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India now a key player in neglected disease treatment (Live Mint )

Mains Paper 2: Governance
Prelims level: G-Finder report
Mains level: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

Context

•  Developing new drugs, vaccines and diagnostics will be critical to achieving this goal.
•  We have seen the power of science and innovation throughout history to dramatically improve health and lift generations out of poverty, from penicillin to the meningitis vaccine.
•  But it is important to remember that breakthroughs require time, patience, partners and significant investment.

Key highlights of the G-Finder report

•  The annual G-Finder report, the world’s most comprehensive analysis of neglected disease research investments, released by Policy Cures Research on 30 January highlights India’s leadership.
•  According to the report, the Indian government scaled its contribution by 38% to $76 million in 2017, upholding its position as the fourth-largest public funder globally.
•  Moreover, the report calls out India as a key driver of 2017’s overall increase in global public funding.
•  A large part of this increase came from ICMR, which substantially increased its investments in malaria, TB and other neglected tropical diseases.
•  For the first time ever, ICMR has been placed in the top four largest funders of TB research and development (R&D).
•  It is also the only organization from low- and middle-income countries to feature in the top 12 funders.

Development process done by the government

•  The Indian government is helping to build a thriving community of scientists working to solve health challenges and connecting startups to create a sustainable ecosystem.
•  Apart from providing funding, the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council has developed an ecosystem of programmes and schemes that provide holistic support to startups and small and medium enterprises.
•  The new triple drug therapy for eliminating lymphatic filariasis (LF) was launched in December 2018.
•  Unlike traditional LF treatments, a single dose of the new triple-drug therapy is enough to kill the adult worm, making it significantly faster, easier and cheaper to cure people.
•  India, which bears 40% of the global disease burden, is the first country in South-East Asia to introduce the new treatment regimen.
•  In just the past year, two Indian manufactured vaccines (for typhoid and rotavirus) received WHO prequalification.
•  India has also made strides developing affordable and accurate diagnostic tools, including a point-of-care molecular detection platform that can detect a variety of infectious agents.
•  Such innovations will enable better diagnosis and treatment at the primary health centre level.

Way forward

•  Scientific breakthroughs are possible, but far from inevitable. India’s leadership in this space is encouraging, as is its vision for the future: by 2030.
•  The government aims to place India among the top three countries globally in science and technology.
•  To realize this ambition, India will need to sustain science funding and find new ways to incentivize urgently needed innovation.
•  The cutting-edge expertise and technology of the private sector and strong international partnerships will be key.
•  And India will need to ensure that new and existing innovations reach the people who need them the most through parallel investments in its health system.
•  With global funding in 2017 touching the highest level in more than a decade, there has never been more momentum behind research to speed up the fight against neglected diseases.
•  From LF to TB, India is, and must continue to be, a leader in that fight.

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Wrong on the Rohingya (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2: International Relations
Prelims level: UNHCR
Mains level: India and neighbourhood relations

Context

•  The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) called for a report from India on the deportation of a group of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar in October 2018.
•  India’s repatriation of the refugees contravenes international principles on refugee law as well as domestic constitutional rights.

Global framework

•  Refugee law is a part of international human rights law.
•  In order to address the problem of mass inter-state influx of refugees, a Conference of Plenipotentiaries of the UN adopted the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees in 1951.
•  This was followed by the Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees in 1967.
•  One of the most significant features of the Convention is the principle of non-refoulement.
•  The norm requires that “no contracting State shall expel or return a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.”
•  This idea of prohibition of expulsion lies at the heart of refugee protection in international law.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

•  Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides that everyone has the right to seek and enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
•  Moreover, Article 51 of the Constitution imposes an obligation on the state to endeavour to promote international peace and security.
•  Article 51(c) talks about promotion of respect for international law and treaty obligations.
•  Therefore, the Constitution conceives of incorporation of international law into the domestic realm.
•  Thus the argument that the nation has not violated international obligations during the deportation is a mistaken one.

Domestic obligations

•  The chapter on fundamental rights in the Constitution differentiates citizens from persons.
•  While all rights are available to citizens, persons including foreign citizens are entitled to the right to equality and the right to life, among others.
•  The Rohingya refugees, while under the jurisdiction of the national government, cannot be deprived of the right to life and personal liberty.
•  India lacks a specific legislation to address the problem of refugees, in spite of their increasing inflow.
•  The Foreigners Act, 1946, fails to address the peculiar problems faced by refugees as a class.

Way forward

•  It also gives unbridled power to the Central government to deport any foreign citizen.
•  Further, the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill of 2019 strikingly excludes Muslims from its purview and seeks to provide citizenship only to Hindu, Christian, Jain, Parsi, Sikh and Buddhist immigrants persecuted in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
•  The majority of the Rohingya are Muslims.
•  This limitation on the basis of religion fails to stand the test of equality under Article 14 of the Constitution and offends secularism, a basic feature of the Constitution.
•  The American philosopher Ronald Dworkin argues that if we claim international law to be law, we must understand it as part of the greater morality.
•  In such a conception, the deportation of refugees by India is not only unlawful but breaches a significant moral obligation.

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Visa crackdown: On Indian students’ arrest (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2: International Relation
Prelims level: Visa problem
Mains level: Issues affecting India’s interest and Indian Diaspora

Context

•  The arrest of 129 Indians on the charge of wilfully violating immigration laws to stay and work in the United States sends a stark message to youth looking for better prospects abroad.
•  Their efforts should begin with due diligence and strictly follow the letter of the law.
•  In the sting operation carried out by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which threatens to encompass many more Indians in the ‘University of Farmington’ case.
•  The contentious issue is whether they fell victim to unscrupulous recruiters who offered to secure an I-20 student document that allowed them to undertake paid work using the provision for Curricular Practical Training, or knowingly engaged in fraud. Going by the indictment of eight recruiters of Indian origin.
•  They knew they were violating U.S. immigration law when they enrolled students using fraudulent and unlawful means, and their profits included negotiated referral fees paid into their accounts by undercover agents.

Reason behind this prosecution

•  The prosecution has alleged that each student who enrolled in the ‘university’ was aware that there would be no classes, credit scores or academic requirements, and the intention was merely to “pay to stay” and gain access to employment.
•  These statements are, of course, subject to scrutiny during the trial of the alleged recruiters.
•  The Ministry of External Affairs has made the correct distinction between students who may have been duped and the recruiters.
•  Students who are eligible to pursue studies at an authorised university in the U.S. should, therefore, get a further opportunity and not be subjected to summary deportation or humiliation.
•  It must also not prejudice the prospects of such students who may apply in future for legal entry.

Way forward

•  These trends reinforce the need for good communication that would help students identify credentialed institutions that meet the requirements of the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, and highlight the serious nature of visa fraud.
•  If the averments in the Michigan case are correct, the prospect of working in America attracted many of the 600 students who were recruited.
•  This should serve as a reminder to India’s policymakers that access to higher education, job-creation and raising of living standards to meet the aspirations of youth must receive priority.
•  Talk of an impending demographic dividend is meaningless without creating opportunities at home.

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Current Affairs MCQ for UPSC Exams - 03 February 2019

Q1. Consider the following statements regarding current Inflation status in India ?

1) Retail inflation for industrial workers increased to 5.24 per cent in December 2018 as compared to 4 per cent in the year-ago period.
2) While India’s Monetary Policy Committee has been cautioning about upside risks to inflation, actual readings have been below expectations for the last few months.
3) Inflation-adjusted interest rates in India are already the highest in Asia, an indicator of policy tightness.

Which of the above statements are true ?

(a) 1 & 2 only
(b) 2 & 3 only
(c) 1 & 3 only
(d) all of the above

Q2. The shrinking of the Aral Sea has been called "one of the planet's worst environmental disasters".Formerly the fourth-largest lake in the world with an area of 68,000 km^2(26,300 sq mi), the Aral Sea has been shrinking since the 1960s after the rivers that fed it were diverted by Soviet irrigation projects. The Aral sea lies between which of the following Central Asian countries?

