Serum Institute to start late-stage human trials for Oxford vaccine within a week

Mains Paper 2:Health 
Prelims level:Serum Institute of India vaccine
Mains level: Vaccine development process and phase 2 and 3 clinical trials

Context:

• Serum Institute of India (SII) is expected to begin late-stage human clinical trials of the Oxford Covid-19 vaccine candidate here “within a week” after ethics approvals.
• Bharat Biotech and Zydus Cadila, which have been conducting early-stage testing of their candidates Covaxin and ZyCov-D over the last 20 days, are also starting second phase trials, he added.

Need of vaccine’s clinical trial tests:

• Each stage of a vaccine’s clinical trial tests its safety and ability to develop an effective immune response. 
• While the first phase focusses on safety in healthy participants more, the phase II looks at the effectiveness. 
• The third phase looks into these aspects in a much larger population that would represent a wider demographic.

SII vaccine trial tests:

• The SII vaccine, which is to conduct phase II/III clinical trials at around 17 sites, will do so “gradually, as the sites clear their (ethics committee applications),” said Bhargava during a media briefing.
• Bharat Biotech has completed its phase I studies for its inactivated virus vaccine candidate at 11 of 12 sites and begun its phase II study.
• Similarly, Zydus has embarked on the second phase of clinical testing for its DNA plasmid vaccine candidate at 11 sites.

Way ahead:

• The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation late Sunday approved SII’s application to conduct trials of the Oxford candidate, which it has branded ‘Covishield’. 
• SII, the world’s largest vaccine maker, has a tie-up with Swedish-British pharma giant AstraZeneca, that developed the vaccine with the University of Oxford, to manufacture it for low- and middle-income nations. 
• The vaccine is already being tested in South Africa, the UK and Brazil, where participants are being administered two doses nearly a month apart.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to the UN Economic Commission For Europe (UNECE), consider the following statements:
1. The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) was set up in 1947 by United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). 
2. It is one of five regional commissions of the United Nations.
3. It is headquartered in New York. 

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 and 3 only
(b) 2 only
(c) 1 and 2 only 
(d) 2 and 3 only

Answer: C

Mains Questions:
Q.1) Highlights the latest updates on the vaccine’s trials. What are the vaccine development process?

Next, in the Valley

Mains Paper 2: Governance 
Prelims level:Article 370
Mains level: Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability

Context:

• A year after the BJP-led NDA government made Article 370 redundant, withdrew the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, and bifurcated the state into two Union territories, the fait accompli has seeped in. 
• The Union territory of Jammu and Kashmirmay become a state again, but there will be no turning back the clock on Article 370. 
• For the BJP, it was the fulfilment of a long-standing ideological promise to “integrate” the Muslim-majority state with the rest of the country. 
• By all accounts, the move has been met with acquiescence, if not support, across the country — no national political party has prominently protested the Centre’s move, nor any regional parties outside Jammu and Kashmir. 
• In the past year, there has been no visible outpouring of protest in Jammu and Kashmir, no major militant strikes.

Seven-decade-old problem:

• That does not mean, of course, that the seven-decade-old problem has been resolved or that the people have accepted the changes imposed on them. 
• The reality is, they have not yet been allowed to express themselves through institutions of representation or governance. 
• Indeed, what began as a departure from democratic norm — the NDA government decided on the state’s future by cutting out the people, their political leaders and even the BJP’s own allies.
• It has played out over the year in the imprisonment of political leaders and hundreds of others, effectively erasing the degrees of difference between the mainstream and separatists and those in between. 
• Curbs on the press, routinely calling journalists to the police station, deepen the distrust.

Way ahead:

• It should be clear to it that the continuing political vacuum in the Valley can only cause damage. There is a limit to how much, or how long, panchayats from a flawed election can be propped up in place of an elected Assembly.
• Though the Election Commission took exception to his comments, Lieutenant Governor G C Murmu was right in saying that elections could follow the completion of delimitation. 
• The government must expedite the restoration of political processes in Jammu and Kashmir. 
• It must release Mehbooba Mufti and others who are still in detention. It must restore all freedoms guaranteed under the Constitution, including the right to free speech, which in this day and age, includes access to the Internet. 
• Most importantly, it must set the stage for the people to elect their representatives.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1)The principle of “one country, two systems”, is sometimes mentioned in the news in the context of the affairs of:
(a) China and Hong Kong
(b) Israel and Palestine
(c) North and South Yemen
(d) Armenia and Azerbaijan

Answer: A

Mains Questions:
Q.1) What is the rationale behind the dilution of Article 370 of the Constitution and their implications on people of Jammu and Kashmir? 

