The deep void in global leadership (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2:International Relations 
Prelims level:  G20 
Mains level:Outcome from G20 meetings on economic slowdowns

Context:

• The coronavirus’s flight across the world at lightning speed, has exposed the total void in collective leadership at the global level. 
• Three months into the catastrophic war declared by an invisible, almost invincible virus, that is rapidly gobbling up human lives, regardless of citizenship and race, and contemptuously ravaging economies across continents, there is as yet no comprehensive, concerted plan of action, orchestrated by global leaders, to combat this terror.

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Outcome from G20 meetings: 

• The G20 has just had a virtual meeting, we understand, at the prodding of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 
• It is encouraging to learn that the G20 leaders have agreed to inject $5-trillion into the world economy to partially counter the devastating economic impact of the pandemic. 
• This is indeed good news. But taking collective ownership to fight a global war against the virus will require a lot more than writing cheques.
• Good war, bad enemy
• World leaders are obviously overwhelmed with their own national challenges and do not appear inclined to view the pandemic as a common enemy against mankind, which it is. 
• China delayed reporting the virus to the World Health Organisation (WHO), and perhaps, in the process, contributed to the exacerbation of the spread of the virus across the globe. 
• It was reported that the Trump administration did not even inform the European Union before it shut off flights from Europe. 
• It must be acknowledged that the initiative taken by Mr. Modi in the early days to convene a meeting of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation countries stands out in contrast to the pusillanimous leadership around the world.

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Seeds of indifference

• Two developments in the global polity in the last few years have contributed to the indifference towards collective global action.

Right-wing nationalism:

• One, the swing towards right-wing nationalism, as a guiding political ideology, in large swathes of the world, particularly in the U.S. 
• This ideology posits ‘global good’ being in conflict with and inimical to national interests. The dramatic announcement by U.S. President Trump, in June 2017, that the U.S. will cease involvement from the Paris Accord on climate change, preparatory to full withdrawal after the mandatory period, on the ground that the accord will ‘undermine U.S. economic interest’ is a classic demonstration of narrow nationalism trumping global interests. 
• There is no issue more global than climate change, and yet the U.S. Administration chose to look at it from the prism of national, short-term economic interest.

Atrophy of multilateral institutions:

• The United Nations was the outcome of the shared vision of the world leaders after World War II, that collective action is the only way forward to prevent the occurrence of another war. 
• That institution has notoriously failed to live up to its expectations to maintain peace among nations in the nearly 80 years since its formation. 
• Its affiliate organisations have, in several ways, failed to deliver on their lofty missions. 
• In particular, WHO, which has as its objective ‘to be the directing and coordinating authority among member countries in health emergencies’, has proven to be too lethargic in reacting to pandemics in the past. Its responses to COVID-19, has come under the scanner, not merely for incompetence, but also for lack of intellectual integrity.

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G20 offers hope:

• If the world leaders realise the relevance and critical importance of collective global action in the context of the present pandemic, it is not difficult to contrive an appropriate mechanism quickly to get into war. 
• A nimble outfit, not burdened with bureaucracy, is required to manage a global crisis of the nature that we are confronted with, today. 
• The G20, with co-option of other affected countries, itself might serve the purpose for the present. 

Addressing shortage of drugs and medical equipment:

• The collective should ensure that shortages of drugs, medical equipment and protective gear do not come in the way of any nation’s capacity to contain or fight the pandemic. 
• It is very likely that some nations that have succeeded in bringing the pandemic under control, such as China, Japan or South Korea, might have the capability to step up production at short notice to meet the increasing demand from other countries which are behind the curve. 
• This would typically involve urgent development of an information exchange on global production capacity, present and potential, demand and supply. 
• This is not to mean that there should be centralised management, which is not only infeasible, but counterproductive, as the attendant bureaucracy will impede quick action. 
• A common information exchange could restrain the richer countries from predatory contracting of global capacities.

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Seamless logistics for essential goods: 

• The protocols might need to be put in place among participating countries to ensure seamless logistics for the supply chain for essential goods and services to function efficiently. 
• This might be particularly necessary in the context of controls on international traffic and national shutdowns. 
• There would need to be concomitant accord to eliminate all kinds of tariff and non tariff barriers.

Information exchange is vital

• There needs to be instantaneous exchange of authenticated information on what clinical solutions have succeeded and what has not. 
• An example is the issue relating to hydroxychloroquine, which is being used experimentally, bypassing the rigours of randomised clinical trials. 
• While there is no substitute to classic clinical proof, the more field-level information is shared within the medical community, the better will be the success rates of such experimentation.

Cross-country collaboration on laboratory trials:

• This is a time to have cross-country collaboration on laboratory trials and clinical validation for vaccines and anti-viral drugs. It must be acknowledged that WHO has already moved on this issue, although, perhaps, belatedly. 
• The world can ill-afford delays, as the pandemic is predicted to stage a comeback once the shutdowns are gradually relaxed. The best way to ensure speedy research is to pool global resources. 
• Any effort at reinventing the wheel will only delay the outcomes. This attempt to collaborate might also bring in its wake an acceptable commercial solution that adequately incentivises private research, while ensuring benefits being available to the entire world at affordable costs. 
• Such a framework might be necessary for sustained collaborations for future challenges.

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Movement of trained health professionals:

• There is a need to facilitate easy movement of trained health professionals across the world to train others and augment resources wherever there are shortages. 
• In other words, nations should come together to organise a global army to fight the pandemic, equipped with the best weapons and tools.

Food watch

• We must anticipate food shortages occurring sooner or later, in some part of the world, consequent to the national shutdowns. 
• Ironically, while we might have saved lives from the assault of the novel coronavirus, we might run the risk of losing lives to starvation and malnutrition, somewhere in the world if we do not take adequate precautions. 
• This requires not only coordinated global action; it would also turn out to be the test of global concern for mankind in general.

Way forward:

• There is no doubt that human talent will triumph over the microscopic virus. It may be some months before we declare our win. 
• But the economic devastation, that would have been caused as a result will be no less than the aftermath of a world war. 
• Economies of the world are inexorably intertwined. 
• An orderly reconstruction of the global economy, which is equitable and inclusive, will eventually involve renegotiating terms of trade among key trading blocs, concerted action among central bankers to stabilise currencies, and a responsible way to regulate and manage global commodity markets.

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Standing with the needy: On coronavirus lockdown package (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2: Governance
Prelims level: Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana
Mains level:  Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States

Context:

• ₹1,70,000-crore relief package was announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on March 26 — Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY). 
• It is a good first step towards alleviating the distress caused to vulnerable sections of the population by the 21-day lockdown imposed to combat the spread of the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). 

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Allocation to various sectors:

• What is noteworthy about the package is not the amount but the innovative ways in which the government is seeking to offer relief. 
• It covers various sections of the vulnerable, ranging from farmers and women Jan Dhan account holders, to organised sector workers, to the most important of all — healthcare workers, who will now get a sizeable insurance cover of ₹50 lakh. 
• The doubling of foodgrain allocation offered free is a good idea that privileges the hungry poor over rodents and pests devouring the stocks in Food Corporation of India godowns. 
• So is the move to provide free cooking gas refills to the underprivileged who are part of the PM Ujjwala scheme. 
• The offer to pay both employer and employee contributions to the Provident Fund for very small business enterprises is welcome. 
• It will offer relief to those businesses that have been forced to shut down operations, and also to employees earning small salaries for whom the PF deduction may hurt at this point in time. 
• The salary limit could have been set higher at ₹25,000 per month — there’s no cash outgo for the government anyway because this is just a book entry transaction.

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Funding within budget:

• The effort appears to be to keep the funding within the budget as much as possible and retain control over the deficit. 
• For instance, the PM Kisan transfer has been already budgeted for and the increase in MGNREGA wages can also be accommodated within the budget. 
• Ditto with the Jan Dhan account transfer of ₹500 per month for the next three months which will cost the government ₹30,450 crore. 
• It is possible to argue here that the transfer could have been a little more generous — at least ₹1,000 a month. 
• The government may have wanted to stay within the budget for now. It could also be to preserve firepower, as there is no saying how long this uncertainty will last. 
• But, at some point soon, the government will have to break the fiscal deficit shackles. Also, it needs the financial bandwidth to support businesses in trouble. 
• In fact, ideally the government ought to have announced a relief package for the corporate sector and the middle class along with the PMGKY. 
• It should now turn its focus towards businesses that are running out of cash and may soon default on even salaries and statutory commitments if relief is not given. 
• There are enough ideas to borrow from others such as the U.S. which is in the process of finalising a $2 trillion package. 

Conclusion:

• Part II of the economic relief package should not be delayed beyond the next couple of days.
• The relief package is a good start, but more might need to be done sooner than later.

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How can India contain the economic impact of COVID-19? (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 3: Economic
Prelims level: COVID-19 pandemic
Mains level:  Economic impact of COVID-19 on India

Context:

• The COVID-19 pandemic has effectively brought normal life to a halt in India. 
• The importance of social distancing and a lockdown in curbing the spread of the virus cannot be stressed enough, but these measures also have huge repercussions on livelihoods and the economy at large, which has already been seeing a slowdown over the past year. 
• In a conversation moderated by Vikas Dhoot, Naushad Forbes and M. Govinda Rao talk of ways in which India can tackle this humanitarian and economic crisis. 
• Do you see a parallel in recent history to the situation we face globally due to the novel coronavirus?

