{"id":8959,"date":"2017-09-26T12:50:59","date_gmt":"2017-09-26T07:20:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=8959"},"modified":"2017-09-22T11:54:34","modified_gmt":"2017-09-22T06:24:34","slug":"answers-mains-marathon-upsc-mains-current-affairs-questions-september-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/answers-mains-marathon-upsc-mains-current-affairs-questions-september-25\/","title":{"rendered":"Answers: Mains Marathon \u2013 UPSC Mains Current Affairs Questions \u2013 September 25"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/mains-marathon\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Archives<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Q1) In the light of the \u00a0National Waterways Act, 2016, Discuss the challenges in using Waterways and measures required to address these challenges? GS 2<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ans:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As acquisition of land for national and State highways becomes scarce and the cost of construction of roads, flyovers and bridges goes up, the government is now exploring using water as a means of public transportation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>What are challenges?<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even though India has enacted the National Waterways Act, 2016, the total number of national waterways is still 111.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Providing infrastructure such as jetties, terminals, and navigational channels continues to pose a challenge.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Peninsular rivers in India are mostly of seasonal nature<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Riverine ecosystems may be affected due to oil-spills, noise pollution etc.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Slow movement and high infrastructural cost may question the economic viability of the project.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Water level fluctuates rapidly which can be detrimental to harbour.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Measures :<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The National Waterways Act, 2017 proposes using a part of the cess collected on high-speed diesel and petrol for the upkeep of the national and State highways for maintaining the infrastructure of the national waterways.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Budgetary allocations to waterways, roads, and railways along with accountability and responsibility with a pre-determined time frame.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">River water linking programme to connect water deficient South India to water sufficient north India and maintain required levels.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Private investment through Foreign Direct Investment can be explored.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">River water disputes also need to be solved.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Q2-<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> What are the challenges that \u00a0I<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ndia\u2019s pharmaceutical research \u00a0is facing \u00a0presently? <\/span><b>To what extend can the failed education system in India be blamed for this? <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GS 3<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ans:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India\u2019s pharmaceutical research problem faces several barriers today, from a lack of investment in Research and development to human capital shortfalls<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Challenges:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the biggest obstacles to scientific research is the lack of sufficient funding and inadequate allocations by the government.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At 0.83% of gross domestic product (GDP), India is among the countries with the lowest investment in scientific research.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">New medicines, devices, diagnostics, patient aids and monitoring tools are mostly imported, often coming to India several years after they are available to patients in the developed world.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>India ranked among the lowest (in the bottom five) due to<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">o<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Weak intellectual property protection<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">o<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lack of data protection for biologics<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">o<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Low investment in R&amp;D<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">o<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Price regulations<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India also ranked No.19 in a 28-nation survey of biomedical investment attractiveness of countries, with an overall score of 59 out of 100.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>To what extend can the failed education system in India be blamed?<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The education system is to blame as well, imparting theoretical knowledge with no emphasis on product development and application of theory.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Leading to the deterioration of the knack for problem-solving and innovation.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Educational and academic institutions should be encouraged to participate in research programs with funding from both the government as well as the private sector.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The environment to support the development of these verticals could emerge through our various government-led initiatives such as Skill India, Make in India, Atal Innovation Mission, etc.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Q3. What do you understand by dynamic daily pricing system? Discuss the positive and negative impacts of dynamic daily pricing system. (GS 3)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Dynamic daily pricing system:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dynamic daily pricing means the state retailers will reset the price of petrol and diesel each day, rather than wait for a fortnightly revision.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On a broad view, this move will align the retail pricing of crude products in line with price changes in the international markets. This will bring transparency in the pricing of crude products.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The companies will change the price of transport fuels every day based on crude price movements. Dynamic pricing is followed in many developed countries.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We can say therefore say that the retail fuel prices are expected to be more aligned to market dynamics.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Positive impact of dynamic daily pricing system:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This move is believed to crystallize the outlook for oil marketing companies marketing margin,or the difference between the cost of procurement and the price charged by retailer and therefore boost confidence over the overall sustainability of this broad deregulation initiative.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shorter time lag between crude purchase and products sales will collapse, thus allowing prices to reflect cost and avoid artificial distortions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It will enhance OMCs\u2019 ability to pass the prices into the economy more effectively.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Global experience shows that the current dynamic pricing of fuel has the potential to attract participation of private players in fuel retailing and several downstream opportunities, thus exposing the downstream and marketing to best practices and modern technology in refining.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A liberalized retailing regime may also expose the PSUs into an intensive competitive scenario.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Negative impact of dynamic daily pricing system:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Consumers may be affected sometimes, especially if there is a major international event, like a war or riot. Then, the prices may fluctuate a lot. It can become expensive or cheap, depending on the nature of the incident.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Prices of FMCG goods may also fluctuate dynamically. FMCG prices are directly related to fuel prices. Now, if the fuel prices suddenly increase, then there are chances that FMCG products pricing may also fluctuate, and sometimes daily.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The global oil prices are becoming increasingly market-oriented. Thus, dynamic fuel pricing will improve the competitiveness of the economy overall. It would also bring in transparency in fuel pricing and incentivize investments in the oil sector.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Archives\u00a0 Q1) In the light of the \u00a0National Waterways Act, 2016, Discuss the challenges in using Waterways and measures required to address these challenges? GS 2 Ans: As acquisition of land for national and State highways becomes scarce and the cost of construction of roads, flyovers and bridges goes up, the government is now exploring&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/answers-mains-marathon-upsc-mains-current-affairs-questions-september-25\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Answers: Mains Marathon \u2013 UPSC Mains Current Affairs Questions \u2013 September 25<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":2292,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mains-marathon-answers","category-public","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/pen-paper-laptop.jpg?fit=1000%2C500&ssl=1","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1704688465},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8959\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}