Front Page / NATIONAL
[1]Tax processed foods: FSSAI panel
[2] India’s Security Council seat bid gets Dutch help
[3]‘Tallest bridge built can withstand blasts’
[4]Indo-Pak. tensions hold up Samjhauta blast case trial
Editorial/OPINION
[1]Duplication isn’t synergy
Economy
[1]Data may understate cash crunch impact
[2]‘NPA ordinance may have limited impact
Indian Express
[1]Unity of the services
Live Mint
[1]From here to $20 trillion: India’s economic growth strategy
[2]The government lacks clarity on healthcare
Front Page / NATIONAL
The Hindu
[1]Tax processed foods: FSSAI panel
What has happened?
- A committee of medical experts and nutritionists has recommended a tax on “highly-processed” foods and sugar-sweetened beverages
- The body, tasked by the Food Standards and Safety Authority of India (FSSAI), which is a Union Health Ministry body, has also advocated a ban on advertisements promoting foods high in FSS (fat, salt, sugar) during TV shows and channels aimed at children
- We should progress towards a total ban, as being done in a few other countries like Chile. Celebrity endorsements of such foods need to be discouraged
WHO guidelines
- The 11-member committee has compiled existing scientific literature on the consumption of fats, sodium and sugar in foods, across socio-economic groups in the country, and endorsed that the proportions of these food constituents not exceed guidelines by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)
- A salient finding was that Low Income Groups (LIG) reportedly consumed more fried snacks and sweets than High Income Groups (HIG) and, the highest consumption of bakery items was in slums, said a study on urban populations cited in the report
Detailed labels must
- The panel also recommended that all packaged food carry detailed labels specifying the energy value in kcal (kilo calories); the amounts of protein, carbohydrates and fat; and the amount of any other nutrient for which a nutrition or health claim is made
- If relevant, the label should also specify the amount or type of fatty acids or the amount of cholesterol, saturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids in gram (g) and cholesterol in milligram (mg)
[2] India’s Security Council seat bid gets Dutch help
Context
The Netherlands eager to upgrade trade and commerce ties
What has happened?
The Netherlands has extended support to India’s membership bids for the United Nations Security Council and a host of export control regimes
Backdrop
Visiting Foreign Minister Bert Koenders
Support to India
- Also supports Indian membership of the Wassenaar Arrangement (WA) and Australia Group (AG)
- India accepted membership of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) last year when the Netherlands had the chairmanship of the multilateral organisation
- A new Consulate General of the Netherlands would be opened in Bengaluru later this year
MEA India
Sought the support of the Netherlands for early adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT), at the U.N
[3]‘Tallest bridge built can withstand blasts’
Context
Konkan railway, executing project across the Chenab, says mega structure can resist quakes too
What has happened?
The world’s tallest railway arch bridge over the Chenab river in Jammu, providing rail connectivity to Kashmir, will be capable of handling high intensity blasts and resisting the worst possible natural disaster
First
This is for the first time globally that a bridge is designed to handle high level trinitrotoluene (TNT) blast load
History
The construction work of the Chenab Bridge – declared as a national project — was awarded in August 2004 with a completion target of April 2007
However, the project has since missed several deadlines as the Railways was in the process of addressing bridge alignment and safety issues.
[4]Indo-Pak. tensions hold up Samjhauta blast case trial
Context
India is yet to summon 13 Pakistani witnesses for deposition in the case
What has happened?
The current tensions in India-Pakistan relations may affect the ongoing trial of the 2007 Samjhauta Express train blast case
Backdrop
- A special NIA court in Panchkula had on March 17 issued summons to 13 Pakistani witnesses asking them to depose before July 4.
- The summons were to be served by the Ministry of External Affairs, but the diplomatic row after the May 1 incident at the Line of Control, when two Indian soldiers were beheaded by Pakistan’s Army, is said to have derailed the process
- Pakistan High Commission officials said they had no knowledge about the “summons.”
Pakistan’s charge
Pakistan has accused India of weakening the Samjhauta blast case as the NIA did not oppose the bail plea of Aseemanand earlier. He was recently acquitted in the Ajmer Dargah blast case and is out on bail in the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast case. The NIA is yet to challenge his acquittal
Blame Game Continues
Pakistan has also asked India to send 24 witnesses to depose before an anti-terrorism court in Islamabad for the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack trial. India is yet to act on the request
Editorial/OPINION
[1]Duplication isn’t synergy
Context
Indian science needs hard work and a critically large base of experts, not more management.
SPARK (Sustainable Progress through Application of Research and Knowledge) is a proposed initiative to synergise science activity in India. A new, more efficient way of managing science is surely welcome, but one needs to put in a lot of thought before taking any action
We already have the Scientific Advisory Committee to the Prime Minister and the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India
Do we need a third such body?
The report of top science administrators that recommended the setting up of this independent authority is correct in that “the stature of Indian science is a shadow of what it used to be” but this is not because of “misguided interventions”
Lack of Science Expertise
It is because there is a lack of scientific expertise across all levels. We have failed in our educational system to harness the enormous latent talent in our country and build a solid foundation of science
Conclusion
Science does not end with the Indian Institutes of Technology, Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research and other elite institutions
It needs hard work, honest management and a critically large base of experts.
Economy
[1]Data may understate cash crunch impact
Context
Official statistics don’t cover worst-hit informal economy’
What has happened?