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Govinda Rao: 

• This is the mother of all challenges in recent memory. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says that the 2008 financial crisis comes close, but I think this is much bigger than that. 
• Possibly, one has to go to the times of the Great Depression. Even qualitatively, it’s a very different challenge, because first you have to save lives, then you have to save livelihoods, then you have to meet with other costs like loss of jobs and production, and supply chain disruptions. 
• It’s not just confined to one sector or country; it encompasses the entire economy and the world. 
• So, I think there is no immediate policy instrument that you can put in place because you don’t even know how long the problem will last. 
• The depth of the problem that you are going to face is dependent on the length of the period for which you are going to close down and the extent to which the virus spreads.

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Naushad Forbes: 

• Every country is either already deeply affected or is at the start of being more affected. 
• This is unprecedented in terms of its immediate impact on the lives of individuals from all walks of life.
• We have a few additional factors in India: an economy which relies very heavily on informal employment, so our reliance for people’s well-being on the broader economy performing and the markets performing is high, whatever role the state may try to play. 
• And anything that you change in the functioning of the economy has unintended effects.
• We sometimes have, I think, a tendency to act and then plan. I worry about that. For example, on Saturday, all manufacturing companies in Pune were told to shut down. 
• On Sunday, all trains were stopped. And on Monday, all companies were told, ‘Look, you must keep supporting your staff and contract workers.’ 
• Now, the sequence should have been the reverse: first, you work out which companies will ensure support for everyone across the board and how. Then you stop the trains so that you contain populations [moving]. 
• And then you close the actual sources of employment. If you do it in the opposite sequence, you end up with what we saw on Saturday and Sunday, which is thousands of people crowding into train and bus stations, heading out of town, potentially spreading the virus across the country. 
• This is obviously an unintended consequence. 
• We sometimes act first without going into what we actually want to achieve. 
• The way to achieve ‘social distancing’ is not to announce something which then brings suddenly crowds of people together in a panic [but] to do something for their own security, well-being and longer-term success. 
• A little bit of thought before we act would really help. 
• Over the last few days, both the formal and informal sector have come to to a virtual halt. Lakhs of truckers are held up across States and most manufacturing firms have shut down. How will this impact our output and incomes?

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Naushad Forbes: 

• Everything’s come to a halt. The lockdown is the right thing to do for the country. From everything one reads, [we get the idea that] a lockdown is the way to ensure social distancing and contain the virus.
• How do you then limit the economic impact and who do you need to buffer the impact for? Without question, it is the people who are most vulnerable, those who live from day to day and have no savings to fall back on. 
• Then you look at medium to small companies with very limited staying power. The only way they can actually survive is by not paying people. You don’t want that to happen, otherwise you’d spread that distress in the economy. 
• You need to address their concerns, either through moratoriums on principal and interest payments or direct salary support, as we’ve seen happen in the U.K., Switzerland and France, to ensure some employment is sustained. 
• Then you need to extend it to larger labor-intensive companies if they employ 20,000 people and if they don’t have enough money to pay salaries next month we’re going to see something rather critical happen within a week.

Govinda Rao: 

• One of the biggest problems in the system is the capacity of the state to deal with the problem. The reaction that we have is a knee-jerk reaction. Today, you cannot worry about issues such as fiscal deficit. 
• You have to save people’s lives. There is a 21-day lockdown and redistribution is a major issue. Thankfully, you have a much better targeting device [Jan-Dhan accounts and Aadhaar] than before. Augmenting the state’s capacity... I don’t know how you’re going to do it.
• At 8 p.m., the Prime Minister says we are closing down for 21 days, and everyone runs to the shops and panics. Couldn’t this have been done in a smoother way? 
• One could have said essential supplies will be available — simply saying there’s a lakshman rekha outside your house, that really scares people.
• The immediate issue is to focus on health, which we have never done, and see how you can establish the public health system. And the second is livelihood issues.
• Regulatory compliance deadlines have been extended, but non-performing asset recognition norms remain 90 days (of defaults). Would you say this regulatory forbearance is sufficient?

Naushad Forbes: 

• It’s a classic case of ‘necessary but not sufficient’. These are all the right things to do. 
• You can have regulatory forbearance and extend regulatory forbearance for returns that have to be filed, but if there is some question on whether you will survive long enough to file your returns, then you need to address that.
• If we start by recognising that we have very limited state capacity, then we can think about how to get the desired outcome with an assumption of limited state capacity.
• For example, I would like to see a massive publicity campaign on what social distancing means and why it’s important to do. Regardless of what announcement comes, people should know not to crowd outside a shop together.
• And if my action in announcing something is going to prompt just this, let me first send out all the reassurances that grocery stores will be open. 
• The government has said that, but if you read the actual notification, it doesn’t say how groceries will get to homes. 
• There are some vague references to it being delivered. That sounds to me like a horrendous task to take on if state capacity is limited... delivering groceries to 1.3 billion people. Instead, rely on people going and doing the right thing. 
• So, you say, ‘grocery stores are going to be open and here are the rules under which people can go and buy groceries. 
• Grocery stores can decide for themselves if they wish to be open 24 hours. We will allow a maximum of so many people per square foot. 

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Govinda Rao: 

• A lot of things can now be done at home with online trading. To the extent that crowds can be avoided, it is important. But that doesn’t mean that you should shut down the stock market. It is a barometer... in the immediate context, it may not tell you what your economy’s doing if something is happening the world over. But you don’t kill the messenger, it gives you a message.
• Three weeks from now, what would be the best-case scenario for us to be in?

Naushad Forbes: 

• We should, by the way, do some scenario planning for what’s the best- and worst-case scenario and what’s in between. 
• For those scenarios, we must have action plans in place that are transparent so people can prepare accordingly. 
• The best-case scenario to me is that the three-week lockdown delivers. We shouldn’t expect the rising trend of cases to change for a minimum of 10 days before a successful lockdown can have an effect (because of the gestation of the virus). 
• The best-case scenario is that 10 days from now, we start seeing a flattening of the growth rate. A few more days later, we see the curve starting to turn down. 
• Then we can say the lockdown is working, now how do we start working towards recovery. We should put those plans in place now.
• We will not go back to normal from day one, where everyone can do whatever they wished. 
• Can all manufacturing start again? Does everyone show up at work all at once? 
• If you have the curve pointing down sharply, maybe 50% can come back and we’ll see for another two or three weeks how that sustains. 
• Shops can open again, but with limited operations and all the social distancing in place. You probably should not allow anything which involves mass gatherings of people even in the best-case scenario. 
• So, you’re not going to have large conferences, movie theatres, sports stadiums. Those will come last. I really think there’s a lot of value in this plan being as transparent as possible.

Govinda Rao: 

• The first thing that the government will have to do immediately is massively ramp up testing. We have not done enough testing as yet and do not know the magnitude of the problem. 
• Even if you take the best-case scenario after three weeks, this will be different in different places. 
• You may have to look at differential relaxations in a calibrated and transparent manner and say that areas with these trends can allow some of these activities. 
• My own feeling is that after 21 days, there will be some areas where you can have economic activities without much movement, and restrictions will have to continue elsewhere. 
• But we should be prepared for the long haul. Life is not going to be easy.
• My big concern is about children not going to school. Some from well-off families may learn on the computer, but what about those children who cannot go to school, can’t play, or do anything. 
• About 40% of the population is in the age group of zero to 14. We really have a crisis brewing there.

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Safeguarding the vulnerable among us (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2: Governance 
Prelims level: Covid 19
Mains level:  Welfare schemes for the vulnerable sections 

Context:

• The human dimensions of the COVID-19 pandemic reach far beyond the critical health response. 
• All aspects of our future will be affected — economic, social and developmental. 
• Our response must be urgent, coordinated and on a global scale, and should immediately deliver help to those most in need.
• From workplaces, to enterprises, to national and global economies, getting this right is predicated on social dialogue between government and those on the front line — the employers and workers, so that the 2020s don’t become a re-run of the 1930s.

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Impact on economy:

• The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that as many as 25 million people could become unemployed, with a loss of workers’ income of as much as $3.4 trillion. 
• However, it is already becoming clear that these numbers may underestimate the magnitude of the impact.
• This pandemic has mercilessly exposed the deep fault lines in our labour markets. Enterprises of all sizes have already stopped operations, cut working hours and laid off staff. 
• Many are teetering on the brink of collapse as shops and restaurants close, flights and hotel bookings are cancelled, and businesses shift to remote working. 
• Often the first to lose their jobs are those whose employment was already precarious — sales clerks, waiters, kitchen staff, baggage handlers and cleaners.

Weak safety nets:

• In a world where only one in five people are eligible for unemployment benefits, lay-offs spell catastrophe for millions of families. 
• Because paid sick leave is not available to many carers and delivery workers — those we all now rely on — they are often under pressure to continue working even if they are ill. 
• In the developing world, piece-rate workers, day labourers and informal traders may be similarly pressured by the need to put food on the table. 
• We will all suffer because of this. It will not only increase the spread of the virus but, in the longer-term, dramatically amplify cycles of poverty and inequality.
• We have a chance to save millions of jobs and enterprises, if governments act decisively to ensure business continuity, prevent lay-offs and protect vulnerable workers. 
• We should have no doubt that the decisions they take today will determine the health of our societies and economies for years to come.
• Unprecedented, expansionary fiscal and monetary policies are essential to prevent the current headlong downturn from becoming a prolonged recession. 
• We must make sure that people have enough money in their pockets to make it to the end of the week — and the next. 

