cooperatives—55 out of 95 unions—were from Uttar Pradesh, the largest milk-producing state.
Issues with the expansion of Amul: Since farmers from other states cannot be members of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), Amul behaved like a private sector entity outside Gujarat. In short, Amul entered other states, but it did not follow the Anand model (Anand dairy was owned by farmers and elected farmer representatives managed it).
Issues with the expansion of other dairy cooperatives: The expansion might create benefits like regional balancing (of supply and demand) and logistical benefits. But, the expansion of dairy cooperatives might increase unfair competition that will ultimately hurt farmers. Further, they will destroy local cooperatives by predatory pricing.
State funds are used to support local dairies (for fodder, artificial insemination, and veterinary services). So, the expansion of cooperatives directly waste the investment of state funds.
Issues with One India one model: One India-one Brand is a thought process aligned with present-day political realities. Dairy cooperatives entering another state may increase competition, transparency and efficiency in the dairy value chain. But the larger the cooperative, the lesser its accountability to members. Further, they become more vulnerable to a technocratic capture with a select few taking all decisions.
Must read: The significance of Amul model of cooperatives |
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