Tag: gs paper 3

Synopsis: New revelations underline how the Facebook company is sheltering hate speech in India. Contents1 Introduction2 What were the complaints alleged against Facebook?3 Are the revelations significant in the Indian context?4 What has been various governments’ response?5 What steps should Facebook take?6 What should Govt of India do? Introduction In September 2021, Frances Haugen, a… Continue reading 5 Questions On Facebook

Synopsis: The Quarterly Employment Survey is based on an outdated frame and will result in incorrect estimates. Introduction Recently, the Labour Bureau, under the Ministry of Labour and Employment, released the Quarterly Employment Survey (QES) results for April-June 2021 for non-farm industries in the organised sector. However, the findings of QES met with muted scepticism… Continue reading It’s time for a new QES

Synopsis: The post-pandemic fiscal future would depend on the way government expenditure is directed. Contents1 Introduction2 What is the current fiscal scenario?3 What are the current medium-term fiscal challenges Indian economy is facing?4 Which factors can affect the financial stability?5 What is the way forward? Introduction Tax collection in the current fiscal year is likely… Continue reading India’s post-pandemic fiscal future

Synopsis: As the Covid-19 pandemic has revealed, there is an urgent need to work on health inequity to ensure that everyone has access to affordable medicine. Contents1 Introduction2 What is the level of health inequity during the pandemic?3 Why is the supply of Covid-related items constrained?4 What attempts have been made towards health inequity during… Continue reading Global inequality: New drugs go the way of vaccines

Synopsis: The world reacted to downturn of economy by spending in different bands. The results are not the same even in same band of stimulus owing to various reasons listed. Introduction The data on aggressive monetary and fiscal stimulus of the top emerging and developed markets and the strength of the ensuing recovery showed no… Continue reading Pandemic Stimulus Backfired

Synopsis: A US based company has taken a project to introduce a hybrid of extinct Mammoth and Elephants. Contents1 Introduction2 How the experiment will be done?3 What is the expected outcome?4 What are the concerns and challenges? Introduction A US bio-startup “Colossal” launched a project to regenerate the extinct woolly mammoth, or rather to create… Continue reading A mammoth project to help endangered species and planet

Synopsis: This article elucidates why patents cannot be granted to artificial intelligence (AI) programs. Introduction In April 2020, the South African patent office granted a patent to an artificial intelligence (AI) program called DABUS (‘Device for the Autonomous Bootstrapping of Unified Sentience). DABUS used fractal geometry to come up with a better design for food… Continue reading The awkward grant of patents to artificial intelligence

Synopsis: Adjusted for land holding, the Punjab farmer is doing poorly, and the culprit is paddy. By shifting from rice to maize and diversifying to fruits and vegetables, farmers in Punjab and Haryana can earn more, while practicing sustainable farming. Contents1 What are key findings of the latest Situation Assessment Survey (SAS) of agri households?2… Continue reading How Punjab can shine again with nutritional security and climate-friendly agriculture

Synopsis: The RCTs that have swept economics and won Nobel recognition remain rather unreliable in comparison with clinical trials. We should be sceptical about the policy conclusions of randomized control trials used in economics and social sciences. Introduction Randomized Clinical Trials have revolutionized medicine and led to many life-saving treatments, drugs and vaccines. But, we… Continue reading The perils of natural experiments and randomized controlled trials