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Flattening the Curve:

• As governments try to flatten the upward curve of infection, we need special measures to protect the millions of health and care workers (most of them women) who risk their own health for us every day. 
• Truckers and seafarers, who deliver medical equipment and other essentials, must be adequately protected. 
• Teleworking offers new opportunities for workers to keep working, and employers to continue their businesses through the crisis. 
• However, workers must be able to negotiate these arrangements so that they retain balance with other responsibilities, such as caring for children, the sick or the elderly, and of course, themselves.
• Many countries have already introduced unprecedented stimulus packages to protect their societies and economies and keep cash flowing to workers and businesses. 
• To maximise the effectiveness of those measures, it is essential for governments to work with employers’ organisations and trade unions to come up with practical solutions, which keep people safe and to protect jobs.

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Conclusion:

• In these most difficult of times, I recall a principle set out in the ILO’s Constitution: 
• “Poverty anywhere remains a threat to prosperity everywhere.” 
• It reminds us that, in years to come, the effectiveness of our response to this existential threat may be judged not just by the scale and speed of the cash injections, or whether the recovery curve is flat or steep, but by what we did for the most vulnerable among us.

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Terror unlimited: On Kabul gurdwara attack (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 3: Security 
Prelims level: Islamic State
Mains level:  Linkages between development and spread of extremism

Context:

• The attack on a gurdwara in Kabul on March 25 killed at least 25 people, mostly members of Afghanistan’s persecuted Sikh minority.

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Attempt to revive fortunates:

• This is a barefaced attempt by the Islamic State (IS) to revive its fortunes in the country at a time when it is politically divided and the peace process is hamstrung by the Taliban’s continuing violence. 
• The IS, which is concentrated in the eastern parts of Afghanistan, carried out several attacks in the past targeting the country’s minorities. 
• But, in recent months, the jihadist group suffered setbacks in the wake of sustained military operations by both Afghan and U.S. troops. 
• In some parts, the Taliban had also attacked the IS, as the insurgents, who are tribal Islamist nationalists, see the latter as a threat. 

Internal turmoil:

• But the war-torn country’s security situation is as fluid as ever. 
• It now has two governments, one led by Ashraf Ghani, who was declared winner of the September presidential election, and the other by Abdullah Abdullah, who has disputed the results and formed a rival administration. 
• The peace agreement reached between the Taliban and the U.S. failed to bring any halt to violence, with the insurgents and the government not being able to reach an understanding even on a prisoner swap. 
• Besides, the country has also seen a jump in the number of SARS-CoV-2 infections, with the Herat Province, which shares a border with Iran, emerging as the epicentre. The attack couldn’t have come at a worse time.

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Attack on minorities:

• Afghanistan is notorious for violence against its minority communities. 
• The Hazara Shias were brutalised during the Taliban regime in 1996-2001. Most Hindus and Sikhs, once spread across the country in hundreds of thousands, have fled the country. 
• With the resurgence of the Taliban and the fear of the insurgents taking over Kabul and undermining the Constitution, which at least in theory guarantees rights to all communities, the remaining minority groups are already in an abandoned state. 
• By attacking the gurdwara and an adjacent housing complex, the IS has not just terrified the country’s minorities further, but sent a message to the Afghan authorities that it remains a potent security threat. 

Conclusion:

• Afghanistan has too many problems, ranging from terrorism to the breakdown of the administration, which demands absolute resolve from the government. 
• But, unfortunately, the country’s political leadership appears to be concerned less about resolving any of them than about keeping power. 
• The leadership should realise the magnitude of this crisis, and take a united approach to tackle it. 
• It should kick-start the peace process with the Taliban, fight the IS cells more aggressively and work towards at least ensuring the minimum rights of its citizens guaranteed by the Constitution.
• However, the IS attack is another reminder that there is no end to the Afghan violence in sight.

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It shouldn’t take a pandemic (Indian Express)

Mains Paper 2: Health 
Prelims level: Handwashing habit 
Mains level:  Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health

Context:

• The coronavirus has taken the world by storm. 
• This highly contagious and deadly virus spreads primarily when people touch surfaces where the virus has been deposited by infected individuals, and then touch their eyes, nose or mouth.

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Background:

• This chain is best broken by the simple act of handwashing with soap, and this has been correctly projected as the silver bullet in our collective battle against this global health catastrophe.
• The message that washing one’s hands thoroughly with soap for 20 seconds neutralises the virus is being promoted by several stakeholders the world over — governments, multilateral agencies, private sector participants, media and entertainment channels, and even celebrities. 
• And there is little doubt that these efforts are paying off and that many more people are washing their hands with soap much more frequently than they were in the past.

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Advantages of handwashing with soap:

• It is little known that this simple practice is extremely effective against several other viruses and diseases as well. 
• Research has time and again shown the direct causality between the reduction of diseases and regular handwashing with soap, especially at critical times of pre-meals, post-defecation and pre-feeding babies. 
• According to UNICEF, handwashing at the aforementioned critical times can save millions of lives, especially of children below five, by reducing diarrhoea rates by more than 40 per cent.
• Moreover, handwashing not only reduces the rate of infection but also keeps children in school, since they are not staying home due to illness. 
• It is also estimated that the rates of handwashing with soap at these critical moments is very low the world over — ranging from zero per cent to 34 per cent.

Sustainability this habit: 

• There have been several efforts in the past by various stakeholders to promote handwashing and hygiene. 
• There has been momentum generated on the subject at the time of previous epidemics in the 21st century — during SARS and Swine Flu. 
• On both occasions, handwashing with soap became fashionable in parts of the world most affected by the diseases, but failed to sustain and become ingrained as a habit for posterity. 
• This can be partially attributed to the fact that once the threat of the diseases had faded, there was not enough follow-through in terms of sustained behaviour change communication on the subject. 
• Slowly, people returned to their old ways, with the need for handwashing not being as apparent anymore. 
• This time, however, there has been a multi-stakeholder barrage of communication on the subject like never before, and more countries are affected by coronavirus than any pandemic in recent memory. 
• In this threat is also an opportunity for the world — to make handwashing with soap the default behaviour and a key public health objective, even after the threat of the virus is behind us. This time, the behaviour change can and must be sustained.

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Way ahead:

• Today, in India, we have a comparative advantage with respect to large scale behaviour change, having implemented perhaps the largest ever social revolution the world has ever seen — the Swachh Bharat Mission. 
• Over 55 crore people have changed their habit of open defecation and have started using toilets. This has come about because the people adopted the programme as their own and made it a true jan andolan. 
• Today, the focus is on sustaining the changed behaviour — that of using toilets and stopping defecating in the open. 
• It will still take a lot of effort, but the commitment to do so is there and the behaviour change communication and the capacity building at the local level will continue. 
• The government has also developed a 10-year strategy on rural sanitation and is increasing the scope of swachhata from ODF to ODF Plus, which includes solid and liquid waste management.

Conclusion:

• Just as we are today collectively promoting handwashing with soap to fight the coronavirus, we must continue to work together to ensure that this habit sticks. 
• It should not take a pandemic to promote hygiene behaviour. It saves lives even in not-so-desperate times.

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Automated facial recognition: what NCRB proposes, what are the concerns (Indian Express)

Mains Paper 3: Science and Tech  
Prelims level: National Crime Records Bureau
Mains level:  Facial Recognition features and advantage 

Context:

• On June 28, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) released a Request for Proposal for an Automated Facial Recognition System (AFRS) to be used by police officers across the country.

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What is automated facial recognition?

• AFRS works by maintaining a large database with photos and videos of peoples’ faces.
• Then, a new image of an unidentified person — often taken from CCTV footage — is compared to the existing database to find a match and identify the person.
• The artificial intelligence technology used for pattern-finding and matching is called “neural networks”.
• Currently, facial recognition in India is done manually.

Are there any automated facial recognition systems in use in India?

• It is a new idea the country has started to experiment with.
• On July 1, the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s “DigiYatra” using facial recognition for airport entry was tried in the Hyderabad airport.
• State governments have also taken their own steps towards facial recognition. Telangana police launched their own system in August 2018.

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What does the NCRB request call for?

• The NCRB, which manages crime data for police, would like to use automated facial recognition to identify criminals, missing people, and unidentified dead bodies, as well as for “crime prevention”.
• Its Request for Proposal calls for gathering CCTV footage, as well as photos from newspapers, raids, and sketches.
• The project is aimed at being compatible with other biometrics such as iris and fingerprints.
• It will be a mobile and web application hosted in NCRB’s Data Centre in Delhi, but used by all police stations in the country.

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Why need AFRS?

• Automated Facial Recognition System can play a very vital role in improving outcomes in the area of Criminal identification and verification by facilitating easy recording, analysis, retrieval and sharing of Information between different organisations.
• While fingerprints and iris scans provide far more accurate matching results, automatic facial recognition is an easier solution especially for identification amongst crowds.
• The integration of fingerprint database, face recognition software and iris scans will massively boost the police department’s crime investigation capabilities.
• It will also help civilian verification when needed. No one will be able to get away with a fake ID.