Violating human rights in the Valley

Mains Paper 2:Governance 
Prelims level:Article 370
Mains level: Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability

Context:

• A few human rights concerns have emerged in the Kashmir Valley over the last one year since the abrogationof Article 370 of the Constitution. 
• Till the time of writing, the national portal of India website india.gov.in continued to show this Article as a part of the Constitution! What is the truth?
• Unchecked preventive detention — whether in the form of house arrest (admitted or denied) or preventive detention in jail in the Valley or outside the erstwhileState — is a matter of grave concern. 
• So is the difficulty in accessing information whether through normal channels of communication or through electronic means such as the Internet.

Under house arrest:

• The concept of house arrest is not specifically mentioned in the criminal manual but the state is empowered to declare a building or house as a sub-jail. 
• Through such declarations, residential accommodations of some political leaders have been converted into sub-jails. 
• The resident of a sub-jail is automatically and undeniably under detention and what is commonly known as house arrest.
• When a residential accommodation is declared a sub-jail, the state virtually acquires and takes over the property for its own purposes. 
• The owner of the property is entitled to rent or compensation for the use and occupation of the property. 
• So, in a sense, a person under house arrest without receiving compensation is doubly jeopardised.
• Compulsory takeover of property even for a limited period has been an issue of great concern in Mizoram where vast tracts of land were taken over by the armed forces to quell an insurgency. 
• Many of these landowners have petitioned for compensation, though with little effect. Residents of the Valley will perhaps face the same problem as the Mizos.
• A variation of house arrest was employed during the Emergency when a few tourist resorts close to Delhi were declared as sub-jails and prominent political leaders incarcerated therein, without taking over their property. 
• In a sense, therefore, some Emergency steps have now been adopted to quelldissent.

Preventive Detention:

• Preventive detention under the Public Safety Act (PSA) has caused immense hardship to a very large number of persons. 
• Preventive detention is based on a prognosis of future events on the basis of past conduct. 
• Like all preventive detention laws, the PSA is draconianbut our Constitution provides important procedural safeguards that must be followed by the state or else the detention order will be quashed. 
• Among them is the fundamental right to be communicated, as soon as may be, the grounds on which the order has been made and the earliest opportunity of making a representation against the order. 
• Decisions of the Supreme Court hold that if there is an unexplained delay of even one or two days in dealing with the representation, the order of preventive detention is vitiated.
• A challenge to an order of preventive detention can be mounted on these and other procedural grounds. 
• The law regulating the PSA is no different. 
• Many preventive detention orders have been challenged through habeas corpus petitions but unfortunately many of them are still pending in the concerned High Court. 
• This did not happen even during the Emergency. What is the truth behind the delay?

A.K. Roy V. Union of India Case:

• A Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court held in the case of A.K. Roy v. Union of India (1981) that, “Laws of preventive detention cannot, by the back-door, introduce procedural measures of a punitive kind... The normal rule has to be that the detenu will be kept in detention in a place which is within the environs of his or her ordinary place of residence. 
• If a person ordinarily resides in Delhi to keep him in detention in a far of place like Madras or Calcutta is a punitive measure by itself which, in matters of preventive detention at any rate, is not to be encouraged... Whatever smacks of punishment must be scrupulously avoided in matters of preventive detention.” 

 Resort to preventive detention:

• Although the PSA permits a detenu being detained outside the erstwhile State, such detention should ordinarily not be resorted to for a variety of reasons. 
• But unfortunately the view of the Supreme Court has been followed more in the breachin the case of several PSA detenus. 
• One gets the impression that resort to preventive detention is actually as a measure of punishment or conviction without a trial.
• There are several other reasons why the incarcerationof hundreds of persons in the erstwhile State is a gross human rights violation. 
• What makes the situation worse is that a very large number of children have had to suffer what is called detention for their own good. 
• The welfare and best interests of a child can hardly be decided in a police station without the involvement of the parents of the child.

