August 12th, 2021, CNA:- Download PDF Here
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A. GS 1 Related B. GS 2 Related POLITY AND GOVERNANCE 1. Fill consumer disputes panel vacancies in eight weeks: SC C. GS 3 Related ECONOMY 1. Centre to soon free up untapped space in SEZs 2. India Inc should increase its appetite for risk: Modi D. GS 4 Related E. Editorials HEALTH 1. The importance of the booster dose to plan ahead EDUCATION 1. Safe at school ECONOMY 1. An urban jobs safety net F. Prelims Facts 1. Govt. to completely exit erstwhile PSUs 2. LS adjourned two days ahead of schedule, sees 22% productivity G. Tidbits 1. Kaziranga guards get satellite phones 2. 10 killed, 60 missing in Himachal landslip 3. Floods hit over 600 U.P. villages H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions
A. GS 1 Related
Nothing here for today!!!
B. GS 2 Related
Category: POLITY AND GOVERNANCE
1. Fill consumer disputes panel vacancies in eight weeks: SC
Context:
- Supreme Court on the vacancies in the consumer disputes redressal commissions.
Background:
Consumer disputes redressal commissions:
- Consumer Protection Act, 2019 had provided for the establishment of Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions (CDRCs) at the national, state and district levels to entertain consumer complaints.
- The CDRCs will entertain complaints related to:
- Overcharging or deceptive charging
- Unfair or restrictive trade practices
- Sale of hazardous goods and services which may be hazardous to life
- Sale of defective goods or services
For detailed information on the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 refer to the following article:
Details:
- The Supreme Court has criticized the delay in appointments to the consumer disputes redressal commissions. The SC stated that the slow pace of dispute redressal will dissuade people from filing complaints and would hence go against the interests of the consumers.
- The Supreme Court has given the Centre and the States eight weeks to fill the vacancies in the consumer disputes redressal commissions.
- Supreme Court bench has also asked the Centre to conduct a comprehensive “legislative impact study” on the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
C. GS 3 Related
1. Centre to soon free up untapped space in SEZs
Context:
- The government is planning a number of initiatives to boost India’s position in the foreign trade sector.
Details:
Special Economic Zones:
- The government proposes to operationalize a simpler regulatory regime for Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in India.
- SEZs account for about 30% of India’s exports.
- The government would denotify idle land and unused built-up area inside SEZs for other economic activity. This land could be used for other industrial purposes.
Import monitoring cell:
- An import monitoring cell has been set up to track any sudden increase in an item’s import and flag it to the concerned ministries.
- These items would be prioritized for manufacturing within India.
Restructuring of Directorate General of Foreign Trade:
- The Directorate General of Foreign Trade would be restructured to make it a trade promotion organisation rather than being only an incentive-distribution organization.
- Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), formerly known as the Chief Controller of Imports and Exports (CCI&E), is India’s official administrating body for imports and exports. It is an attached office of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
- DGFT is accountable for implementing the Foreign Trade Policy, with the primary objective of promoting the nation’s exports.
Export incentives:
- The government will remit about Rs. 50,000 crore of pending export benefits over a two-year period.
- The government would also be soon notifying the RoDTEP (Remission of Duties and Taxes on Export Products) rates.
- RoDTEP is a new scheme, formed to replace the existing MEIS (Merchandise Exports from India Scheme).
- A dispute panel in the WTO ruled against India, stating that the export subsidy programmes that were provided by the Government of India violated the provisions of the trade body’s norms. The panel further recommended that the export subsidy programmes be withdrawn. This led to the birth of the RoDTEP Scheme, so as to ensure that India stays WTO-compliant.
- The scheme will ensure that the exporters receive refunds on the embedded taxes and duties previously non-recoverable.
- Read more on the RoDTEP Scheme in the link.
2. India Inc should increase its appetite for risk: Modi
Context:
- Annual session of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII).
Major deliberations during the session:
- The session was attended by major industrialists of India and the Indian Prime Minister, and many suggestions were made for further improving the prospects of the Indian domestic industries.
- India should focus on indigenous research, innovation and IPR (intellectual property rights). There is the need to step up investments, especially in research and development to ensure India’s self-reliance in critical sectors.
- India should prioritize working towards enhancing technological capabilities in areas such as electronics and 5G, developing a skill ecosystem for these sectors and creating protocols and partnerships with countries for cooperation in technology.
- India should focus on augmenting its design and innovation capability given its vast scope and potential.