(a) Russia & Uzbekistan
(b) Kazhaksthan & Uzbekistan
(c) Kazhaksthan & Turkmenistan
(d) Turkey & Uzbekistan

Q3. Which of the following statements regarding “Mera Gaon-Mera Gaurav” scheme are true ?

1) Under this scheme, groups of scientists will select villages and will remain in touch with that village and provide information to farmers on technical and other related aspects through personal visits or through telecommunication.
2) The scheme enables 20,000 scientists of National Agricultural Research and Education System (NARES) to work directly in villages.
3) The scheme is being implemented by Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR),Chennai.

(a) 1 & 2 only
(b) 2 & 3 only
(c) 1 & 3 only
(d) all of the above

Q4. Which of the following statements with respect to microbial fuel cells are true ?

1) A microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a bio-electrochemical system that drives an electric current by using bacteria and mimicking bacterial interactions found in nature.
2) MFCs are attractive for power generation applications that require only low power, but where replacing batteries may be impractical, such as wireless sensor networks.
3) They find application in waste water treatment and in long term medical applications like pacemakers.

(a) 1 & 2 only
(b) 2 & 3 only
(c) 1 & 3 only
(d) all of the above

Q5. Which of the following is the first state in India to set up a price monitoring and research unit (PMRU) to track violation of prices of essential drugs and medical devices under the Drugs Price Control Order (DPCO) ?

(a) Maharashtra
(b) Haryana
(c) Kerala
(d) Telangana

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Standard deviations: On jobs data (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 3: Economy
Prelims level: NSC
Mains level: Key highlights of the job growth data

Context

•  The resignations of the National Statistical Commission’s acting Chairperson P.C. Mohanan and member J.V. Meenakshi appear linked to the Centre’s refusal to release new data on employment that were due to be made public in December 2018.
•  They could also be related to unease about the recently unveiled back-series data on the economy, which recorded slower growth during the UPA-led government’s rule, and were released by the NITI Aayog bypassing convention and the commission’s views.

Important findings of the report

•  Reports suggest that the findings of the new Periodic Labour Force Survey, for July 2017-December 2018, are not too flattering, with unemployment registering a five-decade high.
•  The government has said no such reservations were expressed by Mr. Mohanan or Dr. Meenakshi during NSC meetings and that the report will be released after ‘quarterly’ data for the survey period is processed.
•  A key role of the NSC, set up in 2006, is to verify whether data being put in the public domain are reliable and adequate.
•  Information has been collected and disseminated by successive governments under laid-down schedules, earning Indian data greater global trust than most other emerging market peers, especially China.

Job creation data

•  On the question of job-creation for the youth, the Prime Minister and his Cabinet have been building an argument that jobs abound, but credible data are missing.
•  The National Sample Survey Organisation’s quinquennial employment surveys were to be conducted in 2016-17.
•  The year was switched to 2017-18 as the new Labour Force Survey was being prepared to replace it.
•  Separately, a quarterly survey of select employment-intensive sectors initiated by the Labour Bureau after the 2008 global financial crisis, that provided some clarity on ground realities, was inexplicably junked.

Way forward

•  Instead, proxy data from enrolments into social security schemes for formal sector employees are being touted as a sign of job-creation: economists have rightly called them out as inaccurate.
•  Arun Jaitley, in his last year’s Budget speech, cited ‘an independent study’ to claim seven million formal jobs will be created in 2018-19.
•  The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy has pegged job losses in 2018 at 11 million based on its regular employment surveys.
•  The government’s coy approach to jobs-related data may be due to its disastrous demonetisation gambit which hurt supply chains and informal jobs in the economy and whose effects have lingered.
•  Contrast this with the NSSO surveys of 2009-10 that revealed little good news on household incomes and job-creation, thanks to after-effects of the global financial crisis.
•  The UPA didn’t dither from releasing the data, took criticism on its chin, explained it was an exceptional situation and commissioned another set of surveys in 2011-12 to correct for the timing.
•  The Modi government should have treaded the same path without upending India’s statistical integrity

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Hawkish move: On U.S. pullout from nuclear treaty (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2: International Relations
Prelims level: Nuclear treaty
Mains level: India and its neighborhood- relations

Context

• The Donald Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty with Russia is a retrograde step.
• Signed in 1987 by Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, it barred both countries from deploying land-launched cruise missiles in the 500- to 5,500-km range.
• However, Russia appears to have been covertly violating it in letter and spirit.
• The U.S. in 2008 expressed concern over the Russian Novator 9M729 missile tests and in 2014 alleged that Moscow was testing a ground-based cruise missile.

Policy taken by the U.S.

• The U.S. response cannot be regarded as purely retaliatory.
• Both Mr. Trump and his National Security Adviser John Bolton are on the record expressing what some consider to be a sense of disregard for arms control agreements.
• Before taking up the NSA role, Mr. Bolton said in his book that the U.S. “arms control theology” had been “kept on life support during the Clinton presidency by devotion and prayer rather than hard reality”.
• Mr. Trump, who scuppered the nuclear agreement with Iran, has hinted he would refuse to abide by a treaty that other parties were disregarding.
• There is now a sense of alarm that the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which limits both countries’ arsenal of intercontinental ballistic missiles, and will lapse in 2021, might be scrapped next.

Uprising Cold War

• At the heart of this worrisome echo of the Cold War years is the changing balance of power in global nuclear politics heralded by China’s rise as a regional hegemon;
• Its growing arsenal poses a threat in the eyes of strategists in Washington.
• In 2018, the U.S. Nuclear Posture Review noted that Beijing was steaming forward with the expansion of its cruise-missile arsenal, potentially neutralising the capability of American warships that could seek to approach the Chinese coastline during a standoff.
• Shifting geo-politics also requires that European concerns be factored into strategic discussions on the INF, particularly because it is Europe that is most immediately threatened by the Russian stockpile.

Way forward

• However, going by the surprised reactions from European officials, it appears that Mr. Trump may not have consulted with European allies before announcing the suspension of the treaty.
• Mr. Trump’s thinking may rest on the fact that he could now develop ground-launched missiles, and perhaps keep Moscow’s aggression in check through a military-posture superiority, and also save the exchequer some cash, for this option is cheaper than cruise missiles that can be fired from aircraft, ships, or submarines.
• In pulling out of the INF, Washington is effectively throwing away leverage it may have had with Russia on an issue of global concern.

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Legitimacy of the basic structure (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2: Polity
Prelims level: 103rd Amendment
Mains level: Indian Constitution- historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure

Context

• It has now been more than 45 years since the Supreme Court ruled in Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala that Parliament’s power to amend the Constitution was not unlimited, that the Constitution’s basic structure was infrangible.
• There have already been grumblings over the rule’s legitimacy in certain quarters in response to challenges made to the recently introduced 103rd Constitutional Amendment, which provides for reservations based on economic criteria in government jobs and education.

Unwarranted censure

• The common criticism is that the doctrine has no basis in the Constitution’s language.
• The phrase “basic structure”, it’s argued, finds no mention anywhere in the Constitution.
• What’s more, beyond its textual illegitimacy, its detractors also believe the doctrine accords the judiciary a power to impose its philosophy over a democratically formed government, resulting in something akin to what Union Minister Arun Jaitley once termed as a “tyranny of the unelected”.
• Ever since the Constitution was first amended in 1951, the true extent of Parliament’s power to amend the document has been acutely contested.
• Only months earlier Parliament had introduced the contentious 17th Constitutional Amendment.
• Through this, among other things, a number of land reform legislations had been placed into the Constitution’s Ninth Schedule.
• This meant that those laws, even when discriminatory, were immunised from challenge.

