21 Dec 2020 CNA:- Download PDF Here
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A. GS 1 Related B. GS 2 Related INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 1. India, U.S. mull over unfinished work C. GS 3 Related SECURITY 1. India to bring more nations into coastal radar network ECONOMY 1. 5 States can borrow extra ₹16,728 crore D. GS 4 Related E. Editorials HEALTH 1. Stopping the slide of healthcare in India JUDICIARY 1. The right call ECONOMY 1. Laying the foundations for faster growth F. Prelims Facts G. Tidbits 1. NGT panel for protection of Mahanadi floodplain 2. Lasting solution for monkey menace 3. New virus strain out of control: U.K. 4. Nepal set to face fresh election H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions
A. GS 1 Related
Nothing here for today!!!
B. GS 2 Related
Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1. India, U.S. mull over unfinished work
Context:
With exactly a month left in U.S. President Donald Trump’s tenure, the U.S. Ambassador to India has begun a series of farewell discussions.
Details:
- The calls highlighted the achievements of the India-U.S. partnership in the past four years.
- These included great strides in diplomatic, defence, commercial, energy and health areas.
- What top the list of achievements are
- The growing defence partnership
- Enhanced military exchanges bolstered by the signing of four foundational agreements: GSOMIA, LEMOA, COMCASA and BECA.
- U.S. grant of the STA-1 Strategic Trade Authorisation to India capped by intelligence sharing and quick procurements during the ongoing standoff between Indian and Chinese troops at the Line of Actual Control (LAC)
- The crystallisation of the “Quad” arrangement.
- However, talks on waivers for possible sanctions, trade negotiations, and nuclear deals are in the category of unfinished business.
Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA):
- The U.S. recently imposed sanctions on NATO-ally Turkey for its purchase of Russia’s S-400 missile defence system.
- The issue of sanctions under Section 231 of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) for purchase of Russian arms is of particular interest to India, which is also in the process of buying the S-400 from Moscow.
- Despite hopes being raised in 2018 by the U.S. Congress’s amendment to the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), that allowed the U.S. President to waive sanctions on India’s purchase of the S-400 missile systems from Russia, Mr. Trump has not made the decision to give India a pass.
This topic has been covered in 16th December 2020 Comprehensive News Analysis.
Trade negotiations:
- Trade negotiations are another area where India believes the Trump administration failed to deliver.
- Specifically, its failure to reverse the decision to revoke India’s Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) since June 2019 due to differences in the areas of medical devices, dairy and IT products.
Read more on Generalised System of Preferences (GSP).
Other deals:
- Officials hopeful of a commercial contract being finalised for the decade-old MoU between U.S.-based Westinghouse Electric Company and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL) to build six reactors in Andhra Pradesh have also been disappointed with the lack of progress.
- The deal is yet to go through, indicating lingering concerns over India’s civil liability laws.
C. GS 3 Related
1. India to bring more nations into coastal radar network
Context:
Efforts are in advanced stages to set up coastal radar stations in the Maldives, Myanmar and Bangladesh.
Details:
- The coastal radar chain network is meant to enable real-time monitoring of the high seas for threats as also expand India’s assistance for capacity building to Indian Ocean littoral states.
- Under Phase-I of the coastal radar chain network, 46 coastal radar stations have been set up across India’s coastline.
- Under Phase-II of the project, which is currently underway, 38 static radar stations and four mobile radar stations are being set up by the Coast Guard and are in the advanced stage of completion.
- The recent developments are part of efforts to further expand the coastal radar chain network.
- Mauritius, Seychelles and Sri Lanka have already been integrated into India’ coastal radar chain network. Similar proposals are being pursued with some more countries.
- Two of the coastal radar stations in the Maldives were functional as of 2019 and work was underway on the third station.
Note:
- The Indian Navy’s Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) located in Gurugram is the nodal agency for maritime data fusion.
- It was set up after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
- As part of information exchange regarding traffic on the high seas, the Navy has been authorised to conclude white shipping agreements with 36 countries and three multilateral constructs.