Taking a step back:

• Access to information might not yet be a fundamental right but it is certainly a human right. 
• For the last one year, the residents of the Valley have been deprived of the benefit of 4G Internet. 
• This has had an adverse impact on various aspects of daily life. For students, the joy of learning has become an imposition with 2G Internet. 
• Medical professionals have difficulty in advising and counselling their patients. 
• The right to health is an essential component of the right to life and this has been denied to a large number of patients. 
• Businessman have suffered, the economy in the Valley has taken a hit and it appears that the powers that be are in no mood to relent. 
• The Supreme Court has twice intervened but with no tangible effect. 
• Orders concerning the Internet were required to be reviewed under the rules by a committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary. 
• The committee has been downgraded and is now headed by the Home Secretary. 
• In other words, rather than a step forward towards access to information, a small step back has been taken.
• While it may be that uncontrolled access to Internet could pose a security risk through misuse by terrorists and militants, today’s technology is so far advanced that it is possible to block access even in a limited way. 
• For example, thousands of child pornography sites have been successfully blocked in different parts of the world, including India. 
• Therefore, where there is a will to checkmate militants and terrorists through the effective use of technology, it is possible to do so, but taking a short cut by permitting download only by 2G possibly does more harm to a greater number of people than is necessary and is disproportionate.

 Conclusion:

• It is time to introspect and make the human rights of all our citizens an inclusive subject of free and frank discussion.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to the Haryana state employment of local candidates ordinance, 2020, consider the following statements:
1. It reserves 75% private sector jobs for residents of the state. 
2. The employers will have the option to recruit local candidates from one district to only 10 per cent.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: C

Mains Questions:
Q.1) Describe the article 370,35A and their provisions.

Language of unity: on rejection of the three-language formula

Mains Paper 2:National 
Prelims level:Three language formula
Mains level: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Education

Context:

• By rejecting the three-language formula advocated in the National Education Policy 2020, Tamil Nadu CM has only reiteratedthe State’s position on an emotive and political issue. 
• Its two-language policy, implemented decades ago after a historic agitation against the imposition of Hindi, remains non-negotiable for almost the entire political class. 

Resistance to imposition:

• Opposition from the State had last year forced the Centre to amendthe draft NEP and withdraw a proposal to teach Hindi as a third language in schools in non-Hindi speaking States. 
• Yet in the NEP, approved by the Union Cabinet last week, it chose to push for the three-language formula, packaging it as a means to promote multilingualism and “national unity”. 
• Though the policy said that no language will be imposed on any State, it has expectedly cut no icewith parties in Tamil Nadu, which have risen in near unison to oppose the proposal. 
• In fact, Mr. Palaniswami, citing “collective sentiments” of the people, noted that the proposal was “saddening and painful” and appealed to the Prime Minister to allow States to follow their own language policy. 
• In a State that resisted multiple attempts to impose Hindi since 1937, political parties are understandably wary of any mandate to impart an additional language in schools. 
• They fear this would eventually pave the way for Hindi to enter the State through the back door. 
• Since 1985, the State has even refused to allow Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas to be set up as they teach Hindi.

Voluntary learning:

• The two-language policy of Tamil and English, piloted by former Chief Minister C.N. Annadurai in 1968, has thus far worked well in the State. 
• In a liberalised world, more windows to the world are being opened up for those proficient in English, a global link language. 
• The State’s significant human resources contribution to the ever-expanding IT sector is also attributed to the English fluency of its recruits as much as to their technical knowledge. 
• There is this counter-argument that Tamil Nadu is depriving students of an opportunity to learn Hindi, touted as a national link language. 
• However, its voluntary learning has never been restricted and the growth over the past decade in the number of CBSE schools, where the language is taught, would bear testimonyto this. 
• The patronage for the 102-year-old Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha, based in Chennai, also proves this. 
• In the Sabha’s centenary year, Tamil Nadu accounted for 73% of active Hindi pracharaks (teachers) in South India. 
• Out of necessity, many in the State have picked up conversational Hindi to engage with the migrant population that feeds the labour needs from factories to hair salons. 

