UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis Sep13

A. GS1 Related

B. GS2 Related

Key findings of the Report

• Indians have registered a 50% increase in the prevalence of ischemic heart disease and stroke over the period from 1990 to 2016, with the number of diabetes cases climbing from 26 million to 65 million.

• In the same period, the number of people ailing from chronic obstructive lung disease went up from 28 million to 55 million, according to the ‘India State-level Disease Burden Initiative’ report.
• The proportional contribution of cancers to the total loss of health in India has doubled from 1990 to 2016, but the incidence of different types of cancers varies widely between the States.

Punjab tops list

• The State-wise disease burden showed that Punjab has been ranked at the top for the burden of ischemic heart disease, followed by Tamil Nadu, and vice-versa for diabetes.
• West Bengal topped with the largest number of stroke cases followed by Odisha, according to the comprehensive analysis of several major non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

• Kerala was ranked at the top for the burden of cancer, followed by Assam.

Being overweight was found to be a major risk factor for diabetes doubled in every State of India from 1990 to 2016.

• These papers, through detailed analysis, have elucidated disease and risk factor trends for major NCDs, and suicides, in every State, over 26 years.
• NCDs have been increasing in India, a major finding of concern is that the highest rate of increase in ischemic heart disease and diabetes is in the less developed States of India.
• These States already have a high burden of chronic obstructive lung disease, and of a range of infectious and childhood diseases, so the control of NCDs in these States has to be boosted without delay.
• The papers showed that the proportional contribution of cancers to disease burden in India has doubled since 1990, but the incidence of individual cancers varies widely between the States, the reasons for which need to be understood better to guide prevention and control of cancer.

• Experts noted that the insights provided by these findings are very timely for the planning of Ayushman Bharat, the National Health Protection Mission announced recently by the Prime Minister.
• ICMR is also working at creating a standard treatment workflow for Ayushman Bharat.
• The Council added that they are all set to make public Mahatma Gandhi’s health records — general health, blood pressure data, etc. — as part of the 150th commemorative issue of the Indian Journal of Clinical Research.

Indian Women and suicide

• Suicide is the leading cause of death in the 15-39 years age group in India. Thirty-seven per cent of such deaths among women globally occur in India, and the suicide rate among the elderly has increased over the past quarter century.
• The data was released on Wednesday by the India State-level Disease Burden Initiative, a joint study of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and other institutes including the Public Health Foundation of India and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Prevention strategy

• India’s proportional contribution to global suicide deaths is high and increasing.
• Suicide Death Rate (SDR) in India is higher than expected for its socio-demographic index level, especially for women, with substantial variations in the magnitude and men-to-women ratio between the states.
• India must develop a suicide-prevention strategy that takes into account these variations in order to address this major public health problem, it stated.
• The highest age-specific SDR among women in 2016 was for ages 15-29 years. Suicide was the leading cause of death in India in 2016 for those aged 15-39 years; 71.2% of the suicide deaths among women and 57.7% among men were in this age group.
• The very high contribution of India — from 1990 to 2016 — to the total suicide deaths in the world, especially among women, is a cause of worry.
• The ten-fold variation between the States in the SDR for women emphasises the need to better understand the reasons behind these suicides and make concerted efforts to reduce this avoidable loss of predominantly young lives.
• India’s contribution to global suicide deaths increased from 25.3% in 1990 to 36.6% in 2016 among women, and from 18.7% to 24.3% among men.
• It further said that if the trends observed up to 2016 continued, the probability of India achieving Sustainable Development Goals for SDR reduction in 2030 was zero.
• Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, which are in the higher-middle and high epidemiological transition level groups, consistently had a higher SDR for both men and women.

C. GS3 Related

In news

Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA)

• The Cabinet has given approval to the new procurement policy which will ensure that the farmers get the minimum support price (MSP) at a time when the market prices fall below the benchmark prices set by the government.
• The new mechanism is expected to be crop specific. This will mark a significant departure from the current mechanism, under which the crops are purchased by the government and the MSP price is transferred to farmers’ account through Direct Benefit Transfer.
• The new mechanism is likely to cost the exchequer nearly Rs 40,000 crore and come into effect for the upcoming harvest of the Kharif season.
• One scheme will focus on compensating oilseeds farmers if rates fall below the MSP, and another will allow states to rope in private players for procurement.
• Under the new policy, the state governments will be given an option to choose multiple schemes to protect farmers when prices fall below the MSP.

• The centre also implements Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) for procurement of those commodities, which are perishable in nature and are not covered under the MSP policy.
• Under the MSP policy, the government fixes the rates for 23 notified crops grown in kharif and rabi seasons.
• The Centre has announced a ₹15,053 crore scheme to ensure that farmers growing oilseeds, pulses and copra actually get the minimum support price (MSP) they are promised for their crops every year.
• The umbrella policy — Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA) — was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.
• It clubs together an existing procurement scheme with newly introduced options — meant for oilseeds only — of additional procurement by private traders or a cash payment scheme.
• Apart from the ₹15,053 crore to be spent over a two-year period to implement the scheme, the Cabinet approved an additional government credit guarantee of ₹16,550 crore for agencies undertaking procurement.
• The government is working with a holistic approach. Increasing MSP is not adequate and it is more important that farmers get the full benefit of the announced MSP.
• The government announces minimum support prices for 23 crops every year. This year, these rates were set at 50% higher than the farmers’ production costs, including that for labour.
• The rates are meant to give remunerative prices to the farmers and assure them of some profits. About one-third of the harvest of the two major foodgrains, rice and wheat, are procured by the Centre at the MSP for sale in ration shops.
• However, most of the 21 other crops are sold at market prices, often below the MSP, as the government’s procurement operations are temporary.