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Integration of databases:

• NCRB has proposed integrating this facial recognition system with multiple existing databases.
• The most prominent is the NCRB-managed Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS).
• Facial recognition has been proposed in the CCTNS program since its origin.
• The new facial recognition system will be integrated with Integrated Criminal Justice System (ICJS), as well as state-specific systems, the Immigration, Visa and Foreigners Registration and Tracking (IVFRT), and the Khoya Paya portal on missing children.

What are the concerns around using facial recognition?

• Cyber experts across the world have cautioned against government abuse of facial recognition technology, as it can be used as tool of control and risks inaccurate results.
• Amid NCRB’s controversial step to install an automated facial recognition system, India should take note of the ongoing privacy debate in the US.
• In the US, the FBI and Department of State operate one of the largest facial recognition systems.
• International organisations have also condemned the Chinese government on its use of surveillance cameras and facial recognition to constrict the rights of Uighurs, a mostly Muslim minority.

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Way forward:

• The NCRB, which manages crime data for police, would like to use automated facial recognition to identify criminals, missing people, and unidentified dead bodies, as well as for “crime prevention”. 

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Test, test, test for the virus

Mains Paper 2: Health   
Prelims level: Anti-COVID-19 drugs 
Mains level:  India’s position on testing coronavirus 

Context:

• The novel coronavirus differs from other pandemics because of its exponential speed of transmission. 

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Coronavirus:

• The coronavirus is a novel virus because the genetic RNA has undergone mutation recently to infect humans from an animal source, thus converting a zoonotic disease to an anthroponotic one. 
• Coronavirus RNA is new to the human immunological system. 
• Therefore, there are a lot of unanswered questions with regard to immunity, recurrence, carrier state, treatment and vaccines. 
• The incubation period is 2-14 days. However, research has revealed that the virus can remain in circulation for much longer in affected individuals.

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Economic status:

• The economic status of a country influences implementation of its policies. 
• As India is a lower-middle-income country with a healthcare expenditure that is consistently below 1.5% of the GDP, it needs to be prudent and pragmatic in its approach to withstand it in the event of community spread. 
• Therefore, the government must focus on continued surveillance, prompt diagnosis and adopt robust treatment modalities to reduce morbidity and mortality.

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Increase in testing:

• An increase in testing will identify the actual number of cases that would require quarantine and prompt treatment. 
• The Indian Council of Medical Research has to increase random sampling and screening of the high-risk population. 
• Nationwide, the government has identified 75 government hospitals for testing and has allowed private labs with NABL accreditation to conduct real-time PCR assay of the RNA virus. 
• The National Task Force has recommended that the maximum cost for testing sample should not exceed ₹4,500. 
• The country’s per capita annual income for 2019-20 is ₹1,35,048 and the average middle-class annual income is ₹10-15 lakh. 
• Out-of-pocket expenses in healthcare is what pushes a lot of low-income Indians below the poverty line.

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Fighting information:

• Misinformation, especially on the use of facial masks, alternative medicine, and availability of a cure, should be avoided. 
• With limited resources, India requires protection gear such as three-layered facial masks for its healthcare workers and for those in service industries.

India’s position:

• There is no vaccine to fight the virus yet. Randomised controlled trials for antiviral treatment are difficult to execute during pandemics. 
• Researchers need to make tough choices during clinical trials, while ensuring the safety of the patients. 
• Medication was elusive in the past for H1N1, HIV and many other viral illnesses but the human mind proved invincible. Anti-COVID-19 drugs may be available sooner than later.
• The true incidence of the disease is still unknown. 
• Evidence from the identified cases worldwide suaggest that 80% of the infections will be mild with people having flu-like symptoms, about 15% will be severe requiring hospitalisation due to breathlessness or pneumonia, 3-5% will require ventilatory support, and about 1% will succumb to the virus.

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Conclusion:

• Every individual at risk, and not just those in power, should be tested on request. 
• There are authentic reports that several individuals have been denied diagnostic tests despite a contact history.
• The WHO categorised India as having local transmission. 
• If so, lessons can be learnt from South Korea which is taking 6,388 tests per million of the population compared to India’s 11.6. Every life is equally invaluable.

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Rising incidents of hate crimes point to the growing power of the lumpen (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 1: Society 
Prelims level: Hate Crimes 
Mains level:  Rising hate crimes and its prevention 

Context:

• There have been marked by hate crimes two Muslim men beaten by mobs in Jharkhand and Mumbai, demanding they shout ‘Jai Shri Ram’, one so mercilessly that he died. 
• Another man, a tribal, lynched in Tripura on suspicion of being a cattle thief. 
• Most recently, 24 men accused of being cattle smugglers, beaten and made to shout ‘Gau Mata ki Jai’, in Rajasthan.

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A rising graph:

• Studies of hate crimes in India show that they have steadily risen over the past five years. 
• Amnesty International India documented 721 such incidents between 2015 and 2018. 
• Last year alone, it tracked 218 hate crimes, 142 of which were against Dalits, 50 against Muslims, 40 against women, and eight each against Christians, Adivasis, and transgenders. 
• The more common hate crimes, they found, were honour killings that have sadly occurred for decades and ‘cow-related violence’, that was rare earlier but has become more frequent over the past five years.
• These facts are striking enough to concern any government. 
• The Prime Minister expressed pain at the sickening murder of Tabrez Ansari in Jharkhand, but clearly far more is required. 
• The Rajasthan administration is introducing a Bill prohibiting cow vigilantism, but that deals with only one hate crime. 
• An omnibus act against all hate crimes, including hate speech, is required across India and should be a priority of the 17th Lok Sabha. 

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Constitutional Provision: 

• Germany, for example, amended Section 46 of its Criminal Procedure Code, dealing with sentencing in violent crime, to say the sentence must be based on consideration of ‘the motives and aims of the offender, particularly where they are of a racist or xenophobic nature or where they show contempt for human dignity’.
• We have a number of sections in the Indian Penal Code that can be used to punish or even prevent hate crime, but they are disparate and few policemen are aware of them. 
• Those that are, fear to use them in areas whose political leaders mobilise through hate speech. 

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Court directives:

• In 2018, the Supreme Court directed Central and State governments to make it widely known that lynching and mob violence would ‘invite serious consequence under the law’ (Tehseen S. Poonawalla v. Union of India and Ors).
• Then Home Minister Rajnath Singh told Parliament that the government had formed a panel to suggest measures to tackle mob violence, and would enact a law if necessary. 
• The panel’s recommendations are not in the public domain, and acts of hate crime do not appear to have diminished in the year since Mr. Singh’s promise.
• In a May 2019 report, Human Rights Watch India pointed out that only some States had complied with the Supreme Court’s orders to designate a senior police officer in every district to prevent incidents of mob violence and ensure that the police take prompt action, including safety for witnesses; set up fast-track courts in such cases; and take action against policemen or officials who failed to comply. 
• Those State governments that did comply, the report commented, did so only partially. In several instances, the police actually obstructed investigations, even filing charges against the victims.
• Whether it is political hate speech or police bias on the ground, there is little doubt that the national bar against hate crime has been lowered. 
• On television, we see replays of hate speech and videos of lynching.
• Though the accompanying commentary is critical, repeated iterations normalise the hateful. Indeed, anchors themselves resort to invective far more often than before note how Kashmiris are routinely heckled and abused on talk shows. 

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Key steps needed:

• One of the policy issues that is high on the Modi administration’s list is dealing with incitement to violence through social media. 
• But the focus is on hate in relation to terrorism, and it is unclear whether government policy will extend to cover hate crime. 
• Important as it is to do so, the digital media is not the only offender. In fact, there are several obvious steps which would be easier to take and yield more immediate results than regulation of the digital media. 
• Parliament could enact an omnibus act against hate crime, and the Home Minister could set benchmarks for policemen and administrators to deal with hate crime. 
• The legislature and political parties could suspend or dismiss members who are implicated in hate crimes or practise hate speech.
• The electronic and print media could stop showing or publishing hateful comments and threats. 
• Priests could preach the values of tolerance and respect that are common to all religions and schools could revitalise courses on the directive principles of our Constitution.

Way forward:

• For a demographically diverse country such as India, hate crimes — including crimes of contempt — are a disaster. 
• Each of our religious and caste communities number in the millions, and crimes that are directed against any of these groups could result in a magnitude of disaffection that impels violence, even terrorism. 
• Far less diverse countries than India are already suffering the result of hate ‘moving into the mainstream’, as UN Secretary General António Guterres recently highlighted. 

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The malaise of malnutrition (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2: National 
Prelims level: Malnutrition 
Mains level:  Malnutrition problems and prevention 

Context:

• A new report, ‘Food and Nutrition Security Analysis, India, 2019’, authored by the Government of India and the United Nations World Food Programme, paints a picture of hunger and malnutrition amongst children in large pockets of India. 
• It raises moral and ethical questions about the nature of a state and society that, after 70 years of independence, still condemns hundreds of millions of its poorest and vulnerable citizens to lives of hunger and desperation. 
• And it once again forces us to ask why despite rapid economic growth, declining levels of poverty, enough food to export, and a multiplicity of government programmes, malnutrition amongst the poorest remains high.