 Conclusion:

• Only compulsion is met with resistance. India’s federal nature and diversity demand that no regional language is given supremacy over another.
• States must be allowed to follow their own language policy.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to the long term repo operations (LTRO), consider the following statements:
1. Under LTRO, RBI will conduct term repos of one-year and three-year tenors of appropriate sizes for up to a total amount of Rs 1 lakh crore at the policy repo rate.
2. It is a measure that market participants expect will bring down short-term rates and also boost investment in corporate bonds.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: C

Mains Questions:
Q.1) What are the provisions of three language formula as under National Education Policy 2020?What are the concerns of the southern states on this and key analysis?

More of the same: On Trump's signing of order against hiring H1B visa holders

Mains Paper 2:International Relations 
Prelims level:H1B visa holders
Mains level: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests

Context:

• The list of U.S. President Trump’s attacks on the inflow of skilled foreign workers into the country continues to expand rapidly. 
• The latest act from the White House seeking to potentially prevent such workers from participating in any federal government contracts indefinitely. 

Impact on India:

• The executive order signed by Mr. Trump specifically targets the H-1B visa as one that purportedlyresults in the loss of jobs to U.S. persons owing to cheap foreign labour. 
• Indian nationals tend to be granted 60-70% or more of visas in this category annually, which implies that the potential impact of this order on IT and ITES firms based in India could be considerable
• This would produce a ripple effect in the bilateral economic space. 
• The sense of shock that this order is likely to cause among those in corporate India who invest in the U.S. economy and create jobs there should hardly come as a surprise, given Trump’s support right from the beginning.
• Even in April 2020 the White House announced that it would be suspending the issuance of green cards, effectively halting legal migration into the U.S. 
• In June 2020, the immigration crackdown was extended via an order to stop processing new visas across several skilled worker categories, including H-1B visas. 
• The latest order avoids the language of an outright ban on foreign workers joining federal government contracts.
• It calls for a review of contracting and hiring practices by federal agencies, with a focus on foreign temporary workers and U.S. government-related services that were offshored to foreign countries.

 Rising unemployment:

• To an extent, it is understandable that the weight of performance expectations that rests upon Mr. Trump’s shoulders is of immense magnitude. 
• The economy, which was in fine fettle until the COVID-19 pandemic struck, appears to be grinding to a halt, with an expected surge in unemployment numbers to nearly 18 million jobless people. 
• To describe the U.S. government’s response to the pandemic crisis as lukewarm would be generous. 
• There is a high possibility that voters may punish Mr. Trump on November 3, 2020. 
• However, instead of striking a positive note about finding the U.S.’s greatest source of economic resilience in the diversity of its people, Mr. Trump has steadily retreated deeper into the morassof hateful tropes about immigrants stealing jobs. 
• This may well strike a chordwith his core support base of blue-collar workers across middle America who are undeniably in economic pain. 

Conclusion:

• Bitter polarisationis a perennialtrait of the political landscape of the U.S., but it has rarely ever been as worsened as in the last four years.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to the draft Code on Wages (Central) Rules 2020, consider the following statements:
1. The normal working day shall comprise of “eight hours of work and one or more intervals of rest which in total shall not exceed one hour”.
2. The Centre shall constitute a technical committee which would advise on the skill categories, while an advisory board may recommend the minimum wage.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: C

Mains Questions:
Q.1) What are H-1B visa and other visas? What are the implications of US’s move for barring H1B visa holders for federal jobs and broadly analyse the India-US relations?

Barbed wire (Mint)

Mains Paper 2: Governance 
Prelims level: PM-KISAN
Mains level: Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability

Context:

• The Supreme Court disposedof a petition by J&K Congress leader Saifuddin Soz’s wife challenging his “illegal detention”
• It accepted the government’s contention that he was under no restrictions. 
• It frames the Soz speaking to reporters, from behind a boundary wall, before being pulled away by police personnel, at his residence in Srinagar. 
• It did not deem necessary to listen to what Soz had to say across the wall.