- So far, agreements have been concluded with 22 countries and one multilateral construct.
- Navy’s Information Fusion Centre for the Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) is meant to promote Maritime Domain Awareness.
1. 5 States can borrow extra ₹16,728 crore
Context:
The Finance Ministry said five states, including Tamil Nadu and Telangana, had been permitted to borrow an additional ₹16,728 crore following completion of stipulated reforms to facilitate ease of doing business.
Background:
- In May 2020, the government decided to link the grant of additional borrowing permission to states with reforms undertaken by them to facilitate ease of doing business.
- For meeting the extra fund requirements of states on account of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centre had decided to raise the borrowing limit of the states by 2% of their GSDP (Gross States Domestic Product), over and above the 3% limit set under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act.
This topic has been covered in 17th December 2020 Comprehensive News Analysis.
D. GS 4 Related
Nothing here for today!!!
E. Editorials
1. Stopping the slide of healthcare in India
Context:
- The COVID-19 pandemic has brought in much-needed focus on the ailing Indian healthcare sector.
Details:
- Health is the physical, mental and social well-being without which the foundation of life is shaken.
- Indian healthcare has become skewed towards the private sector, with close to 70% being in the private sector, especially when India is largely a low middle-income country.
- The chronic issues of public healthcare have not been tackled for several years; issues such as high out of the pocket expenditure, shortage of manpower, infrastructural inadequacies, rampant corruption have perpetuated over the years.
Exclusive nature of private healthcare
- The private healthcare is designed in such a way that it caters to only a certain segment of people, and with public healthcare failing to step up, many are left at the mercy of private health enterprises.
- 85% of the population cannot afford expensive corporate private healthcare, but the demand-supply mismatch pushes the needy to end up at the doorsteps of private healthcare.
- Out of the pocket expenditure
- India’s out of pocket expenditure is one of the highest in the world with 62.5%.
- This high out of pocket expenditure for securing healthcare pushes millions into poverty.
- India’s health problem can be approximately expressed by the 80:20 rule, wherein 20% of people can afford modern healthcare, 40% cannot afford it at all whereas the rest 40% can afford it but with difficulty.
- Each year witnesses close to 70 crore Indians slip into poverty because of issues like accessibility, affordability, and rent-seeking behaviour of staff.
- Out of the pocket expenditure
Insurance scheme
- The core theme of private enterprises in any sector is profit, all major activities are directed towards securing higher profits and private healthcare is not an exception.
- The health insurance schemes provide for covering medical and surgical expenses of an insured individual. It reimburses the expenses incurred due to illness or injury to the healthcare provider.
- The social insurance schemes have brought in windfalls to the private healthcare sector, the combination of insurance and private sector has become an unholy nexus.
- The insurance schemes have provided private healthcare providers with an incentive to maximize their returns by expanding the bill.
- There has been sufficient evidence wherein the insurance is claimed to the ceiling level without delivering the commensurate services.
- The Government on its behalf tries to reduce its fiscal burden by negotiating with the private healthcare providers over the cost of the premium and total financial outgo, the private healthcare providers, in turn, offer only selective services.
- Risk pooling mechanism
- Risk pooling is the collection and management of financial resources so that large, unpredictable individual financial risks become predictable and are distributed among all members of the pool.
- Risk pooling can provide financial protection to households in the face of high healthcare costs.
- However, the risk pooling has not led to a decrease in the private healthcare cost or has not materialized into more number of services covered.
- Risk pooling mechanism
Ayushman Bharat
- Nearly 50 crore people or 40% of India’s population will have health insurance under Ayushman Bharat, a health policy for the underprivileged.
- Ayushman Bharat is being implemented through a trust model and not the insurance model.
- Under the trust model, the premium will not be paid to an insurance company but will be pooled into a trust. It is this trust that will manage and administer the health scheme and also pay the claims. Under the insurance model, the state will pay premiums to an insurance company just like you do to your health insurer. The onus will be on the insurer to administer and pay the claims.