- India should work towards establishing end-to-end value chains within India, given that such an approach will not only bring additional income but also shield from any potential value chain disruption and ensure a more secure production chain for India.
- The government should facilitate measures to help reduce the cost of doing business. This will ensure higher productivity among Indian industries and will render such products price competitive in the international markets.
- Only a robust financial sector could support a robust economy and in this direction, it is necessary to take appropriate measures to help the ailing financial sector in India.
D. GS 4 Related
Nothing here for today!!!
E. Editorials
1. The importance of the booster dose to plan ahead
The article suggests that a booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine will help get India out of COVID-19’s stranglehold and deal with the pandemic.
Context:
- The current COVID-19 vaccination schedules are only priming doses.
- This is expected to wane, as experienced with all previous non-replicating vaccines.
What is a booster dose?
- A booster dose is an additional administration of a vaccine to make it fully effective or maintain the patient’s immunity.
- Some vaccines need to be given in a series because a single shot is not sufficient.
- In the context of the COVID-19 vaccine, a booster shot would be taken a few months after the second jab as an added precaution.
The immune response:
- Vaccines can be classified as replicating live infectious vaccines, and, non-replicating non-infectious vaccines.
- At present ‘live virus vaccines’ administered by injection include measles, rubella, mumps and chickenpox vaccines.
- The dose contains a few thousand live but attenuated viruses — they replicate in body tissues without producing overt disease.
- To gain immunity there is a need for more than one shot.
- The MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine, for example, needs two doses.
- The final effective dose that stimulates the immune system may be billions or trillions of viruses and the stimulus sustained for days to weeks as the injected viruses continue to multiply within the human body.
- Therefore, immune responses to replicating live virus vaccines — both antibody and T-cell immunity — are robust and long-lasting.
- The non-replicating injected vaccines include nearly all others. Most common are diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), tetanus, hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae b, pneumococcal, human papilloma virus, inactivated poliovirus, inactivated hepatitis A vaccines.
- For them, the dose confronted by the immune system is what is injected.
- A tiny amount of antigen (micrograms) plus stabilisers, preservatives or adjuvants, chemicals and salts in minute quantities are administered.
What is the need for a booster dose?
- The initial expectation that the COVID-19 pandemic would be a short-lived one is proven wrong.
- The longer the virus is allowed to wreak havoc in India, the more people it will infect and the more likely it will evolve into new mutations.
- The most pressing issue right now is if these vaccinations will protect against the latest COVID-19 strains, or whether more booster shots will be needed.
- Another problem is that it is not known how long a COVID-19 vaccine can provide safety.
- Every non-replicating vaccine requires priming and boosting.
- Booster shots help the immune system remember how to recognize the pathogen that is causing the disease. It means that after a booster shot, the body is more likely to react quickly and effectively.
- To reach and maintain high and protective levels of antibody, there is a need for one or more injected “booster dose(s)”.
- There is further evidence that those who are elderly, men particularly, and those with organ transplants, cancer treatment or co-morbidity, have weaker primary antibody responses than their younger/normal counterparts.
- This implies that they may remain vulnerable to severe disease and death; they are in urgent need of booster dose to ensure and sustain protective immunity.
Way Forward:
- The science of immunology says that a booster dose delivered at an interval of at least four, preferably six to 12, months after the last priming dose, will stimulate the production of long-lived antibody-secreting cells, as well as ‘long lived memory cells’.
- However, experts say more research is needed to see if it can help combat infections more effectively.
- Decisions should be based on data on immunological memory. This means that after two doses, the status of antibody concentration must be checked and after how long does it fall below a level where the third booster dose is needed.
- In India, there exists an ethical dilemma — as long as there is inadequate vaccine supply, everyone deserves priming doses before the highly vulnerable early vaccine recipients are offered booster doses.
- India should accelerate vaccine procurement without counting the cost to avoid this.
- For India, a vaccination strategy of
- First, completing two priming doses in all adults and children
- Then a third dose to the special category
- Later, one booster dose to everyone one year later might turn out to be a good strategy.
- Such a vaccination campaign needs meticulous planning and execution.
This issue has been covered on Aug 7th, 2021 CNA.
Category: ECONOMY
The article says that there is a need to formulate a wage employment-based national urban livelihood scheme similar to Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme.
Issue:
- Pandemic has posed major challenges and one among them is the choice of saving lives versus protecting livelihoods.
- According to the World Economic Outlook report of April 2021 of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), almost all countries, except China, experienced an economic contraction in 2020.
- The global GDP shrunk by 3.3%. India’s GDP plummeted by 8%. In contrast, China posted a growth of 2.3%.