Interpreting ‘amendment’

• The court, in Golaknath, didn’t’ quite feel the need to go this far. But, ultimately, just four years later, in Kesavananda Bharati, it was this formulation that shaped Justice H.R. Khanna’s legendary, controlling opinion.
• While the judge conceded that it wasn’t possible to subscribe to everything in Conrad’s arguments, this much, he said, was true: “Any amending body organized within the statutory scheme, howsoever verbally unlimited its power, cannot by its very structure change the fundamental pillars supporting its Constitutional authority.”
• Yet, the limitation, wrote Justice Khanna, wasn’t as much implicit from a reading of the Constitution as a whole as it was evident from the very meaning of the word “amendment”.
• According to him, what could emerge out of an amendment was only an altered form of the existing Constitution and not an altogether new and radical Constitution.

Questioning over amendment

• This interpretation, as Sudhir Krishnaswamy has shown, in some depth, in his book, Democracy and Constitutionalism in India, is compelling for at least two reasons.
• First, it represents a careful reading of the text of Article 368, and, second, it delivers an attractive understanding of the moral principles that anchor the Constitution.
• Article 368 grants Parliament the power to amend the Constitution, making it clear that on the exercise of that power “the Constitution shall stand amended”.
• Therefore, if what has to remain after an amendment is “the Constitution”, naturally a change made under Article 368 cannot create a new constitution.
• Such a construal is also supported by the literal meaning of the word “amendment”, which is defined as “a minor change or addition designed to improve a text”.
• Hence, for an amendment to be valid, the constitution that remains standing after such a change must be the Constitution of India.
• It must continue to possess, in its essence, those features that were foundational to it even at its conception.

Conclusion

• We must remember that constitutions are not like ordinary laws. Interpreting one is always likely to be an exercise fraught with controversy.
• But such is the nature of our political design that the court, as an independent body, is tasked with the role of acting as the Constitution’s final interpreter, with a view to translating, as Justice Robert H. Jackson of the U.S. Supreme Court once wrote, abstract principles into “concrete constitutional commands”.
• It may well be the case that the basic structure doctrine is derived from the abstract.
• But that scarcely means it doesn’t exist within the Constitution.

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Imagining alternative futures (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2: Governance
Prelims level: Indian Science Congress
Mains level: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources

Context

• The caricaturing of scientific inquiry at the recent Indian Science Congress (ISC) is only symptomatic of the larger ideological thrust through which institutions of higher education in India are now sought to be governed.
• The choice of venue for the ISC this year a private university in Punjab highlights the boost that investors of private capital in higher education receive even as funding cutbacks at public universities have threatened the closure of 167 centres for women’s studies and 35 centres for studies in social exclusion.
• That a proposed Jio Institute was granted the ‘Institute of Eminence’ status much before it could even open is a grim reminder of state support now being unambiguously willed upon the private model.

Right versus privilege

• In 2015, the UGC, citing a fund crunch, resolved to scrap the non-NET fellowship altogether.
• After student protests across universities (hashtagged on social media as ‘Occupy UGC’), articulated how research fellowships were not state doles but instead sought to incentivise knowledge creation, the government was forced to retract the move.
• But soon after, the release of similar non-NET fellowships for Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes and minority students namely.
• The Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship and Maulana Azad National Fellowship came to be stalled, pending a new set of guidelines that severely curtailed eligibility.

Highlights of the AISHE report

• The Ministry of Human Resource Development’s All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) Report 2017-18 notes that the Gross Enrolment Ratio across institutions of higher education has risen to 25.8% from 19.4% in 2010-11.
• The GER is an index of the proportion of citizens between 18 and 23 years in every sample size of 100 who have structurally secured entry into tertiary education, while exit figures (drop-outs) are left unaccounted for.
• The inflationary tendencies of AISHE figures notwithstanding, the report points out that the GER is 21.8% for SCs and 15.9% for STs “as compared to the national GER”.
• However, deeper scrutiny shows that though the standard formula for calculating GER must take the population census in the relevant age group as the base sample size.
• The GER for Dalit-Adivasis is produced by altering the methodology.

Clamming falsification

• The AISHE report contains traces of more statistical falsification adjusting “growth” in the number of teaching positions by changing the base year for comparison (to 2010-11 from 2013-14).
• As the report shows (Table 51), there is a sharp annual decline in the number of teachers employed since 2015-16.
• In the past three years, teaching strength in higher education institutions has fallen from 15.19 lakh to 12.85 lakh, with most of the losses reflected against reserved permanent posts.
• The move to a 13-point roster in appointments will only aggravate these losses, till teaching becomes an exclusively upper caste profession.
• Alarmingly, through this period of reduction in teaching jobs, 104 new universities have been instituted, 66 of which are “privately managed”.
• It is no surprise that many of the brightest minds from the best public institutions are now lapped up by elite private universities “equipped with world-class infrastructure”.

A pushback

• It is clear that a nationalist crusade is only mortgaging public education systems to transnational capital.
• This is also articulated in the “impatience” that Amartya Sen spoke about in the context of the recent ISC, an impatience that is fomenting student unrest in campuses.
• It is the same impatience in the form of anger at being sidelined by iniquitous government policies that are supplanting the vision and promise of the public university which is fuelling the student-led ‘Young India Adhikar March’.
• The collective rights assertions in the form of well-publicised rallies by farmers, the marginalised and women all signs of the anger of different constituencies reeling under the policies of an indifferent government.
• The ‘Young India Adhikar March’ is a representation of over 40 youth organisations demanding, among other things, an end to fee hikes, gender discriminatory laws, a syllabus free of “saffron” taints, alongside the guarantee of employment and academic, intellectual freedoms of teaching and learning.
• If the ‘publicness’ of public education must come to occupy our idea of the ‘nation’, it is time we march with our youth and demand the right to imagine alternative futures.

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The techno dystopia (The Indian Express)

Mains Paper 2: Polity
Prelims level: Electronic voting machine
Mains level: Indian Constitution- historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure

Context

•  Two former chief election commissioners (CECs) and the current CEC have verbally, and in writing, rebutted the suggestion that the electronic voting machine (EVM) is hackable and that the Commission should safeguard public franchise by reverting to a form of paper balloting.
•  This controversy is about the electoral process in India. It bears, however, upon a deeper issue. The tension between technocracy and democracy.

Background

•  The disclosure that Facebook had allowed the consultant firm Cambridge Analytica to access the private data of its users which was then passed onto the Donald Trump election campaign raised concerns about data privacy and, more fundamentally, the power of the owners of data to abridge democratic rights.
•  The most eloquent votary of this concern has been the historian, Yuval Noah Harari. In a talk at Davos in 2018 followed by other lectures and his latest book, 21 lessons for the 21st century, Harari has spelt out the potential consequences of an algorithmic world.
•  He acknowledged the huge benefits of the digital age but forewarned of a scenario in which human beings acquire the potential to “hack into the bodies, minds and brains of other human beings” and where algorithms “know individuals better than the individual knows himself”.

Digital system vs. Old system

•  This scenario is imaginable because of the advancement in computing power (info tech) and the agglomeration of biometric and biological data (biotech).
•  When the two “tech” revolutions merge, the handful of companies that own data will fashion the greatest revolution ever overturning the laws of Darwinian selection with the “laws of intelligent design”.
•  Democracy could be replaced by “digital dictatorship” .
•  Fascinating, science fiction, alarmist one may use any one or a combination of these words to describe Harari’s prognostications.
•  But there is no ignoring the many questions that his description of an alternative future has raised. Practical questions:
•  What regulatory checks and balances should be imposed on the companies that monopolise data — Amazon, Google, Tencent, Alibaba, Facebook?
•  Should these companies be broken up?
•  If so, who should be given the authority to keep data and to decide how and in what manner this asset should be given away? Surely not the politicians.