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A trap of poverty, malnutrition:

• The report shows the poorest sections of society caught in a trap of poverty and malnutrition, which is being passed on from generation to generation. 
• Mothers who are hungry and malnourished produce children who are stunted, underweight and unlikely to develop to achieve their full human potential.
• The effects of malnourishment in a small child are not merely physical. A developing brain that is deprived of nutrients does not reach its full mental potential. 
• A study in the Lancet notes, “Undernutrition can affect cognitive development by causing direct structural damage to the brain and by impairing infant motor development.” 
• This in turn affects the child’s ability to learn at school, leading to a lifetime of poverty and lack of opportunity.

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Key findings of the report: 

• Many studies over the last five years have exposed the failure of the Indian state to ensure that its most vulnerable citizens are provided adequate nutrition in their early years. 
• India has long been home to the largest number of malnourished children in the world. Some progress has been made in reducing the extent of malnutrition. 
• The proportion of children with chronic malnutrition decreased from 48% percent in 2005-06 to 38.4% in 2015-16.
• The percentage of underweight children decreased from 42.5% to 35.7% over the same period. 
• Anaemia in young children decreased from 69.5% to 58.5% during this period. 

An ambitious target:

• The government’s National Nutrition Mission (renamed as Poshan Abhiyaan) aims to reduce stunting (a measure of malnutrition that is defined as height that is significantly below the norm for age) by 2% a year, bringing down the proportion of stunted children in the population to 25% by 2022. But even this modest target will require doubling the current annual rate of reduction in stunting.
• The minutes of recent meetings of the Executive Committee of Poshan Abhiyaan do not inspire much confidence about whether this can be achieved. 
• A year after it was launched, State and Union Territory governments have only used 16% of the funds allocated to them. 
• Fortified rice and milk were to be introduced in one district per State by March this year. 
• But the minutes of a March 29 meeting showed that this had not been done, and officials in charge of public distribution had not yet got their act together.
• Or, as the minutes put it, “The matter is under active consideration of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution”.

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Ways to removing malnutrition: 

• Anganwadis are key to the distribution of services to mothers and children. But many States, including Bihar and Odisha, which have large vulnerable populations, are struggling to set up functioning anganwadis, and recruit staff.
• The key to ending the tragedy of child nutrition lies with a handful of State governments: the highest levels of stunted and underweight children are found in Jharkand, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Malnutrition is a reflection of age-old patterns of social and economic exclusion.
• Over 40% of children from Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes are stunted. Close to 40% of children from the Other Backward Classes are stunted. 
• The lack of nutrition in their childhood years can reduce their mental as well as physical development and condemn them to a life in the margins of society.
• Stunting and malnourishment starts not with the child, but with the mother.
• An adolescent girl who is malnourished and anaemic tends to be a mother who is malnourished and anaemic. This in turn increased the chances of her child being stunted.

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The problem is access to food:

• The famines are caused not by shortages of food, but by inadequate access to food. And for the poor and marginalised, access to food is impeded by social, administrative and economic barriers.
• In the case of children and their mothers, this could be anything from non-functioning or neglectful governments at the State, district and local levels to entrenched social attitudes that see the poor and marginalised as less than equal citizens who are meant to be an underclass and are undeserving of government efforts to provide them food and lift them out of poverty.
• A lot of attention has focussed on the government’s aim of turning India into a $5 trillion economy in the next five years. 
• Whether this will achieved is a matter for debate. But these declarations only serve to obscure a larger reality. 

Conclusion: 

• There is a large section of society, the poorest two-fifths of the country’s population, that is still largely untouched by the modern economy which the rest of the country inhabits. 
• As one part of the country lives in a 21st century economy, ordering exotic cuisines over apps, another part struggles with the most ancient of realities: finding enough to eat to tide them over till the next day.

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Global problem, local solutions (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 3: Environment 
Prelims level: Dongria Kondh tribe
Mains level:  Highlighting the global assessment of biodiversity

Context:

• The Dongria Kondh tribe of Niyamgiri Hills are among the best conservationists in the world. 
• Known for the spirited defence of their forested habitat against short-sighted industrialisation, they have through millennia evolved a lifestyle that is in perfect harmony with nature. 
• Across India, there are scores of indigenous people who have managed to lead meaningful lives without wanton destruction of natural ecosystems.
• These tribes, along with marginalised communities living on the fringes of forests and millions of smallholder farmers, are the best hope that India has to preserve biodiversity and ensure food security. 
• At a time when nature faces the threat of another mass extinction of species, their importance cannot be emphasised enough because they offer us solutions to avert an imminent meltdown.

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Global assessment of biodiversity:

• The first global assessment of biodiversity by a UN-backed panel, which released its report in May, held humans squarely responsible for the looming mass extinction of species. 
• Without radical efforts towards conservation, the rate of species extinction will only gather momentum.
• The red flag comes close on the heels of a February report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 
• A loss in biodiversity simply means that plants and animals are more vulnerable to pests and diseases, and it puts food security and nutrition at risk, the FAO said.

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At a higher risk:

• Although biodiversity loss is a global problem, it can be countered only with local solutions. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach. 
• A solution that has succeeded in a temperate, wealthy nation may not be suitable for a country like India.
• Our tropical homeland is rich in biodiversity, but the imperatives of relentless economic growth, urbanisation, deforestation and overpopulation place it at risk more than many other places.

Active participation needed: 

• Nothing can be achieved without the active participation of communities that live close to nature farmers and forest dwellers. 
• It is now obvious that intensive agriculture, exploitative forestry and overfishing are the main threats to biodiversity in India and the world.
• UN agencies are unanimous that the best way to correct the present course is to heed the accumulated wisdom of indigenous peoples, fishers and farmers.
• The situation with our forests is even more dire. Instead of evicting forest dwellers from their homes, we should be encouraging them to conserve and nurture their habitats. 
• Pressure from industrialisation does not care too much about conservation and biodiversity. The same holds true for the overexploitation of our rivers and seas.

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No silver bullet:

• There is no silver bullet to solve the problem of crop and biodiversity loss at the national level. 
• The natural farming movement in Andhra Pradesh may not be suitable for, say, Punjab. 
• Fortunately, India’s farmers and tribes are nothing if not innovative and they do have local solutions.

Conclusion: 

• Loss of biodiversity and the threat of species extinction along with the alarming changes wrought by global warming are the primary concerns of our times.
• Our best bet for survival depends on how well we address these issues. 
• We can do that only if we put people at the centre of our actions.
• If we continue to ride roughshod over the people who are essential to revitalising nature, we do so only at our peril.

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Leakage of medical details (Mint)

Mains Paper 3:Security 
Prelims level:  Cyber security
Mains level:Challenges towards Cyber security

Context:

• The report by a German cybersecurity firm that medicaldetails of millions of Indian patients were leaked and arefreely available on the Internet is worrying.
• Associated risk of the breach: 
• Medical details (inmillions) of Indian patients has the potential to be minedfor deeper data analysis and for creating profiles thatcould be used for-social engineering, phishing, onlineidentity theft, other practices that thrive on theavailability of such data on the Darknet.

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Reason for the availability of this data: 

• Absence of anysecurity in the Picture Archiving and CommunicationsSystems (PACS) servers used by medical professionals;Server to have been connected to the public Internetwithout protection.

Key analysis in detail:

• Public data leaks have been quite common in India —from government websites enabling the download ofAadhaar numbers to electoral data rolls beingdownloaded in bulk, among others.
• India still lacks a comprehensive legal framework toprotect data privacy, unlike the data protectionregulations in place in the European Union and in theU.S.
• The Draft Personal Data Protection Bill 2019 is still to betabled but could enable protection of privacy.
• The draft Bill follows up on the provisions submitted by acommittee of experts chaired by Justice B.N. Srikrishnato the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technologyin 2018.
• The committee sought to codify the relationship betweenindividuals and firms/state institutions as one between“data principals” (whose information is collected) and“data fiduciaries” (those processing the data) so thatprivacy is safeguarded by design.
• While the 2019 version of the Bill seeks to retain theintent and many of the recommendations of the JusticeSrikrishna committee, it has also diluted a few provisions.For example, while the Bill tasks the fiduciary to seek theconsent in a free, informed, specific, clear form (andwhich is capable of being withdrawn later) from theprincipal, it has removed the proviso from the 2018version of the Bill that said selling or transferringsensitive personal data by the fiduciary to a third party isan offence.
• There are other substantive issues with the Bill pertainingto the situations when state institutions are grantedexemption from seeking consent from principals toprocess or obtain their information.

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Way forward:

• Considering the manner in which public data are beingstored and used by both the state and private entities, acomprehensive Data Protection Act is the need of the hour.

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Digital identification (Mint)

Mains Paper 3:Security 
Prelims level:  Data Privacy
Mains level:Data privacy and threat from protection 

Context:

• In a first anywhere in the world, a court in the Netherlandsrecently stopped a digital identification scheme for reasonsof exclusion.

Background:

• The Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs developed SyRI(System Risk Indicator) in 2014 to weed out those who
• are most likely to commit fraud and receive governmentbenefits.
• The legislation allowed government agencies to share 17categories of data with a private company (TheIntelligence Agency).
• The company used an algorithm to analyse data andcalculate risk scores. The selective rollout was conductedin low-income and immigrant neighbourhoods, whichhave a higher number of beneficiaries.
• Elevated riskscores were sent to relevant government arms, whichstores these on government databases for a maximum oftwo years. The government, in that time period, couldopen an investigation on the targeted person.