- As per the report, 95 million people have fallen into the ranks of the extreme poor category.
- The unemployment rate is also on the rise across the globe.
- As per the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy’s estimates, the unemployment rate in India peaked at 23.5% in April 2020 before falling to 6.9% in February 2021.
Rural-urban livelihood divide:
- As the economy decelerates, the challenge is to minimise livelihood losses.
- Traditionally, governments have addressed this issue from a sectoral viewpoint.
- With contemporary realities, there is a need to approach this from a rural-urban perspective.
- When there is an economic shock, it is essential to provide people with formal access to a livelihood safety net.
- The livelihood safety net must have comprehensive coverage.
- Unfortunately, the livelihood safety net exists only in the rural areas through the MGNREGS.
- Urban India does not have such a livelihood program.
- Though the Indian government operates the National Urban Livelihoods Mission the scheme does not have guaranteed wage employment.
- It is only focused on self-employment through skill up-gradation and credit linkages through banks.
- It was until recently considered that migration in India was essentially a rural to urban phenomenon. This pandemic has demolished that myth.
- Huge migration of labour during the first wave of the pandemic brings to light the rural-urban livelihood security divide.
Himachal Pradesh Case Study:
- A few States have experimented with a wage employment-based urban livelihood scheme.
- Himachal Pradesh (H.P.) launched the Mukhya Mantri Shahri Ajeevika Guarantee Yojana (MMSAGY) in 2020.
- It provided 120 days of guaranteed wage employment to every household at minimum wages in FY 2020-21, in urban areas.
- Any adult member of a household, less than 65 years of age, residing in the jurisdiction of the urban local body (ULB) and willing to engage in unskilled work at projects being executed or in sanitation services being provided by the municipality could register under the scheme.
- A job card was issued to the beneficiary within seven days of registration and employment is provided within a fortnight. Otherwise, the beneficiary is eligible to be compensated at a rate of ₹75 per day.
- The government funded the wage component from the grants already available to ULBs under the State and Central Finance Commissions.
- In a year of its operation, a quarter-million man-days, benefiting about 3% of the total urban households in H.P., were generated.
- If the scope of MMSAGY is broadened to include muster-roll based works, other municipal services, etc., it could enhance livelihood opportunities.
Way Forward:
- An urban livelihood scheme can be launched within the existing fiscal space in the Urban Local Bodies.
- Besides, the Union and States could provide resources for such a scheme collectively.
- Separate minimum wages for rural and urban areas are not a cause of migration to urban areas as the higher cost of living in urban areas has an offsetting effect.
- The focus must shift from asset creation to service delivery.
- Restricting the scheme to asset creation or wage-material ratios may not prove to be effective in urban areas.
- The focus should be on enhancing the quality of municipal services.
Conclusion:
- The migration tragedy and the economic slowdown have highlighted the need for a livelihood program with a guaranteed wage net in urban India.
- The rural-urban livelihood and security divide must be bridged to minimise the livelihood loss.
- A livelihood scheme is like an ‘economic vaccine’ and will protect people against unemployment. It should be administered at the national level rather than at the State level.
F. Prelims Facts
1. Govt. to completely exit erstwhile PSUs
InvITs:
- Infrastructure Investment trusts (InvITs) are mutual fund like institutions that enable investments into the infrastructure sector by pooling small sums of money from a multitude of individual and institutional investors for directly investing in infrastructure.
- The InvIT is designed as a tiered structure with a sponsor setting up the InvIT which in turn invests into the eligible infrastructure projects either directly or via special purpose vehicles.
- In India, InvITs are governed by SEBI (Infrastructure Investment Trusts) (Amendment) Regulations, 2016.
- InvITs are fast becoming a preferred route for private equity investors to hold operating infrastructure assets and for infrastructure developers to monetize their investments in these projects.
Context:
- The proposed offering of GAIL through the Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) structure.
2. LS adjourned two days ahead of schedule, sees 22% productivity
Adjournment sine die:
- Adjournment sine die means terminating a sitting of the house for an indefinite period. In other words, when the House is adjourned without naming a day for reassembly, it is called adjournment sine die. This is different from adjournment which terminates a sitting of the House for a specified time.
- The power of adjournment, as well as adjournment sine die, lies with the presiding officer of the House.
Context:
- The ongoing session of the Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die, two days ahead of its scheduled date due to repeated disruptions.
G. Tidbits
1. Kaziranga guards get satellite phones
- Kaziranga has become the first national park in India to have been equipped with satellite phones.