- Currently, among the 12 crore cardholders under the scheme, only 1.27 crore people have secured benefits of the scheme.
- The Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, was signed into law in 2010. The act aimed to provide affordable health insurance coverage for all Americans. The ACA was also designed to protect consumers from insurance company tactics that might drive up patient costs or restrict care.
- Professionals with expertise under the Obamacare undertook scrutiny which revealed the unnecessary procedures and interventions carried out just with the intention of claiming insurance.
- The moral hazard
- Under the social insurance schemes, the doctors or health practitioners are not constrained by the ability of the patient to pay as they are covered under the social insurance scheme.
- The doctors and hospitals have been seen encouraging the patients to opt for more tests and intervention even when it is not necessary.
- The knowledge differential between the health practitioners and the ignorant patients is being exploited, this drives up consumption of services, creating a false demand-supply mismatch.
- The moral hazard
Primary healthcare
- Primary health care (PHC) is a whole-of-society approach to health and well-being centred on the needs and preferences of individuals, families and communities.
- It addresses the broader determinants of health and focuses on the comprehensive and interrelated aspects of physical, mental and social health and wellbeing.
- Primary health care is rooted in a commitment to social justice and equity.
- The insurance towards providing secondary and tertiary healthcare will squeeze out financial support to primary health care.
- Neglect of primary healthcare can have dangerous consequences on public health, evidence has suggested that the vacuum created by PHC is filled by Registered Medical Practitioners and quacks who are not equipped and trained to prescribe medications to the people. They routinely prescribe antibiotics and steroids which has led to the building up of antimicrobial resistance.
- PHC is the edifice on which the secondary and tertiary healthcare stand on, thus PHC requires more support in terms of financial outlay, personnel deployment and basic infrastructure.
Some of the areas that require immediate attention
- Staff ratio
- There is a huge shortage of healthcare workers particularly nurses and midwives.
- WHO prescribes 3 nurses per doctor, whereas in the Indian scenario it is roughly 0.6 nurses per doctor, falling way behind the standards.
- Empowering graduates of BSc (Nursing) to be nursing practitioners will plug the shortfall in PHCs.
- Imposing an obligation of serving in rural areas for doctors will also see better access to healthcare in rural areas.
- Public spending
- Currently, it stands at 1.13% of GDP. The National Health Policy 2017 prescribes a public spend in the range of 2.5% of GDP.
- The Government has to draw a timeline to indicate how it will aim to increase financial support to the health sector in a phased manner.
Conclusion
- The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed some of the vulnerabilities of India’s health sector, it is time the policy-makers take stock of the situation and take necessary steps to make health care what it is supposed to be, accessible, affordable and of good quality a reality.
Context:
- The Andhra Pradesh (A.P) High Court order on an inquiry into a ‘constitutional breakdown’ was an over-reach on the part of the judiciary.
- The Supreme Court stayed an Andhra Pradesh High Court order that looked to convene a judicial inquiry into whether there is a “constitutional breakdown” in the Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government in the State.
Details:
- Article 356 of the Constitution which empowers the imposition of President’s Rule in a State had its notorious counterpart in Section 93 of the Government of India Act 1935 which provided for Governor’s Rule in the provinces.
- The “constitutional breakdown” is a valid ground to suspend the state executive and establish the President’s rule under Article 356 of the Indian Constitution.
- The question of a “constitutional breakdown” or the failure of constitutional machinery is dealt with under Article 356 of the Constitution, whose invoking comes under the prerogative of the executive and not the judiciary.
- The Andhra Pradesh High Court’s order represents a judicial overreach.
The story so far
- Andhra Pradesh High Court during the hearing of habeas corpus petitions filed by relatives of persons remanded in judicial custody or on bail, sought to suo motu summon the State counsel to assist in deciding “whether, in circumstances prevailing in the State of Andhra Pradesh, the court can record a finding that there is a constitutional breakdown in the State or not”.
- Legal experts have stated that in doing so the High Court overstepped its mandate.