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How relevant is this for India?

• Similar to the Supreme Court’s Aadhaar judgment settinglimits on the ID’s usage, the Hague Court attempted tobalance social interest with personal privacy.
• The ruling is also an example of how a data protectionregulation can be used against government surveillance.
• India’s pending data protection regulation, beinganalysed by a Joint Select Committee in Parliament,would give broad exemptions to government dataprocessing in its current form. Some members of thecommittee have decided to take up governmentsurveillance in the upcoming deliberative meetings.
• India’s proposed regulation is similar to the US in theloopholes that could be potentially exploited. Hence,attempts to ban facial recognition in cities such as SanFrancisco have not had the same success as attempts inEurope.

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Have other countries taken note of the Dutch court ruling?

• Digital ID systems are being rolled out at a fast pace inplaces like Kenya, Philippines, Nigeria, Mexico, and more.
• Experts worldwide have been watching the Netherlandscase throughout, and agree that the ruling will ripplebeyond.
• The UN Special Rapporteur, Philip Alston, said: “Thisdecision sets a strong legal precedent for other courts tofollow. This is one of the first times a court anywhere hasstopped the use of digital technologies and abundantdigital information by welfare authorities on humanrights grounds.”
• The UK chairman of the House of Commons, StephenTimms, said: “This ruling by the Dutch courtsdemonstrates that parliaments ought to look very closelyat the ways in which governments use technology in thesocial security system, to protect the rights of theircitizens.”

Way forward:

• The Government of India should enact a privacylegislation that clearly defines the rights of citizensconsistent with the constitutional provisions.
• The government should factor in privacy risks andinclude procedures and systems to protect citizeninformation in any system of data collection.
• An institutional mechanism such as PrivacyCommissioner should be created to preventunauthorised disclosure of or access to such data.
• Capabilities of India’s national cyber cell should beenhanced for dealing with any cyber-attack in shortesttime.

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How the coronavirus lockdowns can be converted into an opportunity to secure our children’s future (Indian Express)

Mains Paper 2:National 
Prelims level:  Not much 
Mains level:Social issues 

Context:

• Every global crisis has its own philosophical import and an embedded message. We can ignore it only at our peril. 
• In more recent history World War II ended with unmistakable warning against nationalistic zealotry and use of nuclear weapons. 
• The world managed to heed both the messages for about 70 years before one of them – extreme and exclusivist nationalism – started raising its head again in several parts, including in India. Use of nuclear weapons has although been refrained from, its deterrent value still being traded as a weapon of blackmail if not destruction.

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Key significance: 

• Some messages led to the greater good of greater numbers but, simultaneously, also led to its tweaking to reinvent older evils by some other name. 
• For example, imperialism led to two World Wars but their horrific effects paved way for good sense to prevail resulting in greater co-operation among nations and opening up of national economies and international trade. But it was also used by some to unleash their hidden economic imperialism.
• All this, however, was always open to amendments from time to time, thus preventing the world from total collapse. 
• Yet, we haven’t apparently fully come to grips with the most alarming of the global crises of environmental degradation yet. 
• We still are fighting for our economic interests instead of unitedly facing the effects of the environmental crisis. 

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Abstinence from natural resources:

• The most important of all takeaways is abstinence from the overexploitation of natural resources. 
• We have shut ourselves indoors for a period that we never previously thought was even imaginable, forget being possible. 
• But here we are, forced to live with minimal provisions lest we perish. 
• It offers huge returns in terms of saving fossil fuels. It will not only save us huge money but will also help delay the process of environmental degradation.
• We can use those two ‘shut’ days entirely for our families, which, in turn, will restore the fast-eroding family bonds. 
• Needless to say, this has to be done unexceptionally by all the countries since “no work” holidays are bound to retard a country’s economic growth as well. 
• No country shouldn mind that as long as all agree to do it. 

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Social advantages: 

• On “open” days, we can further whittle it down by offering at least two “work from home” days wherever possible. It will save more fuel and thus more foreign exchange for countries like India.
• One of the social advantages of this “abstinence” regimen would be drastic reduction in accidents and crimes. Less crowd or no crowd on streets would also vastly reduce our solid waste burden, thus catalysing the process of restoration of environmental balance. 
• What it will also do is reduce the spread of contagious diseases. It could actually work wonders in extremely crowded and most populated cities.
• All this, of course, comes at a price. It demands not only a great resolve to help mankind from a possible apocalypse, but also renunciation of age-old straight-jackets. For example, if the “shut” days unavoidably happen to eclipse some of the auspicious muhurats for religious observance.

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Way ahead:

• Of course, the two-day abstinence idea isn’t an “open” and “shut” case and will need to be worked out in a more nuanced fashion. 
• We will have also to decide how long we must observe this abstinence. But we have already made the beginning per force. 
• If people of the world unite to do this, they have nothing to lose but a little bit of their self-indulgence. 
• Their loss would be their descendants’ gain. That’s not a small gain to be happy about.

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Transition to ‘work from home’ may pay off (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 4:Ethics  
Prelims level:  Not much
Mains level:Work culture and shifting workplace

Context:

• In the fear, bordering on panic, in our cities around the novel caronavirus it easy to forget that this too will pass. 
• Despite its staggering toll there will be life, even urban life, after this pandemic. This could create a longing for a return to the normal. 
• But a once-in-a-century pandemic does not leave things just as they are. 
• Even the more insensitive leadership may be prompted to take a closer look at the condition of our urban health infrastructure. 

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Capabilities of turning adversity into opportunity: 

• A more resourceful leadership would look to turn this adversity into opportunity.
• The scale of these opportunities would vary depending on the existing abilities of a country. 
• Now that the rates of infection in that country appear to have tapered off, they have rapidly begun to use that experience to influence global thinking about the coronavirus. 
• Experimental treatments made by Chinese doctors are being tried out on a larger scale elsewhere in the world. 
• President Trump too has mixed his talk of China’s virus with terming something experimented within China — the use of an anti-malarial drug as treatment — as a game-changer.

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India’s response:

• There is also the possibility that as the Chinese economy recovers from the impact of the virus, production systems in the developed world would still be affected by the virus. 
• This could well offer China the possibility of regaining market share in the developed world.
• India may not be able to respond in quite the same way. Apart from the huge gap in economic capabilities between the two most populous countries in the world, there is the fact that our exposure to the disease is coming when China may well be past it. 
• Rather than having global ambitions we may be better off keeping our focus within the country. And some of the practices that are being put in place to fight the virus could well have a longer-lasting impact. 
• The practice of washing our hands frequently could reduce our susceptibility to other diseases as well.

Key benefits: 

• Tapping the more significant opportunities in the current adversity would require greater and more original thinking. 
• This is arguably most striking in what the experience of dealing with the coronavirus can do to our cities. Social distancing has forced companies and even governments to explore the option of working from home.
• This has had an immediate effect on many of the problems of congestion, particularly traffic. 
• The commute to work constitutes a major part of traffic in Indian cities on days other than the weekend. 
• Working from home will contribute to a reduction in fuel consumption and pollution. 
• Within the workplace too there will be the benefit of those working from home saving on the time they take to come to office.
• This would be particularly significant in India’s metropolises where scant attention has been paid to the task of reducing the distance between work and home.

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Limitations: 

• A substantial shift to work from home would, however, not be easy. There are aspects of work that require face-to-face interactions. 
• An email, or even a telephonic conversation, does not always capture the nuances of what is sought to be conveyed. 
• The atmosphere of a discussion with other members of a group in office could also help generate new ideas. 
• The benefits of group thinking are not restricted to an aggregate of ideas that each member has worked out on her own. 

Way ahead:

• Thus even if there is a shift towards work from home, it cannot be a complete migration to the new rules. 
• What can be attempted would be working from home for a part of the time, say, a few days in a week.
• Even this limited transition to work from home would call for larger changes in our work culture. 
• The focus of both the workers and their bosses would have to shift from the time spent in the office to the final output. 
• Specific tasks would have to be specified for the period of work from home. 
• These tasks would ideally be that part of the job that is best done by the individual working alone. 
• There would also have to be effective monitoring systems to ensure that work from home does not lead to a fall in accountability.

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Conclusion:

• These changes in work culture do appear formidable, especially when considered in the abstract. Once they are put in place, though, the benefits could become more evident. 
• Companies may just be able to tap the savings in travel time of their employees, as well as the decline in time spent on gossip. 
• If this works for even a few companies, the very dark cloud of Covid-19, may just have a thin silver lining.

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Dressing a wounded economy (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 3:Economy 
Prelims level:  Cash transfer schemes
Mains level:Coronavirus effect or economic slowdown and other effects 

Context:

• The impact of the coronavirus pandemic is now felt by almost every country. 
• First, there are the health effects of the virus, and 
• Second is the economic impact of the various actions that have to be taken to combat the virus. 
• The world is experiencing an additional slowdown on top of the contracting tendencies already present and India is no exception. 
• The economic impact on India can be traced through four channels: external demand; domestic demand; supply disruptions, and financial market disturbances.