Philosophical questions:

•  How does one control phenomena (technology and data) that is “everywhere but nowhere,” that recognises no physical or political barriers and is universal in scope and impact?
•  Can an algorithmic world be managed through institutional structures of governance built on the bedrock of Westphalian principles?
•  (The treaties of Westphalia, between 1644 and 1648, brought to an end the religious wars in Europe. They established three principles that still define the nature of international affairs today — the principle of state sovereignty, non interference in the affairs of other states, and the principle of the legal equality of states)

Way forward

•  EVMs have reduced the incidence of voter fraud, double counting and strong arm tactics.
•  But that does not mean it has assuaged the concerns of the techno illiterate that perhaps their votes might be misappropriated by an electronic intermediary.
•  We must not, therefore, duck the question.
•  What institutional structures must be created and what regulatory checks imposed to ensure the algorithmic world does not abridge our democratic rights?
•  It’s the same question that Harari and others are asking in the context of the impact of the digital age on humanity.

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VOL. - 215 (08 January 2018 to 14 January 2018)

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• Science and Technology

• Important Article From Various Newspapers

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VOL. - 214 (01 January 2018 to 07 January 2018)

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• Business And Economy

• Science and Technology

• Important Article From Various Newspapers

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(The Gist of Kurukshetra) INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES FOR HIGHER PRODUCTIVITY

[DECEMBER-2018]

Innovative Technologies For Higher Productivity

India has achieved a remarkable growth in production and productivity of various agricultural commodities over the last five decades. Major changes in agricultural commodities over the last five decades. Major changes in agricultural production took place in mid-1960s with the production technologies which is known as “Green Revolution” technology. Initially introduced in resource endowed areas in 1960s it spread into our parts of the country during 1980s The agricultural sector observed spectacular growth of over 4% per annum during 1990s due to several reasons including slowdown in public investment, low yield growth, decline in food productivity, declining water table and environment led stress problems, climate changes etc.

Agriculture is still the main livelihood of approximately half of the rural households in India and contributing over 16% to its gross domestic product (GOI, 2018). The population of india is growing at 1.24% per annum and is expected to increase from 1.21 billion in 2011 to about 1.46 billion in 2030. It is estimated that in the year 2035 the total domestic food grains demand will be 398.6mt and milk 237.8mt against 264mt and 132.4 mt respectively in 2013-

To meet the estimated demand, the yield level over the base period yield level (1994-95) ids required to be enhanced by more than 50%. It is pertinent to mention here that these targets are to be achieved in a scenario of several odd factors which will constraint the sustainable development of agriculture. Natural resources comprising of soil, water, vegetation and climate form the essence of all kinds of life and provide support to its various processes. Intensive input based has stressed high tech agriculture during last three decades has stressed these resources.

Innovation in efficient Input Resources Utilization:

Site-specific input management which based on the spatially and temporally variable conditions, have proved tangible yield gain, along with higher efficiency, profits and better soil health. Precision farming technologies have now been developed to spatially vary nutrients within a field based on various information sources (soil properties maps, terrain attribute, remote sensing, yield maps, etc.). Precision agriculture involves the integration of the modern technologies (including GI, GPS and Rs) to allow farm products to manage within and RS) to allow farm producers to manage within field and variability to maximize the benefit-cost ratio. Variable rate technology (VRT) available with farm implements, such as fertilizer applicators and yield implements, such as fertilizer applicators, such as fertilizer applicators and yield monitors, has evolved rapidly and he fostered the monitors, has evolved rapidly and has fostered the growth of precious agriculture.

Site-Specific Nutrient Management (SSNIM):

Integration of SSNIM with GIS based spatial variability mapping is much more useful technique as it provides an opportunity to assess variability in the distribution of native nutrients and other yield limiting/improving soil parameters across large area and thus aids in developing appropriate nutrient management strategies leading to better yield and environmental protection. With GIS technology, homogenous fertility parameters classified into low, medium and high categories using the user defined ranges. Based on the developed homogenous fertility zones, the fertilizer recommendation can be developed for its practical significance for farmers.

Real-time Nitrogen supply:

Synchronization between crop Nitrogen demand and the available N supply is an important Key to improve N-use efficiency. Crop N requirement are closely related to yields levels, which in turn are sensitive to climate, particularly solar radiation and the supply of nutrients and crop management practices. The LCC strategy, which has been calibrated with SPAD, is a simple and efficient way of managing N in real time. However, this requires the determination of critical LCC values for a group of varieties exhibiting similar plant type and growth duration (e.g. traditional long duration, semi-dwarf short duration (e.g. traditional long duration, semi-dwarf short duration, hybrid etc.) Once the critical values for different varietal groups are determined, they are valid for similar groups of varieties grown elsewhere in the tropics.

Use Decision Support System (DSS):

Use of software based skills like Nutrient Experts, Crop manager, Geographical Information Systems(GIS) and Global Positioning System (GPS) in monitoring and application of nutrients , Integrated use of decision support tools (Nutrient Expert, NE) and Greek Seeker (GS) was studied on nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) in wheat, system productivity and economics of maize-wheat system.

Improving water productivity:

Water productivity defined as the output of goods derived from the unit volume of water. The productivity of water irrespective of environment will be governed by those factors which minimize the water losses from the soil system improve the transpiration water use by the crops. The alternatives for increasing water productivity are changing of crop varieties, crop substitution, deficit, supplemented and precision irrigation, improved water management practices and improving non water inputs. However, under all situations, the productivity of water could be enhanced either by saving of water use by cutting of non-productivity water loss or by increasing the productivity per unit process depletion (crop transpiration in agriculture) or other beneficial depletion and by allocation of water to higher values uses would generally not help in any direct water saving but may increase the economic productivity of water. In north India, harvested rain water. In north India, harvested rain water in farm ponds, may be used as a pre-sowing life saving irrigation in rainfed crops to improve productivity of water.

Nanotechnology :

Sustainable agriculture can stand to benefit from the application of nanotechnology which has gained momentum to mitigate biotic and abiotic stress as well as other constraints causing low crop yields. The unique characteristics of Nano materials makes the suitable for the design and development of novel tools to support sustainable agriculture. Some of the main application of nanotools are schematically described as below:

• Increase productivity using Nano-pesticides & Nano-fertilizers e.g. Nano zinc particles.
• Improves soil quality using Nano-zeolites and hydrogels.
• Stimulate plant growth with nanomaterials (e.g. sio2, Tio2, and carbon nanotubes)
• Provide smart monitoring using Nano-sensors by wireless communication devices.

Integrated Farming Systems:

One of the best approaches in building farm resilience is through spreading risks and creating buffers, i.e not putting ‘all fruits in one basket’. The farming systems approach is considered as important and relevant, especially for the small and marginal farmers as location-specific IFS will be more resilient and adaptive to climate variability. Integration of livestock rearing with crop production gave higher economic returns compared to crop production alone for both marginal and small farmers.On-station and on farm research in identification of many sustainable and profitable IFS models for rainfed areas. In general, in regions with rainfall of 500 to 700mm, the farming systems should be based on live stock with promotion of low-water requiring grasses, trees and bushes to meet fodder, fuel and timber requirements of the farmers. In 700 to 1,100mm rainfall regions, crops, horticulture and livestock and livestock-based farming systems can be adopted depending on the soil type and the marketability factors.

Climate smart Cropping:

In changing climate scenario, developing cultivators resistant to climate change may become important adaptive mechanism for maximizing resource-use efficiency. For example, crop varieties those are resistant to lodging (e.g., short winds during the sensitive stage of crop growth, are viable alternatives. Similarly, change of planting dates to minimize the Similarly, change of planting dates to minimize the effect of temperature increase and reducing spikelet sterility can be used to enhance yield stability, by avoiding the flowering period to coincide with the hottest period. Such adaptation measures like change in crop calendar to reduce the negative effects of in crop calendar to reduce the negative effects of increased climatic variability in arid and semi-arid tropics proved advantageous to avoid extreme weather events (e.g. typhoons and storms) during the growing season.