President’s rule imposition
- The S.R. Bommai case judgement attempted to curb the blatant misuse of Article 356 of the Constitution of India by laying down certain scenarios where the imposition of President’s rule was justified and certain other scenarios that weren’t.
- One of the prerequisites that had to be followed in examining the “constitutional breakdown” was ascertaining whether objective conditions exist which render it impossible to carry out governance in the State where the proclamation has been made and the process has to be approved by both Houses of Parliament before consideration for judicial review.
- Accordingly, situations which can be remedied or do not create an impasse, or do not disable or interfere with the governance of the State according to the Constitution would not merit the issuance of a Presidential proclamation under the Article.
- But the A.P. High Court’s order appears to have jumped the gun by ordering an inquiry into a perceived ‘constitutional breakdown’.
- It seemed to have reversed the scheme of things by putting the cart before the horse in asking to ascertain if there is a “constitutional breakdown in the State”.
Tension between High Court and the Andhra Pradesh government
- The Supreme Court’s order comes in the wake of incidents pointing to a tug of war between the judiciary and the elected government in Andhra Pradesh.
- Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister (CM) Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy had written a letter to the Chief Justice of India complaining about the functioning of a few judges.
- Though there have been previous instances of such allegations against certain judges, the current situation is unprecedented given that the current allegations have been made by a constitutional body, the Chief Minister of a state.
- The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister’s unprecedented letter to the CJI complained about the alleged hostile attitude of the High Court against him and his government besides making controversial allegations against a senior Supreme Court judge.
- The High Court ordered a CBI probe into what it termed was a social media campaign against the judges.
- The Supreme Court has the responsibility to put an end to this tussle between the two, the next step of SC will be watched carefully.
- Ordering an internal inquiry into the Chief Minister’s letter would be a good beginning. A clear nullification of the High Court order will also ensure that such legal adventures impinging upon the separation of powers in the State are not repeated.
Conclusion
- There is a fine line between judicial activism and adventurism. Any attempts to destabilize an elected government such as by initiating an inquiry looking into a possible “constitutional breakdown” is unnecessary and will not only disturb the separation of power equilibrium but also erode the legitimacy of the judiciary in the eyes of the people.
1. Laying the foundations for faster growth
Context:
- The COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown that followed has derailed economies worldwide and India was not an exception.
- Ways are being explored to get the Indian economy back on track.
Details:
- The COVID-19-triggered economic crisis is an unprecedented one as it is an economic crisis caused by a non-economic event.
- The lockdown that was put in place to avoid the contagious virus from spreading has crippled the economy.
- The subsequent lifting of restrictions saw a slight recovery in the economic activities, this can be inferred by a reduction in contraction in the GDP data of the second quarter and also an expansion of about 0.6% in industrial output.
Economy in 2020-21
- GDP contracted by 23.9% in the first quarter and by 7.5% in the second quarter, showing the slightest of signs of recovery.
- However, the onus will now be on the third and the fourth quarters to perform well and offset the contraction of the first half of the year and this would need an increase in public expenditure.
- An increase in Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection, improved output of coal, steel and cement and an expansion in manufacturing output indicate an uptick in the performance in the private sector activity.
- It would be not wise to expect a recovery in all the sectors of the economy, like for example, the hospitality sector will take time to recover.
- Therefore, the contraction can be limited in the range of 6% to 7% as per the estimates and this is an improvement over the forecasts of the International Monetary Fund, who predicted a contraction of 10.3%.
What to expect in 2021-22?
- The Indian economy has to grow at 8% in 2021-22 to offset the contraction in 2020-21, thus the 8% GDP expansion will only take the economy to where it was before the pandemic struck.
- The government has a task on its hands, it should ideally identify sectors that can lead the recovery phase and increase the government expenditure in those sectors. In this way, public investment will be catalyzing economic activity.
- The private sector has not yet appeared decisive in its decision making. They are still circumspect about the future, though many new issues in the capital market have met with a positive response.
