25 Jun 2020: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

E. Editorials

Category: GOVERNANCE

1. Signaling intent: On Government e-Marketplace (GeM)

Context

• The government’s e-commerce platform has made it mandatory for sellers to specify the country of origin while registering new products on the portal.
• This comes against the backdrop of calls to boycott Chinese goods following border clashes between India and China in Ladakh.

Details

• The sellers who have already added their products on the marketplace have been asked to update the country of the origin and a warning has been issued stating that products will be delisted if the country of origin is not updated.
• In addition to the country of origin, the e-marketplace has a provision where sellers can list the percentage of local content in products.
• With this new feature, now, the country of origin, as well as the local content percentage, are visible in the marketplace for all items.

Extent of local content

• Class I local suppliers (local content greater than 50 per cent)
• Class II (local content greater than 20 per cent)
• Buyers can now reserve any bid for Class I local suppliers
• For bids below Rs 200 crore, only Class I and Class II, local suppliers will be eligible to bid, with Class I suppliers getting purchase preference.

Significance

• The decision has been taken to promote ‘Make in India’ and ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’.

‘Make in India’ attempt has been futile

• The government’s attempts to raise the share of manufacturing in the economy through the ‘Make in India’ programme have so far failed to significantly boost investment in new, cutting-edge technology-driven or export-oriented industries and instead only taken the country back to import substitution plants making goods predominantly for domestic consumption.
• To that extent, the drive for self-reliance and greater localisation risks once again eroding Indian industry’s global competitiveness by placing a premium on ‘Indianness’ over quality or cost.

Pharma Industries

• India is seen as a pharmacy hub of the world and manufacturers drugs which are affordable. But the Indian pharmacy Industry depends on China for about 70% of their requirements of bulk drugs and intermediates.
• For India to wean itself off these dependencies will take time.

Conclusion

• Attaining genuine self-reliance is a long and capital intensive process that would require far greater investment in education, skill-building and infrastructure.
• For now, policymakers have to tone down any trade-linked rhetoric and give diplomats and military negotiators the room to smoothen ties between India and China.

Category: HEALTH

1. The many questions about Favipiravir

Context

• Covid-19 has thrown many questions and the answers are still not available. It has not only exposed the dire situation of the public health infrastructure, but also the opacity with which drug/medical device approvals are given.
• Recently, Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has granted approval to Favipiravir for the treatment of COVID-19 patients with mild or moderate symptoms

Evidence-Based Medicine

• It requires the testing of pharmaceutical drugs through Randomized Clinical Trials (RCT) wherein one set of patients get a placebo (or an alternate therapy) and the other set of patients gets the investigational drug.
• Neither the doctors nor the patients know who gets what drug.
• If the set of patients that gets the investigational drug shows a better outcome, it can be presumed that the drug has a demonstrable therapeutic effect on the disease in comparison to the comparator. This is the gold standard for demonstrating the efficacy of a drug in treating a particular disease.
• The data collected from such clinical trials are usually published in a peer-reviewed journal where they are subject to scientific scrutiny.
• This system has worked during this pandemic to disprove claims that hydroxychloroquine was useful in treating COVID-19.

Concerns

1. No scientific consensus

• The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has approved Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, to sell generic versions of Favipiravir for the treatment of COVID-19.
• This drug, originally invented by a Japanese company, was meant to treat influenza.
• After the outbreak of COVID-19, doctors in China and Russia started using it to treat COVID-19 patients although there is no scientific consensus on the efficacy of the drug.

2. As per Glenmark’s filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange, the company has received “accelerated approval” from the DCGI for “restricted emergency use in India”.
   • On what basis did the DCGI grant approval?
   • Will the underlying data be made publicly available to the medical community?
   • While the New Drugs and Clinical Trial Rules, 2019 allow the DCGI to grant approvals for the use of certain drugs based on approvals granted overseas, that does not mean they do not question whether the drug can be approved or not in India on the basis of scientific rationale.

• There is no information on the DCGI’s website explaining the scientific basis of its approval of Favipiravir for COVID-19.

3. According to the Clinical Trials Registry of India (CTRI), Glenmark’s study was meant to be carried out on 150 patients at different hospitals with the aim of comparing Favipiravir with “standard care” provided to patients with mild or moderate COVID-19.

• The decision to enroll patients with “mild” COVID-19 is baffling given that virtually all these “mild” cases often resolve themselves without any intervention.
• Further, the CTRI does not explain the nature of the “standard care” being provided to the patients. It is important to disclose this information from a scientific and ethical viewpoint.
• If we do not know the treatment with which Favipiravir is being compared, how do we know if it is any better than perhaps a placebo?