Integrated Crop Management (ICM):

ICM suggests the use of good agriculture practises (GAP) which is an alternative system of crop production , which is an alternative system of crop production, which conserves and enhances natural resources while producing quality food on economically viable and sustainable foundation. It combines the best of traditional methods with appropriate modern technology for balancing the economic production of crops with positive environmental management. ICM is particularly beneficial for small and marginal farmers because it aims to maximize dependence on purchased inputs while utilizing on farm-resources.

Study Material for UPSC General Studies Pre Cum Mains

(The Gist of Kurukshetra) DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY IN FINANCIAL INCLUSION

[DECEMBER-2018]

Digital Technology in Financial Inclusion

Financial Inclusion is the way the Governments strive to take the Governments strive to take the common man along by bring them into the formal channels of economy thereby ensuring that even the person standing in the last is not left out from the benefits of the economic growth and is added in the mainstream economy thereby encouraging the poor persons to save, safely invest in various financial products and to borrow from the formal channel when they need to borrow.

Scope of the financial Inclusion is not limited to only banking services but it extends to other financial services as well like insurance, equity products & pension products etc. Thus, financial Inclusion is not just about opening a simple bank account with a branch in an unbanked area.

The present government has made itself committed, since beginning of its term, to give special emphasis on the financial inclusion of every person of the country. One of the most crucial of the several steps taken by this government is JAM-jan Dhan, Aadhar & Mobile.

With a view to increase the penetration of banking services and to ensure that all households have at least one bank account, a National Mission on Financial Inclusion named as Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana was announced by Prime Minister Sh. Narendra Modi in his independence speech on 15th August, 2014 and the scheme was formally launched o 28th August, 2014. PMJDY has been designed to ensure accelerated access to various financial services like basic savings bank accounts, affordable, need-based credit, remittances facilities, and insurances and pension for excluded sections. Such deep penetration at affordable cost can only be possible with effective use of technology. Hence, the banking ecosystem operating on core banking mode, and ability of NPIC to scale-up issue of debit cards has enabled effective implementation of PMJDY. As a result, the number of new savings accounts opened by way of every Bank A/c to be online with Rupay Card & Mobile banking Facility , use of e-KYC to ease the accounts opening process, use of Aadhaar enabled Payment System (AEPS) for interoperability, support for setting up FLCs, support for setting up FLCs, support for demonstrating banking technology (Mobile Van fitted ATM), on-line Monitoring through system +generated MIS and facility of Call Centre & Toll free number has resulted in astounding success of the scheme.

To expand the network of ATMs, the RBI has allowed non-bank entities to start ATMs (called ‘white Label ATM’). The Rupay Cards have significantly increased its market share in the country so far. The card has been provide to the account holders of PMJDY.

Financial Literacy Centers were started by commercial banks at the request of RBI to give awareness and education to the public to access financial products. Here, RBI’s policy is that financial Inclusion should go along with financial literacy. The launch of direct benefit transfers through the support of Aadhar and Bank Account is one of the biggest development that activated and retained people in the newly opened account.

As a part of its financial Inclusion plan, the RBI started the Business Correspondent model in 2006. Business Correspondents (BCs) are representative appointed by banks to acts as their agents, who provide banking services in remote locations, where the bank may not have a presence. The two major technological components involved are the handheld offline device through which financial service are offered to the customers and the smart card (32K/64K memory chip) provided to each customer for recording of transactions. Along with these, the BC uses an Account opening Form (AOF) and a laptop for feeding customer data, a digital/web camera for capturing customer’s photograph and a biometric device for recording his fingerprints.

The Digital India, initiative, coupled with a payment infrastructure, is laying the cornerstone for a digital economy, keeping in mind the increasing willingness of people to use ten internet and the rising data traffic I the country, an investment of $18.4 billion has been made to provide last mile Internet connectivity, better access to government services, and development of IT skills, Provision of broadband internet access to 2,30,000 village-clustered by 2019 at a cost of about $5.9 billion.

Rupay Kisan Cards have been providing impetus to cashless transactions among the farming community. NABARD has extend support to Cooperative banks and RRBs in procuring EMV chip-based Rupay Kisan Cards.

Direct Benefits Transfer scheme was initiated to facilitate disbursements of government entitlements such as those under the social security pension scheme, handicapped old age pension scheme etc., of any central or state government bodies, using Aadhar and authentication thereof, , as supported by UIDAI.

Payments banks are a new model of banks conceptualized by RBI. The main objective of payments bank is to widen the spread of payment and financial services to small business, low-income households, migrant labour workforce in secured technology-driven environment in remote areas of the country.

Today more than 70% of our population owns mobile phone, hence, leveraging its penetration to rural areas, with its advantages over traditional banking methods because of breaking down geographical constraints along with immediacy, security and efficiency, It offers an innovative low-cost channel to expand the reach of banking and payments services especially to the large section of rural mobile subscribers.

To promote digital transactions for personal consumption expenditure, two schemes viz. Lucky Grahak Yojana and Digi Vyapar Yojana were funded through Financial inclusion Fund for consumers and merchants respectively. National payments Corporation of India. (NPCI) determines the winners for cash rewards by choosing them through an electronic draw of lots from amongst the digital transactions IDs generated from 8 Nov. 2016, during the course of such transaction. Apart from this, the Financial Literacy Awareness Programmes were recast as d-Flaps held across the country.

Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister for Electronics & Information Technology and law justice sums up the crucial role of digital technology in financial Inclusion “Digital Inclusion is the foundation of financial inclusion. We have certain foundation approach for commitment as far as digital platform is concerned. The first and foremost is, we want to become the leaders, in the field of digital revolution in the world. Second important attribute of our initiative is, we simply don’t want to digitize India, but we want to create a technology that is transformative , which will empower India, and also empower Indians.”

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(The Gist of Kurukshetra) Digital Health Services: Some Key Initiatives

[DECEMBER-2018]

Digital Health Services: Some Key Initiatives

MSakhi: is an award-winning mobile phone app to help health workers in providing high-quality health care to the families in even the remotest villages in different parts of the country. It is an open source Android application developed specifically for the health workers in India. It’s is an all-in-one job aid and electronic medical record system that replaces the paper-based tools and helps health workers get access to the latest training and information in an easy-to-understand and convenient format. With this app,

ASHA workers can use their babies from infection or dehydration, how to breastfeed, and how to identify symptoms of serious illness. If a mother or baby needs medical attention, an ASHA can use msakhi to quickly refer them to a doctor who can help.

Kilkari app: kilkari, which means ‘a baby’s gurgle’, delivers free, weekly, time-appropriate 72 audio messages about pregnancy, child birth and child care directly to families’ mobile phones from the second trimester of pregnancy until the child is one year old. Kilakarai has been launched in Jharkhand, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and High Priority Districts (HPDs) of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan in the first phase.

Mobile Academy: It is a free audio training course designed to expand and refresh the knowledge base of accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) and improve their communications skills. Mobile Academy offers ASHAs a training opportunity via their mobile phones which is both cost-effective and efficient. It reduces the need to travel sometimes great distances-and provides them the flexibility they need to learn at their own pace and at times they find convenient. Mobile Academy has been launched in Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand.