- The global trade landscape is not yet clear, the restrictions at the border have brought the trade to a standstill.
- A resumption in trade with adequate precautions is needed, a strong surge in exports will spur economic growth.
- Consumption led growth needs to be accompanied by investment-led growth to sustain an economy for a longer period of time.
Monetary policy
- The monetary policy will dictate credit creation and its dispersal in the economy; so far the stance taken by the Monetary Policy Committee has been accommodative.
- The monetary policy will be seen to follow a pattern on:
- Interest rate reduction via changes in the policy rate.
- Liquidity provision through various measures.
- Regulatory changes such as moratorium.
- There has been a significant injection of liquidity into the system, as per the recent monetary policy report, reserve money and money supply have increased.
- With a large injection of liquidity, inflation is expected to remain high. However, the current year, being a very indifferent year, required such large liquidity injection. But caution has to be exercised to ensure that liquidity in the economy has to keep its pace with the availability of goods and services.
Fiscal initiatives
- The first-quarter data revealed that the increase in public expenditure limited the GDP contraction to 23.9%. If not for this increase, the contraction would have been even graver, but the second quarter data revealed that the economy recovered to 7.5% contraction but the public expenditure shrank vis-à-vis the first quarter.
- The current pandemic led issues in the economy requires an enhanced public expenditure, it is not the time for fiscal conservatism. The stimulus policies will help the recovery of economic activities in certain sectors.
- Government expenditures need to be increased with immediate effect. With a slower rate in government revenue, the fiscal stimulus will cause ballooning of the fiscal deficit to the range of 6% to 8% of GDP, but such is the nature of the problem at hand.
- The Government revenue in 2021-22 is expected to pick up and subsequently, the Government can begin working on fiscal management and containing the fiscal deficit.
- The following budget must contain a detailed blueprint of the sectors that will receive the fiscal stimulus.
Growth and investment
- The ill-effects of COVID-19 have caused great damage to the Indian economy, however, in the process of recovery, we must lay the foundations for faster economic growth.
- Investment rate for the past decade has been declining, the investment rate in 2018-19 was 32.2% of GDP as against 38.9% GDP in 2011-12.
- The National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) is an excellent initiative that can propel investment into several infrastructure projects ranging in numerous sectors.
- Infrastructure is an enabler for growth. It is expected that for India’s GDP to recover in the next five years beginning fiscal 2021 (2020-21 to 2024-25), infrastructure will play a pivotal role.
- Well-planned NIP will enable more infrastructure projects, power business, create jobs, improve ease of living, and provide equitable access to infrastructure for all, thereby making growth more inclusive.
Conclusion
- The goal of a $5 trillion economy by 2025 appears to be a distant dream now, however, the focus must be to get the economy back on track.
- The immediate goal is to empower the economy with public investment, which will go a long way in building confidence in private players and more importantly will create jobs and wage employment.
F. Prelims Facts
Nothing here for today!!!
G. Tidbits
1. NGT panel for protection of Mahanadi floodplain
What’s in News?
The National Green Tribunal has constituted a high-level committee to identify floodplain zones of the Mahanadi (Odisha’s largest river).
- This comes in the wake of the State government reclaiming 424 acres of land from the river for development projects.
- The Chief Minister had announced that every inch of the 424 acres reclaimed land would be utilised to add ecological, recreational, sporting, cultural and technological value in the lives of the people of Cuttack.
- An activist had moved NGT to prevent irreversible damage to the riverine ecology by enforcing the applicable rules.
2. Lasting solution for monkey menace
What’s in News?
The first rescue and rehabilitation centre for monkeys in Telangana has been inaugurated.
- It is the second such facility for the primates in the country.
- The rehabilitation centre for the monkeys is the first such facility in south India.
- The other facility in the country is in Himachal Pradesh.
3. New virus strain out of control: U.K.
What’s in News?
- The British Health Secretary has said that the government has imposed a strict Christmas lockdown in London and southeast England because a new strain of the coronavirus was “out of control”.