Copra, pulses will still get price support

• Under the umbrella policy — Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA) — approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, the existing Price Support Scheme (PSS) will continue for pulses and copra, with Central agencies — including the NAFED and the Food Corporation of India — physically procuring the produce whenever the market rates fall below MSP, up to a maximum limit of 25% of the total harvest.
• The Centre will bear the costs, as per existing guidelines. However, for oilseeds alone, the States will be allowed to choose between the PSS or two new schemes, an official statement said.
• The Price Deficiency Payment Scheme is modelled on the Bhavantar experiment in Madhya Pradesh last year, where there is no physical procurement at all.
• Instead, farmers will sell their produce in the market, and the government will directly pay them the difference between the MSP and the average market rate.
• The cash payment will be deposited in their bank accounts. When this scheme was proposed by the NITI Aayog to the States in April 2018, a 60:40 split in costs between the Centre and the States was suggested; it is unclear how the burden will now be shared.
• The other option is a pilot scheme where selected private agencies will procure the commodity at the MSP, instead of the government. Maximum service charges up to 15% of the notified MSP will be payable.

Experts sceptical

• While Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh called the policy an important step to double farmers’ income by 2022, experts remained sceptical.
• NAFED has a stock of more than 4 million tonnes[of pulses and oilseeds because of the last two years’ procurement, but their distribution policy is non-existent. When market prices are 30% lower than the MSP, who is going to bear the loss.
• Food policy expert Devinder Sharma said earlier experiments with private procurement had collapsed once demand fell.

2. Centre hikes ethanol prices

D. GS4 Related

E. Editorials

Context

• In his note to Parliament’s Estimates Committee on bank non-performing assets (NPAs), Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has flagged three major sources of potential trouble: Mudra credit, which is basically small-ticket loans granted to micro and small enterprises; lending to farmers through Kisan Credit Cards; and contingent liabilities under the Credit Guarantee Scheme for MSMEs, run by the Small Industries Development Bank of India.

What is NPA as per RBI?

• Non-Performing assets in respect to banks are defined as the loans on which interest or principle is not being paid for 90 days.
• However, in terms of Agriculture / Farm Loans; the NPA is defined as under:
• For short duration crop if the loan (instalment / interest) is not paid for 2 crop seasons it would be termed as a NPA.
• For Long Duration Crops, the above would be 1 Crop season from the due date

MUDRA

• MUDRA stands for Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency
• Ministry: Ministry of Finance
• Objective: The core objective of the bank is to fund the unfunded. It will finance to “Last Mile Financiers” of small/micro businesses. The lending priority will be given to SC/ST enterprises

To address the three segments, MUDRA Bank has launched three loan instruments:

• Shishu: covers loans upto Rs 50,000/-
• Kishor: covers loans above Rs 50,000/- and upto Rs. 5 lakh
• Tarun: covers loans above Rs 5 lakh and upto Rs 10 lakh

Analysis of the issue

• The loans have been sanctioned under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, which aims to ‘fund the unfunded’.
• Given that these are small loans up to ₹10 lakh each, with the borrowers mostly from the informal sector, banks have to monitor them very closely.
• It is debatable whether banks have the resources and manpower to do this when they are chasing the bigger borrowers for business and, increasingly these days, recoveries.
• The risk is that these small-ticket loans will drop under the radar and build into a large credit issue in course of time. The same logic holds true for crop loans made through Kisan Credit Cards.
• Recognition is the first step in a clean-up, and unless banks are cleaned of their non-performing loans, they cannot make fresh loans.

Way Forward

• The Central government should also take note of some forward-looking statements that Mr. Rajan has made on the governance of banks.
• Some suggestions to avert a recurrence of the current mess are, professionalising bank boards with appointments done by an independent Banks Board Bureau; inducting talent from outside banks to make up for the deficit within; revising compensation structures to attract the best talent; and ensuring that banks are not left without a leader at the top.

Nothing here for today!

Nothing here for today!!!

Question 1. Consider the following statements:

1. Ischaemia means a “reduced blood supply”.

2. The coronary arteries supply blood to the heart muscle.

Which of the above statements are correct?

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

See

Question 2. Consider the following statements:

1. A non-communicable disease is a noninfectious health condition that cannot be spread from person to person.
2. The main types of noncommunicable diseases include cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory disease, malaria and diabetes.

Which of the above statements are incorrect?

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. None of the above

See

Question 3. Consider the following statements:

1. Ayushman Bharat is National Health Protection Scheme, which will cover over 10 crore poor and vulnerable families.

2. Ayushman Bharat provides coverage upto 5 lakh rupees per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization.

Which of the above statements are correct?

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

See

Question 4. Consider the following statements:

1. Minimum Support Price (MSP) is a form of market intervention by the Government of India to insure agricultural producers against any sharp fall in farm prices.

2. The minimum support prices are announced by the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).

Which of the above statements are correct?

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

See

1. Public procurement in India is about 30% of GDP and most vulnerable to corruption. Discuss the challenges faced in Public procurement and suggest some measures to improve the present mechanism of procurement.
2. There are several inconsistencies in compensation awarded for human-wildlife conflict — ranging from crop loss to human death — across the country. What are the issues involved in resolving the Human-Animal conflict? In what way can these issues  be resolved?

Also, check previous Daily News Analysis

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