M-Cessation: This programme being provided as part of any mHealth initiative, aims at reaching out to those willing to quit tobacco use and support them towards successful quitting through text messages sent via mobile phones. When offered along with traditional services, M-cessation has been found to be cost-effective in comparison to other conventional options for cessations support.

e-Hospital: It is an online registration services framework portal where people can avail online online services such as registration and appointment pay fees, view diagnostics report and check for the availability of blood in governments hospitals in this portal. It was introduced by the Government of India, to encourage the use of technology to connect and empower people in areas related to health. This type of service offers great relief to the people who run from one pillar to another pillar to secure blood during the hospitalization period.

e-hospital portal provides simple appointment process for the process for the patients . It provides a detailed list of a total number of hospitals and various departments in a particular hospital to the user. One can choose from the list of available hospitals as per the particular hospital to the user.

One can choose from the list of available hospitals as per the preferences and requirements. The patient has to authenticate using Aadhar number then select the hospital which he wants to visit and then select the department and the date of appointment. After filling up the required details, he receives an SMS with information related to the appointment. The hospitals can provide appointment slots for patients through this platform, the hospitals can manage the registration , appointment process easily and monitor them.

ANM online (ANMOL): ANMOL is aims to improve the quality, effectiveness and timelines of the delivery of quality services, specially to rural populations, to ensure better healthcare for women and children. The applications aims at bringing awareness to the remotest populations, underreserved and communities and urban slums and through images and videos, and educating them about initiatives on health, maintenance of good hygiene, basic health care and precautions.

Mera Aspataal: It is a Government's of India initiative by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, to capture patient feedback for the services received at the hospital through user-friendly multiple channels such as Short Message Service (SMS), Outbound Dialling (OBD) mobile application and web portal. The patient can submit the feedback in seven different languages on mobile app and web portal; for the hospitals visited in last 7 days. The patient can also check the already submitted feedback. The collected feedback is complied, analysed and visualised in the form of dashboard accessible to the different stakeholders at facility, district,state and national level.

Study Material for UPSC General Studies Pre Cum Mains

(The Gist of Kurukshetra) USE OF ICTS IN EDUCATION

[DECEMBER-2018]

Use Of ICTs In Education

In the 21st Century, mastering the skills of computers certificate can be considered alongside 3 Rs (Reading, Writing and Arithmetic) as the fundamental requirements for a fully literate person. Whether one agrees with it or not, importance of computers and related technologies in the society is here to stay. (me comes across the digital world in myriad ways while performing one’s duties and responsibilities in the society. No wonder government has undertaken several initiatives in recent years to augment the digital literacy of its citizens.

Various efforts can broadly be categorised as under the following.

Through formal school education system where in subjects such as Information Technology is offered to students as part of main subjects at secondary level while a subject on Computer Science is offered at the senior secondary level.

Through vocational courses on IT under National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF), which envisages a smooth transition for students from what is considered main subjects to the vocational stream without worrying about certifications or mobility in career. The vast population of India’s youth require skills and their upgradation in digital technology. Government of India has invested heavily in skill development of youth by enlisting National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), Sector Skills Council (SSC), Pandit Sundarlal Sharma Central Institute of Vocational Education (PSSCIVE), National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and State Governments.

• Enhancing the technological competencies of teachers during both pre- service and in-service teachers training and
• creating a digital environment in the country by the massive use of digital technologies in increasing access, enhancing quality of education, ensuring conclusion in the educational system.

The primary focus of the educational technology (ET) or the usages of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in education remain the learning. The focus of technological integration into the education cannot be different from the central concerns of education which are to improve the quality of education for children, ensuring joyful learning environment for every child of the country; making learning constructive, critical, inclusive and collaborative and finally, building on a lifelong intellectual partnership with technology by constantly reflecting and analyzing one’s learning.

The Union Budget, 20184;, has proposed to start 'Samagra Shiksha' an overarching programme for the school education sector extending from pre-school to class 12 by subsuming the erstwhile Schemes of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Teacher Education (TE). The main outcomes of the Scheme are envisaged as Universal Access, Equity and Quality, promoting Vocationalisation of Education and strengthening of Teacher Education Institutions (TEls). One of the important interventions envisaged under Samagra Shiksha is the Digital Initiatives. It is perhaps the natural corollary of Digital India campaign which sought to revolutionize the digital ecosystem of the country by emphasizing on three core components: the development of secure and stable digital infrastructure, delivering government services digitally, and universal digital literacy.

ICT curriculum for students and teachers (ict curriculum.gov.in) seeks to educate and train students and teachers on the wide implications of use of ICT in education in a flexible manner allowing course participants to choose the timings as per their own conveniences. As its website mentions, “for the teacher, it is an initiation into exploring educational possibilities of technology, learning to make the right choices of hardware, software and ICT interactions, and more importantly, growing to become a critical user of ICT. For the student, it is an initiation into creativity, problem solving, and an introduction to the world of information and technologies which could also shape career pursuits”. Some of the states like Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Tripura and Telangana are in the process of implementing ICT curriculum for students. While state of Karnataka has adopted this curriculum for its teachers.

e-Pathshala

Government of India has launched e-pathshala (epathshala.nic.in) portal and mobile app (for all 3 mobile platforms, viz., android, windows, ios) in 2015. A Joint initiative of Ministry of Human Resource Development and NCERT, this portal/app has all the textbooks of NCERT from Class I to Xii in digital form (698 e-books as ePubs & 504 flipbooks). There are Glher e-contents (more than 3000 of audio/video Materials) available on this app. All these resource are freely available. More than 35 million users access the contents on web portal of e-pathshala while about 1.8 million users access these contents through app.

National| Repository of Open Educational Resources (nroer.gov.in) was launched in 2013. It is a storehouse of all types of e-contents (more than 13000 contents are available now) arranged thematically and mapped according to the NCERT curriculum. More than 30 organisations have joined hands to share their respective e-contents under creative commons license on this repository.

A bouquet of channels (32 DTH TV channels to be precise) was launched by the Hon’ble President of India on 9th July 2017 in New Delhi under the SWAYAM PRABHA initiative. The purpose of this initiative is to telecast high~quality educational programs on these 32 channels on 2410 basis using the GSAT-ls satellite. Initially, each channel was prowling 4 hours fresh content daily which was repeated 5 times a day to make the channel 24x7. Now this slot of 4 hours is being increased to 6 hours. The channels are uplinked from Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Applications and Geoinformatics (BISAG), Gandhinagar. The contents are provided by NPTEL, llTs, UGC, CEC, IGNOU, NCERT and NIOS. The INFLIBNET Centre maintains the web portal. These channels are freely available on Doordarshan Free DTH TV networks, Zee's Dish networks and Jio TV networks. These SWAYAM PRABHA channels telecast curriculum-based contents of the subjects taught in school from class IX to undergraduate and postgraduate leave the idea is to help students access best video resources and allow them to pick their own time for learning.

Along with SWAYAM PRABHA, SWAYAM was also launched on 9'1h July 2017 by the Hon'ble President of India. SWAYAM, an acronym for Study Webs of Active-Learning for Young Aspiring Minds. is a digital platform which hosts several courses offered by the best teachers of universities/colleges/ schools free of cost to the students living in any part of the country. It’s a massive platform because students in very large number can join any course. There are no seat-restrictions. It’s open to all free of cost and it is available online. SWAYAM (swayam.gov. in) has been developed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) with the help of Microsoft. The courses hosted on SWAYAM are in 4 quadrants 1) video lectures, 2) textual materials in digital format, 3) self-assessment tests and 4) online discussion forum for clearing doubts. In order to ensure that the best quality contents are produced and delivered, nine National Coordinators have been appointed hey are AICTE for self-paced and international courses, NPTEL for engineering, UGC for non technical post-graduation education, CEC for under-graduate education, NCERT & NIOS for school education, IGNOU for out of the school students, IIMB for management studies and NITTTR for Teacher Training programme. University Grants Commission (UGC) has made provisions for transferring credits for the courses done on SWAYAM. Such courses are also known as MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses).