The International Monetary Fund’s latest May 2017 Regional Economic Outlook for Asia and the Pacifichas projected a slowdown in India due to the lingering effects of a cash crunch caused by demonetisation even as economic growth is expected to remain robust in the Asia and Pacific region compared with the levels forecast in October 2016
Effects Short term
Specifically, the impact on the informal economy and cash-based sectors, which are relatively large and have been affected the most by the cash crunch, is likely to be understated because these sectors are either not covered in the official statistics or are proxied by the formal sector activity indicators
Long term gains
In terms of fiscal gains, increases in bank liquidity, and the push towards cashless transactions and digitization
An analysis by IMF’s staff suggested that compared with the October 2016 forecasts, cash shortages were likely to have slowed India’s GDP growth in financial year 2016-17 by about 4/5ths of a percentage point and would drag down output by about half a percentage point in fiscal 2017-18
[2]‘NPA ordinance may have limited impact’
Context
Stressed assets’ value low: Moody’s
What has happened?
- The effect of the ordinance empowering the Reserve Bank of India to deal more effectively with non-performing assets will be limited as operational problems of the stressed sectors remain
- These moves are credit positive for Indian banks
- The reason for the limited success of the various regulatory measures so far is that they do not address related structural factors
- The current market value of the stressed assets were far lower and the banks will have to take a significant hit when they write-down the value of these assets to market value, according to the report
Indian Express
[1]Unity of the services
Context
History stands testimony that the army, navy and air force always cooperate during wars. The demand for integrating the three forces through a theatre command is misplaced
Theatre Command
It is an organizational structure designed to control all military assets in a theatre of war to achieve military effects
The proponents of this concept liberally quote the US Gold Water Nichols Act and similar pieces of legislation in the UK and Australia
Is it necessary?
There has been no occasion, during actual warfare, when the three services have not operated with commendable cooperation
- Unlikely to fight in faraway lands
We are unlikely to fight a war in faraway lands; Nor are we likely to be involved in a medium to high-intensity conflict for long durations
- Limited Resources
Resources available to the armed forces will always be scarce; this is particularly true in the case of air power assets
- Wastage of precious time: Problem in concentration of assets in war
Theatre commands will increase the crucial time element and joint training issues may also hamper operational efficiency
- Conventional wars unlikely
To prosecute operations as in low-intensity and sub-conventional warfare, do we really need a mammoth organisation like a theatre command?
Used before?
In the initial stage of the operations in Sri Lanka by the Indian Peace Keeping Force
Conclusion
Focus on strengthening the communication and joint planning between the services which would lead to the type of organisation that is best suited to meet the need for optimising military capabilities
Live Mint
[1]From here to $20 trillion: India’s economic growth strategy
Context
The NITI Aayog action plan to boost agriculture as well as job creation in modern activities fits well with what has happened over the past few decades.
Exports have been given a central role in the transformation plan. The export market is far bigger than the domestic market
Challenges
Automation:The ability to create jobs in modern enterprises will be tested by the increasing use of automation in factories and offices
Protectionism:The ability to push exports will depend on whether the global system remains open in the face of growing protectionist sentiment in the developed world
Conclusion
The past 25 years have seen the Indian economy grow more than eightfold in dollar terms between 1992 and 2017, according to data from the International Monetary Fund. A $293 billion economy is now a $2.4 trillion one. Average incomes have also gone up by a factor of six over the same period—from $318 to $1,850. The big question is if, assuming the same momentum, the next 25 years will end with a $20 trillion economy where the average Indian citizen earns $7,100.
[2]The government lacks clarity on healthcare
Context
Its clumsy approach doesn’t bode well for the cooperation with the private sector outlined in the recent National Health Policy
Instances
Following the imposition of price controls on coronary stents in February, the inevitable happened. Companies like Abbott Healthcare Pvt. Ltd and Medtronic India Pvt. Ltd moved to withdraw some models of their stents from the Indian market
Now
The government is considering expanding the scope for price control in various ways—bringing medical devices directly under the Drug Price Control Order (DPCO), 2013, and provisions for reducing drug prices even when they are below the ceiling price—its broader approach to healthcare warrants scrutiny
Bhore Committee
- In 1943, the Bhore committee led by Joseph William Bhore was set up by the government of India to assess health conditions in India and suggest reform measures
- In 1952, the government of independent India accepted the committee’s proposals
Healthcare in Shambles
Centre and state government healthcare spending has been hovering around the 1.15% of GDP
National Health Policy
Pros
- Focus on primary healthcare
- Targeting healthcare spending upto 2.5% of GDP (lower by far than the global average of 5.4%, but a beginning at least)
Cons
Strategic purchase” of services not only from public facilities and not-for-profit private facilities, but also from for-profit private facilities: the measure was seen as giving too much play to the private sector in a critical area—this was inevitable
Heavy-handed drug price controls under the DPCO in previous years, for instance, have both denuded the domestic sector, leading to a dangerous dependence on imports from China for the active pharmaceutical ingredients used in many common drugs, and encouraged oligopolistic behaviour
Healthcare is a tricky issue, subject to a number of ethical considerations and constraints. Its fundamental importance to citizens’ lives and the inelasticity of demand that skews market dynamics mean that the government must play a role
Singapore or UK healthcare models will fail in Indian ecosystem
Conclusion
Every country must arrive at its own modus vivendi(an arrangement or agreement allowing conflicting parties to coexist peacefully, either indefinitely or until a final settlement is reached.)—and in India, that will involve the private sector, when it comes to both supply of services and insurance. Effective regulation and enforcement of greater transparency are necessary. But the government’s current statist approach is fundamentally at odds with its stated mission
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