4. Glenmark claims in a letter to the Bombay Stock Exchange that it was granted approval based on evaluation of data and expert opinion

• PubMed, a database that contains more than 30 million citations and abstracts of biomedical literature, lists a single study published in a journal called Engineering.
• It shows that a group of Chinese investigators did an observational study on 80 patients and concluded that those who got the drug tended to have faster disappearance of virus and quicker improvement of shadows in their chest x-rays.
• The study was not a randomised controlled trial and therefore, small size apart, had two serious flaws —
  • bias (the sample studied is not representative of the population it was drawn from or the population at large) and
  • Confounders (risk factors) (unable to control for all other factors that might differ between the two groups).
    • Confounding leads to an error in the interpretation of a measurement.
  • Thus a well-designed robust scientific study on the effectiveness and safety of this drug in COVID-19 patients is missing.

5. Subject Expert Committee (SEC)

• However, in this case, the minutes of the meetings, the composition of the SEC and the clinical trial results submitted to the SEC/DCGI are not available on the DCGI’s website.
• A representative of Glenmark disclosed on a channel that the approval for restricted use was based on an “early readout” from the study; the study is expected to be completed in the coming weeks and months.
• So, on what basis did the DCGI approve restricted use of this drug?

6. The drug is currently not approved in “any of the highly-regulated markets” like the US and Europe for any indication.

• It has been approved in China, Russia and Japan for the seasonal viral flu.

Conclusion

• A culture of secrecy around drug approvals serves no purpose except for the benefit of pharmaceutical companies.
• If the drug does not work as advertised, the regulator would be responsible for promoting irrational medicine.
• Therefore until the DCGI makes public the clinical information on the basis of which the accelerated approval has been granted along with the minutes of the SEC meeting, where this drug was approved, doctors and patients should be cautious about its usage.

Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

1. The U.S. trial at The Hague

Background

• Please read CNA 12th June 2020: Trump targets ICC with sanctions over Afghanistan war crimes case. Click here

USA’s Arguments

• The U.S. has always refused to recognise ICC jurisdiction over U.S. personnel on the grounds that it is not party to the Rome Statute that underpins the court.
  • In 2002, the George W. Bush administration suspended its signature to the Statute,
• U. S. Congress has also passed the American Service-Members’ Protection Act, requiring the President to protect American forces from prosecution in The Hague court, besides extending such commitment to the troops of its allies.

Rome Statute

• On the other hand, the Rome Statute provides for the prosecution of crimes committed in the territory of any one of the 123 states-parties, even if the accused comes from a non-member nation.
• This is the basis for the current investigation wherein Afghanistan and the three European nations, the location of the alleged crimes, are within the ICC’s jurisdiction, even if the U.S. remains outside.

Category: DEFENCE

1. High-Altitude Warfare

Context

• The violent standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in Galwan Valley of Ladakh region has thrown the spotlight on high-altitude warfare and the challenges that troops face, particularly when advantageous positions on the heights are occupied by the other side.

How is high-altitude warfare fought?

• High-altitude warfare is fought keeping the terrain and weather in mind.
• The kind of infrastructure and training that the troops require for high-altitude warfare are key factors.
• The evolution of such warfare goes back a long way: European countries had mountain brigades in view of the kind of terrain prevalent in those countries.
• The harshness of the terrain calls for a specialised kind of training to prepare soldiers in terms of mindset and acclimatisation.

How is India equipped in such warfare?

• Generally, India is considered a hub of mountain warfare skills since most of the country’s north and northeast requires such skills.
• The troops are imparted training in basic and advance training in mountaineering to make them equipped for mountain warfare
• Ladakh Scouts are considered the best in this kind of warfare.
• Mountain chop, a tactic involved in such warfare, evolved in India where the mountainous terrain is very difficult to scale.

Approaches to be employed

• The most difficult approaches where the enemy is likely to give the least resistance need to be used efficiently.
• The mindset of the enemy sitting above needs to be assessed. Taking stock of the entire situation, one needs to find out the easiest approaches.

What are the challenges involved in warfare in a high-altitude place like Galwan Valley?

• A big factor is who has taken defensive positions and who is sitting on higher ground. Once troops are sitting on high ground, it becomes very difficult to dislodge them from there. In a place like Galwan Valley, which is absolutely barren, there is not much concealment.
• The soldier on high ground is absolutely stationary, which makes those on lower terrain easy targets; the enemy can pick them up one by one.
• Normally in mountain warfare, troops on lower ground use a combat ratio of 1:6, but in circumstances as in Galwan, it may go up to 1:10

How to overcome the vulnerability?

• Generally, mountain warfare is fought using the period of darkness to reach the opposing army, engage and overpower them before the first light of day.
• Without adequate trained troops who are well-versed with the terrain and are properly acclimatised, it is not an easy game.