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Falling external and domestic demand:

• As the economies of the developed countries slow down (some people are even talking of recession), their demand for imports of goods will go down and this will affect our exports which are even now not doing well. 
• In fact after six months of negative growth, it was only in January that Indian exports showed positive growth. 
• The extent of decline will depend on how severely the other economies are affected. Not only merchandise exports but also service exports will suffer. 
• Besides these, the IT industry, travel, transport and hotel industries will be affected. The only redeeming feature in the external sector is the fall in oil prices. 
• India’s oil import bill will come down substantially. But this will affect adversely the oil exporting countries which absorb Indian labour. Remittances may slow down.
• As passengers travel less, the transportation industry, road, rail and air, is cutting down schedules, sometimes drastically. 
• This will affect in turn several other sectors closely related to them. 
• The laying off of non-permanent employees has already started. 

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Supply disruption: 

• Supply disruptions can occur because of the inability to import or procure inputs. The break in supply chains can be severe. 
• It is estimated that nearly 60% of our imports is in the category of ‘intermediate goods’. Imports from countries which are affected by the virus can be a source of concern. 
• Domestic supply chain can also be affected as the inter-State movement of goods has also slowed down.

Financial market issues

• Financial markets are the ones which respond quickly and irrationally to a pandemic such as the coronavirus pandemic. 
• The stock market in India has collapsed. 
• The indices are at a three-year low. Foreign Portfolio Investors have shown great nervousness and the safe haven doctrine operates. In this process, the value of the rupee in terms of dollar has also fallen. 
• The stock market decline has a wealth affect and will have an impact on the behaviour of particularly high wealth holders.

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Using monetary policy: 

• Monetary policy in a situation like this can only act to stimulate demand by a greater push of liquidity and credit. 
• The policy rate has already beenbrought down by 135 basis points over the last several months. 
• There is obviously scope for further reduction. But our own history as well as the experience of other countries clearly show that beyond a point, a reduction in interest rates does not work. 
• It is the environment of the overall economy that counts. Credit may be available. But there may not be takers. 
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) needs to go beyond cutting policy rate. A certain amount of regulatory forbearance is required to make the banks lend. 
• Even commercial banks on their own will have to think in terms of modifying norms they use for inventory holding by production units. 
• Repayments to banks can be delayed and the authorities must be willing to relax the rules. 
• Any relaxation of rules regarding the recognition of non-performing assets has to be across the entire business sector. 
• The authorities must be ready to tighten the rules as soon as the situation improves. This is a temporary relaxation and must be seen as such by banks and borrowers.

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Taking fiscal actions: 

• Fiscal actions have a major role to play. Once again, the ability to play a big role is constrained by the fact that the fiscal position of the government of India is already difficult. 
• Even without the pandemic, the fiscal deficit of the Central government will turn out to be higher than that indicated in the budgets for 2019-20 and 2020-21. 
• Revenues are likely to go down further because of the virus related slowdown in economic activity.

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The job sector:

• Serious concerns have been expressed about people who have been thrown out of employment. 
• These are mostly daily-wage earners and non-permanent/temporary employees.
• Some of the migrant labour have gone back to home States. We must appeal to the business units to keep even non-permanent workers on their rolls and provide them with a minimal income. 
• Some relief can be thought of by the government for such business units even though this can be misused. 
• However, in general, in the case of sectors such as hospitality and travel, the government can extend relief through deferment of payments of dues to the government.

Providing cash transfer benefits: 

• There is also talk of providing cash transfer to individuals. There is already a programme for rural farmers with all the limitations. 
• For a system of cash transfer to be workable, it has to be universal. 
• At this moment when all the energies of the government are required to combat the virus, to institute a system of universal cash transfer will be a diversion of efforts. 
• The burden on the government will depend upon the quantum of per capita cash transfer and the length of the period.

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Way forward:

• The government should advise all business units not to retrench workers and provide some relief to them to maintain the workers. 
• A supplemental income scheme for all the poor can be thought of once the immediate problem is resolved. 
• Provision of food and other essentials must be made available to the affected as is done at the time of floods or drought. States must take the initiative.
• The fiscal deficit is bound to go up substantially. The higher borrowing programme will need the support of the RBI if the interest rate is to be kept low. 
• Monetisation of deficit is inevitable. The strong injection of liquidity will store up problems for the next year. Inflation can flare up. 

Conclusion:

• The government needs to be mindful of this. All the same, the government must not stint and go out in a massive way to combat the virus. This is the government’s first priority.

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Making agriculture more rewarding for farmers (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 3:Economy 
Prelims level:  Agricultural marketing 
Mains level:Issues and challenges in Agricultural marketing

Context:

• While agriculture contributes about 15 per cent to the country’s GDP, it also sustains more than 600 million Indians or half the population of the country. 
• This is an important aspect in the present scenario as the agri-sector will also be expected to play a crucial role in the revival of the Indian economy from its current despondent state.

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Steps taken by the government so far: 

• The Union Budget 2020 brought several commendable green shoots of recovery for the agriculture sector, including the government’s 16-point action plan to boost agriculture towards the goal of doubling farmers’ income by 2022. 
• However, there is much that needs to be done and a more holistic approach will be required to ‘tone and muscle up’ the agriculture sector.
• The government’s ambitious objective for India to become a $5-trillion economy by FY2024-25, the agriculture sector has to contribute at least 30 per cent of the GDP.

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Competitive food production challenges: 

• Globally, enhanced food production has changed the market dynamics leading to pressure on prices of our produce. 
• Input costs are constantly on the rise, severely impacting farmers’ incomes, debt repayment capacity and their livelihood. 
• It makes matters worse is that all the risks in the farm-to-market cycle are borne by the farmer — these include, among others, production, storage, and transport risks, outbreak of pests , and price uncertainty. 
• Traders, aggregators and processors do not have to undertake these risks. Farmers are “implicitly taxed’ through restrictive marketing and trade policies even though agricultural income is not taxed in India.

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More attention needed:

• The Indian agriculture sector certainly deserves much more attention and allocation of resources. 
• The allocation of ₹15 lakh crore is a great step, but does it ultimately reach the farmer?
• We tend to forget that more than half this allocation gets utilised in meeting the assistance required during natural calamities, including droughts and floods. 
• Announcements to provide enhanced irrigation capabilities, agricultural credit target of ₹15 lakh, allocation of ₹2.83 lakh crore for agriculture, and provision of standalone solar pumps to 20 lakh farmers under PM KUSUM are a commendable start, but these address only the tip of the iceberg.
• Urgent steps need to be taken to minimise the risk for farmers and distribute the risk equitably across the agro-value chain. 
• Additionally, the government has to ensure that a fair share of the value that is generated at the end-consumer reaches the farmer. 
• India’s agriculture sector requires a long-term and sustainable solution, which ensures first and foremost ‘virtual’ land aggregation by way of cooperatives, by unshackling legislation around it. 

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The other reforms needed are: 

• The privatisation of agricultural markets, improving access of farmers to institutional credit, productivity-based production incentives, and farm level cold storages and downstream distribution through integrated cold supply chains via PPP. 
• Also needed is an intensive and simplified crop and life insurance scheme for farmers through an unified insurance structure and promoting secondary agriculture for small farmers to mitigate risks of crop failure. 
• The multiplier effect of these solutions will go a long way in enhancing sustainable growth for multiple stakeholders of the agriculture sector. 
• The government should also actively work to facilitate and encourage the integration of agriculture and technology. 
• The agriculture industry has had a long standing problem of lack of cold supply chain for preserving perishable goods. 
• Although precise figures are not known, it is estimated that India wastes over 20 per cent of its fruits and vegetables, due to lack of adequate cold chain infrastructure. 
• The loss is estimated to be $20 billion each year. 
• The Kisan Rail project via PPP arrangement and the launch of Krishi UDAN by the Ministry of Civil Aviation on international and national routes are welcome steps in the right direction, as these will help prevent wastage and fill in a long-standing gap in the infrastructure supply chain. 

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Conclusion:

• However, the devil is in the implementation details which are awaited. 

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Death by fireworks: on violation of rules in hazardous industries (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 3:Economy 
Prelims level:  Hazardous industries
Mains level:Challenges to the violations of rules by hazardous industries

Context:

• Unsafe working conditions and improper handling of inflammable raw materials continue to endanger lives in the fireworks industry.

Background:

• Last week, 11 workers were charred at a fireworks unit in Tamil Nadu’s Virudhunagar district. 
• Police data show that in the past decade, at least 239 people have perished and over 265 injured in 142 accidents in fireworks units. 
• Such tragedies have not been confined to Sivakasi, deemed the fireworks capital of the world, where most such units are concentrated. 

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A major threat: 

• Illegal cracker units functioning in a few other parts of the State have also led to loss of a significant number of lives. 
• In and around Sivakasi, the manufacturing of firecrackers in makeshift unlicensed units, rough handling of chemicals by untrained and unskilled workers, spillage or overloading of chemicals during the filling process, and working outside permitted areas have been identified as major causes for past accidents. 
• In the recent tragedy too, the workers were engaged in manufacturing ‘fancy aerial crackers’ for which the unit did not have a licence. Preliminary investigations suggest that mishandling of chemicals could have triggered an explosion.
• Occasional accidents in an industry dealing in explosive materials may seem inevitable. 
• But the probability of such mishaps can certainly be reduced by adopting safe work practices, complying with rules and through cohesive monitoring by Central and State licensing and enforcement authorities. 
• Crackdowns against violators have been few and far between despite illegal sub-leasing of works to unlicensed cottage units becoming a widely acknowledged practice in the industry. 