MOOCs is an excellent example of use of internet in education. Through MOOCs, we tend to achieve all three concerns of our education, viz., access, quality and equity. There are several platforms available for students to choose. MOOCs is a relatively recent development and can be used in variety of ways from offering courses offered in colleges and universities to courses designed for mid-career professionals to in-house programs for skill training and so on.

Shagun portal (http://seshagun.nic.in/) was launched by the MHRD, Government of India (Gol) last year to monitor the progress of SSA scheme on the regular basis and also to make this portal a repository of best practices, innovations, success stories and resources available in the States/Union territories (UTs). ShaGun stands for Shala meaning schools and Gunvatta implying quality. Shaala siddhi (http://www.shaalasiddhi.nuepa.org) launched by National institute of Educational Planning and Administration {lélEPAL New Delhi aims to improve the school functioning by evaluating schools holistically on 7 key domains such as i) enabling resource of schools, ii) teaching-learning and assessment, iii) learners progress attainment, teacher performance, v) leadership and management, vi) inclusion health and safety and productive community participation. Similarly, Kendriya Vidyalaya Shaala Darpan is an e-government platform for all KV schools in the country to improve quality of learning, efficiency of school administration, governance of schools and service delivery to key stakeholders. DIKSHA (https://diksha.gov.in/), a joint initiative of MHRD and National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) was launched by the Honorable Vice President this year to make one stop resource for all requirements of a teacher.

Study Material for UPSC General Studies Pre Cum Mains

(GIST OF YOJANA) Transformative Impact Of Digital India

[DECEMBER-2018]

Transformative Impact Of Digital India

The story of India’s Digital journey has been one of transformation and inclusion. The Digital India Programme was launched by the Government in 2015 with the aim to develop India into a knowledge economy and a digitally empowered society. Technology has been intrinsic in this transformative evolution by enhancing transparency, inclusion, productivity and efficiency.

The initiatives under Digital India, coupled with evolving technology, have led India to become a land of vast possibilities, where hope and talent meet opportunities digitally. India is among the top countries of the world that have effectively utilized technology and innovation utilized technology and innovation to transform the governance outlook from government centric to citizen centric, where e-services are targeted towards creation of an environment of empowering citizens through participative governance, and engaging them in decision-making and formulation of government policies, programmes, regulations, etc. The remarkable increase in digital adoption is evident in the improvement in India’s position in United Nations E-Government Index 2018 that highlights that India’s relative capabilities of utilizing ICT for governance have improved relatively faster than the entire Asia region. There have been significant improvements in UN-Online Service Index, where India has scored 0.95 in 2018. There has been a consistent growth in e-participation index too, that has grown to 0.96 in 2018. The robust citizen engagement platform, “MyGov”, in true spirit of participative democracy, has been developed and implemented.

India is in a sharply accelerating “lift-off” phase of its digital journey. Having built a strong foundation of digital infrastructure and expanded digital access, India is now poised for the next phase of growth- the creation of tremendous economic value and the empowerment of millions of Indians as new digital applications permeate sector after sector.

India has moved up the ladder of digital adoption with the multifold growth in digital payment transaction. It has risen from 335 crore transactions in 2014-15 to 2070.98 crore transactions in 2017-18 and is growing day by day. The advantage of Digital Payments is being well exploited through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) which has reassured the commitment of the Government towards the welfare of the people. Now, DBT is using the digital payment technology to transfer the benefits/subsides directly to the accounts of people. The transfer is instantaneous and the correct amount reaches the beneficiaries. So far, Rs. 5.06 lakh crore direct benefit transfer have taken place and this has led to the savings of around Rs. 90,000 crore. Around 434 schemes are covered under DBT.

Digital Developing Service

Digital India has changed the landscape of delivery of service and governance. The Common Services Centres are ICT enabled rural enterprise in the country and provide plethora of service at the doorstep of the citizens. Over 300 services, ranging from Education, Health, Agriculture, Certificate related are being provided in around 3.07 lakh CSCs. They have also become a major employer of rural youth through village level entrepreneurship leading towards an empowered and a digital inclusive society, thus, bridging the digital divide.

Digital transformation is an ongoing process to engage, enable, empower and sustain people on their digital journeys. Towards this, Digi Locker has enabled people to store, share and verify their documents and certificates through cloud. Since the documents are electronically signed and shared from issuing authority, no attested or original copies are required to be produced. Now, a user can share her educational certificate with a potential employer at the click of the button. With more than 1.59 crore registered users and 2.14 crore uploaded documents, this has offered an unlimited digital space free of cost to the citizens.

National Scholarship Portal has become a source of facilitating education. It is a one-stop solution that ensures students to access various services starting from student application, application receipt processing, sanction and disbursal of various scholarships with ease. It has comprehensive coverage of schemes and departments. Since its launch in 2015, more than Rs 5,257 crore have been disbursed to 1.8 crore students/beneficiaries.
Jeevan Pramaan, provides the ease to pensioners to generate their Digital Life Certificate at home, bank, CSC centre, government office etc, using Aadhaar biometric authentication. Now, the physical presence of the pensioner at the government office is not needed for generation of her life certificate and availing the entitled services. So far, around 1.75 crore Digital life Certificates have been generated.

To sustain the people throughout their digital journey, a Unified Mobile Application for New Age Governance has been launched. It has brought government services to the fingertips of the citizens of India. It is a single mobile app that offers more than 307 government services, with the target being to provide. It has made lives of sellers to Government extremely simple by eliminating physical meeting of Government Buyers and brought transparency. There are 1.55 lakh sellers and service providers, 29,729 buyers organizations and 5.97 lakh products on the platform. The growth of buyers and sellers on GeM is indicative of its use and ease of selling on the portal.

To keep up the accelerated pace of the digital disruption and the ever changing digital economy, the skill set of the people also have to be continuously improved and enhanced for adaptation. Hence the quest to promote digital literacy and future skilling is of utmost importance. Pradhan Mantri Gramin Saksharta Abhiyan aims to make 6 crore people digitally literate. Over, 1.23 crore people have been imparted training.

The sustainability of the digital economy rests upon its resilience and security. The Cyber Swachhta Kendra has been set up to provide alerts to users for preventing losses of financial and other data. This aims to create an inclusive, safe and secure cyberspace for people.

Information Technology is not just a vertical anymore and is now part of every domain. The new and emerging technologies are significantly disrupting and changing the processes in critically sectors like agriculture, education, health etc. Deployment of these technologies has a potential to create immense value and changes the dynamics and delivery models for these sectors. With the proliferation of emerging technologies in mind, 20 Centres of Excellence are being planned in the areas of Fintech, LoT in Agriculture, Virtual reality, Block chain, Medical Technology, Electronics Products, Nano electronics etc. This will provide an apt platform for research and innovation boosting the growth of startups.

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‘Global IT Challenge for Youth with Disabilities 2018’

A three day event-the “Global IT Challenge for Youth with Disabilities, 2018” was organized by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in association with Rehabilitation International Korea and their associated partner LG Electronics from 9th to 11th November,2018.

This year 96 youth with disabilities from 18 countries namely, India, Indonesia, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Mongolia, Cambodia, Laos, Philippines, Korea, Kazakhstan, UK and UAE participated in the Challenge. The event comprised of 55 awards in various categories including awards for best volunteer and three awards namely, ”Best, Excellent and Good” in individual and group events in each category i.e. visual, hearing, physical and development/intellectual disability.

Thailand won maximum i.e. six awards followed by Philippines with five awards. India bagged three awards including Super Challenger awards. Shri Manjot Singh from India won two awards in e-tool challenge and e-life map challenge under visual disability category whereas Shri Saurav Kumar Sinha from India won the Super Challenger award. Ms. Fayza Putri, Adila from Indonesia won the ‘Global IT Leader Award’.