What are the other challenges faced by soldiers in high altitudes?

• The first major factor is acclimatisation since the oxygen supply reduces drastically.
• Next, the load carrying capacity of individuals reduces drastically.
• Things move very slow in the mountains and mobilisation of troops consumes time.
• Thus, time and place need to be kept on top priority when deciding where the troops have to be stationed and how they have to be mobilised.

What are the logistical challenges in this kind of warfare?

• One major challenge is that weapons jam, particularly in high-altitude areas.
  • When a soldier is at a height of 17,000 ft or above, it is very cold, and he needs to grease the weapons and clean the barrels at least once a week to ensure they function efficiently. But at the time of combat, this becomes difficult.
• Vehicles do not start when fuel jams. If the fuel is diesel, it won’t ignite unless it is mixed with thinners or other chemicals to make them thin enough to fire the engine.
• For communication equipment, troops need to carry more batteries because they drain very quickly at high altitude. While a battery tends to last for 24 hours in the plains, it will drain in 1-2 hours in these severely cold areas .
• Transport animals such as mules need to be used to maintain adequate supplies, which is not an easy task.
• Weather constraints also play a major factor.

Planning has to be done in advance, with recces carried out, which again is difficult in the mountains. There has to be a contingency plan to first identify the tactical points that need to be used in case of an assault.

What kind of training do Indian troops get in mountain warfare?

• First, the troops are trained in skilled mountaineering techniques, rock-craft as well as mountain craft. The training continues whenever the units are inducted.
• Then comes the acclimatisation to avoid non-battle, cold casualties. Almost all units have these trainers who keep troops well-equipped and efficient to meet any contingency.

F. Tidbits

1. India GDP to contract 4.5% on COVID-19: IMF

What’s in News?

International Monetary Fund has said that key emerging market economies are taking a severe hit to GDP amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with India seeing the first contraction in decades.

• The updated World Economic Outlook shows India’s GDP will fall 4.5% this year.
• The U.S. economy is set to contract 8% in 2020, while China fares slightly better, posting growth of 1%.
• Mexico will see a double digit decline of 10.5% while Brazil of 9.1%.
• Argentina is projected to fall 9.9%, with the country already in the middle of a massive debt crunch on top of the health and economic crises.
• During the global financial crisis in 2009, these emerging markets, along with China, were booming, supporting the global economy even as advanced nations faced severe recessions.

2. United Nations Public Service Day

• Every year on June 23^rd, since 2002, United Nations Public Service Day is celebrated as a tribute to the people who are associated with public service in all the counties of the world.
• UN public service day is celebrated to acknowledge the creative achievements and contributions by the public service institutions. The aim is to acknowledge as well as the reward public service so that they continue to work effectively and responsibly in all countries.
• Theme for 2020: “Honouring the public servants who have been working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic”.

G. Prelims Facts

Nothing here for today!!!

H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions

Q1. Consider the following statements with respect to Koundinya wildlife sanctuary:

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

Q2. Consider the following statements with respect to Bal Gangadhar Tilak:

1. He is the author of Geetarahasya.
2. He founded two newspapers – Kesari in English and Mahratta in Marathi.
3. He was one of the founders of the All India Home Rule League.

Which of the given statement/s is/are correct?

1. 2 and 3 only
2. 1 and 2 only
3. 1 and 3 only
4. 1, 2 and 3

Q3. Consider the following statements with respect to The Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA):

1. It is a regulatory mechanism that enables RBI to pass regulations and the Central Government to pass rules relating to foreign exchange in tune with the Foreign Trade policy of India.
2. Violation of FEMA is a criminal offence.
3. Enforcement Directorate is responsible for enforcement of the provisions of Foreign Exchange Management Act.

Which of the given statement/s is/are correct?

1. 1 and 2 only
2. 1 and 3 only
3. 1, 2 and 3
4. 2 and 3 only

Q4. Which of the following are literary works of Aurobindo Gosh?

1. Hour of God
2. Savitri
3. The Future Evolution of Man
4. Bhagavad Gita and Its Message

Choose the correct option

1. 1 and 2 only
2. 1, 2 and 4 only
3. 2 only
4. 1, 2, 3 and 4

I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions

1. The GeM’s move to specify the country of origin while registering new products on the portal is at best symbolic and a cosmetic measure. Analyze. (10 Marks, 150 Words)
2. Use of drugs without Randomized Clinical Trials and scientific evidence could end up promoting widespread misuse of drug and a false sense of security amongst the population. Discuss the key concerns associated with such approval by the regulatory bodies in India. (10 Marks, 150 Words)