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Steps needed to be taken to address the loopholes: 

• It also found a lack of coordination between Central and State authorities dealing with the regulation of fireworks industries. 
• The committee recommended making sub-leasing of works by licensed units a cognisable penal offence; mandated inter-safety distances between sheds covered with earthen mounds; and provision of a smoothened pathway with a width of 1.5 metres, as part of industrial safety measures. 
• Ground reports suggest these recommendations continue to be ignored, with sub-leasing of works still rampant. Regulators understandably complain of a lack of manpower in checking violations. 
• The number of players has exponentially grown since the 1980s with 1,070 licensed units employing an estimated 10 lakh workers now. 

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Conclusion: 

• The safety is non-negotiable. The governments must walk the extra mile to enforce rules in a hazardous industry and prosecute violators. The industry too must self-regulate in its own interest. 

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Focus on horticulture and food processing(The Hindu)

Mains Paper 3:Economy 
Prelims level:  Horticulture and food processing
Mains level:Issues in horticulture and food processing and their disputes redressal

Context:

• Horticulture is considered as a better alternative farming option for farmers in many areas due to several advantages. 
• Besides the fact that it is more remunerative, horticulture saves water which is critical. 

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Major challenges:

• Moreover, it can be done on dry and hilly land and has lower risks of failure. 
• Farmers who shift to horticulture, however, do not have a safety net of selling at a minimum price in case of unforeseen problems and the case in point where farmers moved back to field crops is Punjab. 

Steps needed to improve: 

• There is a need for the government to focus separately on horticulture and balance the incentives between field crops and horticultre.
• To produce several export-feasible horticulture products like medicinal herbs, fruits, flowers and dry fruits which are high value and have the potential to deliver rich dividends to farmers and the country alike. 
• The move to support districts to emerge as export hubs for a single crop is conceptually good but size, scale, infrastructure, quality and traceability need to be plugged before importing countries can open doors. 
• The cutting down of MGNREGS allocation by 13 per cent has reduced its positive impact, which too has been compensated in the PM-KISAN scheme. 

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Proper utilisation of the government schemes: 

• Moreover, the focus on Zero Budget Natural Farming has the potential to result in losses up to 20-25 per cent to farmers. 
• A better implementation of Pradhan Mantri FasalBima Yojana should be facilitated in the near future through speedy and transparent processes allowing for timely disbursement of claims. 
• This will enable farmers to claim losses in case of poor crop yields due to multiple reasons. Once optimised, this insurance scheme has the potential to provide a substantial safeguard to farmers and reduce their weather dependency.

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Food processing 

• The processed food industry is still contingent on several uncharted risks.
• Often it continues to be awaiting measures to live up to its full potential even though the sector plays an important role in helping farmers improve income and reduce risks. 
• Processed foods companies working in this area directly engage with farmers to educate and enhance their knowledge on advancing technologies and develop new crops and product lines. 

Issues in food processing sector: 

• A major issue for (especially SME) the food processing sector is inadequate access to credit from the banking sector. 
• Unlike credit to agriculture, banks have no compulsion to lend to this sector since credit to food processing is subsumed within the 18 per cent mandated threshold for agriculture. 
• The risks and dynamics of this sector are regrettably not understood holistically by the banks who often decline proposals or else apply onerous terms and conditions on them. 
• Credit from banks to food processing is approximately 17 per cent of the sector size as against 45 per cent in agriculture even as the food processing sector has been growing and is projected to grow at over 12 per cent per annum in next five years due to the demographic factors. Even direct benefits to the sector such as subventions and incentivisation are minimal.

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Way ahead:

• Overall, the improvement of the sector requires measures to enhance market efficiency by promoting more innovative platforms like ‘kisan mandis’ and other similar initiatives which create a planned and sustainable marketing infrastructure. 
• There has been a shift in the needle. But the the government definitely needs to take bolder and more significant decisions that promote farmers’ livelihood and address not only recommendations of the Economic Survey but also on marketing the produce. 

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Conclusion:

• Ultimately, we want the government’s ambitious scheme to ‘double farmer income’ to succeed as it will benefit over half the population in the country.

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21-day lockdown (Indian Express)

Mains Paper 2:National 
Prelims level:  Agri-commodities and foodgrains
Mains level:Welfare schemes for the vulnerable sections in the society 

Context:

• On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated that the Centre and state governments will take all steps to ensure the supply of “essential items” during the lockdown to combat the novel coronavirus, which has now been made nationwide and extended for a further 21-day period. 

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Domestic availability of foodstuff: 

• There’s no real issue as far as production or supply goes for most agri-commodities, starting with foodgrains. 
• As on March 1, stocks of wheat and rice with the Food Corporation of India (FCI) stood at around 77.6 million tonnes (mt). 
• This was over three-and-a-half times the minimum operational buffer-cum-strategic stock of 21.04 mt required to be maintained for April 1. 
• Moreover, the new wheat crop, which is a bumper one, will arrive in the mandis from the coming month.
• The same applies to pulses, where the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India or Nafed was holding 2.25 mt of stocks as on March 19. 

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Impact: 

• COVID-19’s impact will not be on production, given that most rabi crops are close to ripening, if not already harvested. 
• The impact will be only on marketing the produce at the mandis and reaching it to the final consumer. 
• Simply put, it isn’t a “supply”, but a “supply chain” problem arising from the various movement restrictions imposed under the ongoing lockdown. 
• But for the rice, wheat and pulses with FCI or Nafed, even that shouldn’t be a problem, as the grain has to merely be moved from godowns and supplied to ration shops. 
• This can, in fact, be an opportunity for the Centre to significantly offload its surplus foodgrain stocks – including to regular grocery shops at open market rates.

What about stuff like milk, sugar and edible oils?

• These, again, are produce not brought to be sold in mandis. Dairies procure milk directly from farmers or through bulk vendors. 
• The sugar that mills produce similarly comes from cane sourced straight from growers. Two-thirds of the edible oil consumed by India is imported. 
• There, too, the problem of the crop having to first come to an APMC (agricultural produce market committee) mandi does not arise.
• In the current lockdown situation, there are actually mitigating factors on the supply requirement front, particularly for the three food items. 
• The most important of them is the demand destruction due to shutting down of HORECA (hotels, restaurants and catering) businesses. 

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Two effects:

First one: 

• On the one hand, direct consumer sales of milk, curd, sugar and branded oils have gone up in the past few days, with households buying more in anticipation of shortages. 
• The managing director of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, claims that the daily sales of ‘Amul’ milk are currently about 37 lakh litres in Delhi-NCR and 22 lakh litres in Maharashtra, as against their normal respective levels of 31-32 lakh litres and 18-19 lakh litres.

Second one: 

• The sales of skimmed milk power (SMP) to ice-cream companies and cheese to pizza makers have crashed, as consumers aren’t eating out and focusing on basic foods. 
• This has led to SMP prices crashing to Rs 250 per kg, from Rs 320-330 per kg till roughly 15 days ago, with some Maharashtra-based dairies mainly into B2B sales slashing their procurement price for cow milk from Rs 32-plus to Rs 20 per litre.
• In sugar also, mills are seeing less buying from the sweetmeat, soft drinks and HORECA segments. Nor are oil marketing companies lifting ethanol, a by-product of sugar manufacture used for 10% blending with petrol. 
• The reason: People sitting at home and not taking out their vehicles.
• The above demand destruction on account of B2B is, nevertheless, ensuring that existing supplies are enough to meet the requirements of household consumers or B2C.

So, which are the food products whose supplies are being affected?

• Basically fruits and vegetables (F and V), which are produce sold through APMC mandis. 
• Fruit traders and commission agents at the Vashi market of Navi Mumbai have announced suspension of their operations from Wednesday, fearing the spread of coronavirus. 
• Such closures are, however, more likely in terminal markets close to cities than the primary APMCs, where the bulk of farmers bring their produce. 
• Right now, the fear of the pandemic is less in rural areas.

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Way ahead: 

• In his first address to the nation on dealing with COVID-19, the Prime Minister mentioned that all necessary steps would be taken to ensure “no shortage of essential items like milk”. 
• That specific reference has, perhaps, helped in the largely unhindered supplies of milk from the rural hinterland to urban centres across India. 
• Unfortunately, the same approach has not been visible in other food items. 
• Indiscriminately imposed inter-state movement restrictions have resulted in tomato-laden trucks from Madanapalle in Andhra Pradesh not crossing over to Bengaluru or brinjal and beans from Chikkaballapur in Karnataka not reaching Hyderabad’s consumers. 
• Alphonso mangoes and grapes not being allowed to move freely will hurt growers in Ratnagiri and Sangli just when their crop is being harvesting.
• There are similar reports about F and V collection and distribution centres of online grocers being forcibly shut down.
• The sugar mills in UP running out of lime, sulphur and HDPE bags procured from Rajasthan and Gujarat; and labourers engaged in grading and packing of produce not being permitted to go their workplaces. 

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