The objective of the Global ICT Challenge for Youth with Disabilities is to leverage IT skills among youth with disabilities and also to spread awareness about the application of Information and Computer Technology in enhancing the quality of life of person with disabilities especially in Asia-Pacific region. India had nominated twelve youth with disabilities to participate in the event. These youth with disabilities had been selected on the basis of the National IT Challenge conducted by the Ministry through NIT,

Kurukshetra in June, 2018. India has been participating in the event since 2013 and has been winning awards ever since. Last year the event was held in Vietnam.

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(The Gist of Kurukshetra) BUILDING AGRICULTURE INNOVATION SYSTEM

[DECEMBER-2018]

Building Agriculture Innovation System

In India, we have daunting challenges. They range from sustainable enhancement of our productivity to dealing with challenge of climate change to managing dry land farming to rapid elimination of poverty and malnourishment. They say that if you did in the past, you will get the same results that you always got. And we do not want that. This means we have to do things differently. This means we use resort to innovation. More specifically, India needs to rapidly move towards ‘innovation led agricultural growth’. This has to be achieved with speed, scale and sustainability. We have benefited from our established ‘Indian Agriculture Research System’. However, we need to understand that any National Agricultural Research System (NARS) is activity based. Agricultural Knowledge and Information Systems (AKIS) are output based,. National agricultural innovation systems (NAIS), however, are outcomes based.

This new emphasis means that rather than just supporting research and research organizations, or supporting the generations of outputs, such as agricultural knowledge and information, emphasis has to be now placed on supporting outcomes that led to sustainable development and growth.

This means that we have to do things differently than we have done in the past. For instances, in the classic National Agricultural Research System, the emphasis was on technology transfer. In the new National Agricultural Innovation System, we must move to ‘total innovation’, involving technological and institutional innovation system, we must move to ‘total innovation’, involving technological and institutional innovations throughout the and institutional innovations throughout the production, marketing, policy research and enterprise domains. From transfer of technology we must move to learning by using ‘collective intelligence Farmer’s role no more will be confined to learning adopting and conforming. They must become co-creators of knowledge process and innovation. We must move from ‘funding for research and research infrastructure to strengthening’ the systematic capability for total innovation’, backed up by an enabling policy environment that fosters innovation.

Is it possible to draw any lessons from innovation in industry and manufacturing and agriculture especially from the new paradigms that were emerging? The answer is yes. The issue of going for ‘more’ is obvious. Indian demand for good grains would increase from 192 million tonnes in 2030. The challenge is that this ‘more’ has to be created with ‘less’.

Let us deal with the challenge of dealing with ‘less’. Take the land first. Diversion of arable land for urbanization, industrialization and also for producing biofuels will mean less availability of land for agriculture. Availability of ‘Less land’ is also due to degradation caused by soil erosion, soil salinity and waterlogging problems. Available estimates show that over 120 million hectares of land is degraded.

First and the most powerful way of getting ‘more from less’ is by using the power of new technology, such as information and communication technology, nanotechnology, space technology, modern biotechnology, etc. However, a robust policy level innovation is a must to achieve this.

For instance, GM crops present a great opportunity of getting ‘more from less’ as is evident from the Indian success in BT Cotton. With reference to GM crops, different nations have adopted different strategies. Some use ‘preventive’ policies. No matter what, do not allow GM crops. Other use ‘permissive’ policies. No matter what, within the next so many years, fifty percentage of our crops will be GM crops. But the right policies are those that are ‘promotional but ‘precautionary’. While using the most rigorous scientific validation. We must be promotional too. And we must promote the use of new technology in multitude of ways. Here are some examples.

Again we can achieve ‘more from less’ by using leakage-free public distribution system, which uses computerized allocation of food grains, GPS/SMS monitoring, verifiable digital identify and web portal for public grievances.

Finally, we can have technology enabled crop insurance, where use of real time data from weather stations could be used to predict the rainfall and calculate the insurance payouts which can be automatically transformed to the farmers through mobile banking. These seamless ten sections can achieve ‘more from less’.

The second powerful way of getting ‘more from less’ is to empower more and more farmers, with more and more knowledge. This can happen if the farmer understand the soil that he is sowing his seeds in (soil health card), he understand the why and how of the micro nutrient and pesticide addition that he makes and so on.

The third way of getting ‘more from less’ is by using the power of ‘collective intelligence’. We must have more innovators becoming active players in the Indian agricultural innovation ecosystem going beyond our formal research and innovation ecosystem going beyond our formal research and innovation systems. The author has been privileged to chair the National Innovation Foundation (NIF) inspired by the father of grassroots innovation movements in India, Prof. Anil Gupta . It was formed with the belief that 1.25 billion Indians do not represent 1.25 billion mouths but 1.25 billion minds. NIF recognize such grass roots innovators across India. The NIF (www.nif.org.in) ists over 200,000 such grassroots innovations. Several of these are in the field of agriculture. And we have found that many of these are by ordinary farmers.

Let us see one typical example. Dadaji Khobragade from Nanded was one such as ‘grassroots innovator’. NIF identified him and honored him. The improved paddy variety, HMT, developed by him has now diffused to several states covering more than one lakh acres. It has been included as a standard reference for thinness by protection of plant Variety and Farmers Right Variety (PPVFRA) also

There must be thousands of Khobragade's in the country. Our formal agricultural innovations systems (such as MPKV) must partner with such farmers to get ‘more from less for more people in India’.

Women comprise over fifty percent of the total workforce in tea gardens in India. Plucking of tea gardens in India. Plucking of tea leaves manually involves a lot of drudgery. Can we not develop a tea leaf plucking of tea leaves manually leaves a lot of drudgery . Can we not develop a tea leaf plucking devices? Millions of women have to bend their backs for hours standing with feet in the water to transplant paddy in the fields. Can we not develop a manual paddy transplanter, which will eliminate this drudgery. We, at NIF, decided to challenge the Indian scientists and engineers to solve these problems.

Is it not storage that a country that is capable of doing the most challenging missions tomars in US $74 million, ten times cheaper than other nations, and that too beaming the only nation to do it successfully the first time, , is unable to solve these problems, which will remove the drudgery of our women in agriculture? We must get the best of minds in our research and innovations system involved in these so that the noble aim of ‘more output with less drudgery’ will be achieved with our ‘collective intelligence’.

The Way Forward

In this article, the Indian Agriculture Innovation Agriculture System has been discussed. However, overall, how is India doing on innovation? (after the Tata Nano Car), reverse innovation and even ‘Innovation’! And all these refer to India’s ability to do “more from less for more people’. That means India is creating its own imprint on the global innovation scenario. That means India is doing well. So what is the truth?

We must build a robust Indian Agricultural innovation System based on our great strengths. We must build it on the ‘total innovation’’ concept with ‘collective intelligence’ of this great nation. We must have highly innovative pro-poor, pro-environment and pro-business policies.

We must build our own Indian Agricultural Innovations Index. It is important to do so, because what cannot be measured cannot be monitored, cannot be improved. I have no doubt that if we do this with determination, then we will achieve the dream of moving rapidly from green revolution’. We will then achieve our dreams of food for all’ with a smile on the face of a billion plus Indians and not just some privileged few amongst us.

The decade of 2010-20 was decided as the India Decade as the India Decade of Innovation. We are declared as the Indian Decade of Innovation. We are almost at the end this decade-and where are we? Look at the world ranking of India in innovation Index. India’s ranking among 143 nations has slipped from 62 (2011) to 64(2012) to 66(2013) to 76(2014), 81(2015). However, in the subsequent years, it has steadily improved, 66 (2016), 60(2017 and 57(2018). That means after halfway through the decade, India has slowly started moving up the ladder of the global Index.

The very dictionary of innovation is changing due to the innovations done in India. These new technologies I this dictionary now include phrases like frugal innovation, inclusive innovation, Gandhian innovation, nanovation

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