- The public is barred from using satellite phones in India.
- This will help boost anti-poaching measures. The satellite phones will also come in handy during emergencies like floods.
- The satellite phones will be used in those pockets of the park with no wireless or mobile connectivity.
Read more on Kaziranga National Park in the link.
2. 10 killed, 60 missing in Himachal landslip
- At least 10 persons were killed after some vehicles were hit by boulders and mud following a major landslip on National Highway 5 in the Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh.
- In the past couple of days, several landslips have been reported across the State of Himachal Pradesh.
3. Floods hit over 600 U.P. villages
- Heavy rain in several districts of Uttar Pradesh has resulted in over 600 villages being affected by floods.
- As per the experts, global warming has resulted in more intense spells of rainfall in a short duration.
- The State has recorded 13.1 mm of average rainfall over the past 24 hours, which was 154% of the normal rainfall (8.5 mm).
H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions
Q1. Which of the given statements with respect to Quality of Life for Elderly Index is/are correct?
- The Index was created by NITI Aayog to shed light on problems faced by elderly citizens in India.
- Its framework includes four pillars of Financial Well-being, Social Well-being, Health System and Income Security.
Options:
- 1 only
- 2 only
- Both 1 and 2
- Neither 1 nor 2
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: b
Explanation:
- Quality of Life for Elderly Index has been created by the Institute for Competitiveness at the request of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM).
- The index designed to shed light on problems faced by elderly citizens in India, includes four pillars of Financial Well-being, Social Well-being, Health System and Income Security.
Q2. Which among the following is/are Earth Observation Satellites?
- Megha-Tropiques
- SARAL
- OCEANSAT
- IRNSS-1A
- Bhaskara-I
Options:
- 2 and 3 only
- 1, 2 and 4 only
- 1, 2, 3 and 5 only
- 3 and 5 only
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: c
Explanation:
- IRNSS-1A is the first navigational satellite in the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System series of satellites.
- The other four satellites mentioned are all earth observation satellites.
- Megha-Tropiques is an Indo-French Joint Satellite Mission for studying the water cycle and energy exchanges in the tropics.
- The Satellite with ARGOS and ALTIKA (SARAL) is a joint Indo-French satellite mission for oceanographic studies.
- Oceansat-1 or IRS-P4 was the first Indian satellite built primarily for ocean applications. It was a part of the Indian Remote Sensing Programme satellite series.
- Bhaskara-I was India’s first low orbit Earth Observation Satellite.
Q3. Which of the given statements is/are correct?
- The demographic dividend is the economic growth potential resulting out of changing population age structure in a country.
- When the dependency ratio is minimum and the age pyramid shows a bulge in the middle portion, a country is said to be in the ‘demographic dividend’ phase.
- In India, the year 2018 is known as the year of the demographic divide.
Options:
- 1 and 2 only
- 3 only
- 1 only
- 1, 2 and 3
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: a
Explanation:
- The year 1921 is known as the demographic divide for India for the reason that before this year, the population was not constant, sometimes it increased and at other times it decreased.
- The growth scale of the population was usually low before 1921. But after this year, there has been a considerable and constant increase in the population.
Q4. Which of the given pairs is/are correctly matched?
Centres of the Revolt of 1857 British Generals who suppressed the Revolt
- Jhansi Sir Colin Campbell
- Lucknow Sir Hugh Rose
- Delhi John Nicholson
Options:
- 1 and 2 only
- 3 only
- 2 and 3 only
- 1, 2 and 3
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: b
Explanation:
- Sir Hugh Rose was the British officer who suppressed the 1857 revolt in Jhansi, while in Lucknow it was Sir Colin Campbell.
Q5. ‘Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres)’, often in the news, is [UPSC 2015]
- a division of World Health Organization
- a non-governmental international organization
- an inter-governmental agency sponsored by European Union
- a specialized agency of the United Nations
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: b
Explanation:
- Médecins Sans Frontières, sometimes rendered in English as Doctors Without Borders, is an international humanitarian medical non-governmental organisation of French origin best known for its projects in conflict zones and in countries affected by endemic diseases.
I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions
- India should have a COVID booster dose vaccination policy guided by evidence. Discuss. (10 Marks, 150 Words) [GS-2, Health]
- It is time to formulate a wage employment-based national urban livelihood scheme similar to MGNREGS. Explain the statement with relevant examples. (10 Marks, 150 Words) [GS-3, Economy]
Read the previous CNA here.
August 12th, 2021, CNA:- Download PDF Here
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