- The World Health Organization is calling on its members in Europe to step up measures against COVID-19.
- Outside Britain, nine cases of the new strain have been reported in Denmark, the Netherlands and Australia.
- Scientists first discovered the new variant in a patient in September 2020.
- It is found that the new virus strain could be 70% more transmissible.
4. Nepal set to face fresh election
What’s in News?
Nepal’s Prime Minister has got the Parliament dissolved after weeks of tension within the government.
- In an emergency Cabinet meeting Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli recommended the dissolution of Parliament of Nepal and called for general election.
- The decision was ratified by the President. The President has called for a two-phase election in 2021.
- The dramatic move came after weeks of tension with challenger Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’, who has been demanding that Mr. Oli change his style of governance.
- The move to dissolve Parliament has drawn strong criticism both from the Opposition and the members of the ruling coalition.
- It was argued that the decision was unconstitutional as there is no provision in the 2015 Constitution to dissolve Parliament that is functioning perfectly well.
Note:
Nepal had held election in November-December 2017 and the elected 275-member Pratinidhi Sabha expected to serve a full five-year term.
H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions
Q1. Consider the following statements with respect to Guru Tegh Bahadur:
- He founded the city of Anandpur Sahib.
- He is the 6th Guru of the Sikh religion.
- He was beheaded on the orders of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.
Which of the given statement/s is/are INCORRECT?
- 3 only
- 1 and 2 only
- 2 only
- None of the above
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: c
Explanation:
- Guru Tegh Bahadur is the ninth Guru of the Sikh religion.
- He founded the city of Anandpur Sahib in Punjab in 1665.
- He was beheaded on the orders of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb on 24 November 1675 in Delhi.
- Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib was built in 1783 at the place where he was beheaded.
- The mortal remains of Guru Tegh Bahadur were cremated at Gurudwara Rakabganj.
Q2. Consider the following statements with respect to sedimentary basins:
- They are the primary locations on the continents where sufficient subsidence exists for long-term preservation of continental sediments.
- Cambay, Assam Shelf and Assam Arakan Fold Belt are basins with commercial production.
- Bengal basin is India’s latest addition to producing Basins.
Which of the given statement/s is/are correct?
- 1 only
- 1 and 3 only
- 1, 2 and 3
- None of the above
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: c
Explanation:
All the statements are correct. Read more on this topic covered in 20th December 2020 PIB Summary and Analysis.
Q3. Consider the following pairs:
- Thang-Ta: Assam
- Kalaripayattu: Karnataka
- Gatka: Punjab
Which of the given pairs are correctly matched?
- 1, 2 and 3
- 1 and 3 only
- 3 only
- 1 and 2 only
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: c
Explanation:
- Thang-Ta is a popular term for the ancient Manipuri Martial Art known as Huyen langlon.
- Kalaripayattu is a traditional martial art form originating from Kerala.
- Gatka originates from the state of Punjab. It is a traditional fighting style of the Nihang Sikh Warriors and is used in self-defence as well as sport.
Q4. Consider the following statements with respect to the Information Management and Analysis Centre:
- It is the nodal agency for maritime data fusion.
- It is located in Andaman.
- It was set up after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
Which of the given statement/s is/are correct?
- 1, 2 and 3 only
- 1 and 3 only
- 2 and 3 only
- 1 and 2 only
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: b
Explanation:
- The Indian Navy’s Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) located in Gurugram is the nodal agency for maritime data fusion. It was set up after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
- It is jointly operated by the Navy and Coast Guard.
- It is located in Gurugram.
I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions
- India in the last decade has seen a decline in savings and investment rate, identify the factors that have contributed to their decline and suggest measures to improve them. (15 marks, 250 words) [GS 3, Economy]
- “Primary healthcare is the gatekeeper of the health system.” In light of the above statement, explain the significance of primary healthcare in the overall health setup. (15 marks, 250 words) [GS 2, Health]
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21 Dec 2020 CNA:- Download PDF Here
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