 Pertinent questions:

• It is not only: Why did the J&K administration take liberty with the facts in court? 
• It is also, and more: Why did the court accept the J&K administration’s word for it? 
• Why did it accept the state’s definition of freedom when it is clearly in conflict with the citizen’s? 
• Unfortunately, that latter question is nowembeddedin a recurring pattern. 
• In case after case involving citizens’ fundamental liberties and alleged transgressionsby the state, the courts seem to give the government the benefit of the doubt.

 A similar pattern:

• On Jammu and Kashmir, a marker of this pattern came last year on October 1, when, petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the August 5 decision to abrogateJ&K’s special status, were filed.
• Five-judge Constitution bench of the SC refused to order a stay and adjourned the hearing to November 4. 
• The pattern has continued through the Court’s treatment of habeas corpus petitions related to politicians, business leaders, lawyers and journalists.
• Its lack of alacrity, its adjournments, effectively extended those detentions. 
• In May, the SC order declining pleas for restoration of 4G internet services was disturbing not just for continuing the denial of such services but also because it seemed tocedeits own powers of judicial review. 
• A special committee headed by the Union home secretary — the very departments whose orders were in question would adjudicateon the validity of the curbs on citizens’ freedoms imposed by them. 

Accountability:

• Soz’s is a test case because there are many like him. 
• Trapped in a zone between arrest and detention, unofficial and official, verbal and formal, at the mercy of the policeman at the gate. 
• This is exactly the zone tailor-made for abuse, where the apex court needs to shine the light, clear the air. 
• All the more reason for the court, as the custodianof constitutionally mandated individual liberties, to ask more questions to the administration that wields the power.

 Conclusion:

• SC needs to ask tougher questions, of those who wieldpower — before it dismisses an 83-year-old citizen's plea for freedom.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to the long-term repo operations (LTRO), consider the following statements:
1. Under LTRO, RBI will conduct term repos of one-year and three-year tenors of appropriate sizes for up to a total amount of Rs 1 lakh crore at the policy repo rate.
2. It is a measure that market participants expect will bring down short-term rates and also boost investment in corporate bonds.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: C

Missing the Target (Indian Express)

Mains Paper 2:Governance 
Prelims level: PM-KISAN
Mains level: Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability

Context:

• The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) is the first universal basic income-type of scheme targeted towards landed farmers.
• It was introduced in December 2018 to manage agricultural stress. 
• Initially, the scheme was targeted at small and medium landed farmers, but with the declining growth in gross value added of the agricultural sector, it was extended to all farmers in May 2019. 
• The Union budget had allocated Rs 75,000 crore to this scheme in 2020-21.

Delhi-NCR Coronavirus Telephone Survey:

• PM-KISAN is a useful vehicle to provide support to farmers during the lockdown and it was included in the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package and on March 28 it was announced Rs 2,000 (out of Rs 6,000) would be front-loaded to 8.7 crore farmers between April-June. 
• But, was this a useful way of relieving distress during the lockdown? 
• Data from the Delhi-NCR Coronavirus Telephone Survey Round 3 (DCVTS-3) conducted by the NCAER National Data Innovation Centre in mid-June provides some useful insights.

Key insights:

• The target geographical area for DCVTS is the Delhi-NCR. The DCVTS-3 included 52 per cent rural and 48 per cent urban households from Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. 
• The survey offers a holistic perspective to understand the extent of income loss of farm households, their experience of hardship and the role of PM-KISAN in alleviating their suffering during April-June. 
• Out of the 3,466 households in the sample, 18 per cent reported cultivation as the primary source of household income.
• The survey records a somewhat lower level of economic distress among farmers than among other groups. While farmers faced some logistical challenges in transporting and selling their produce, 97 per cent of them continued to harvest rabi crops and prepared for the kharif season. 
• Nearly 75 per cent of the cultivators who usually hire labourers for agricultural activities continued to do so.
• As a result, farmers were relatively immune to the economic impact of the lockdown. 

Discrepancy:

• About 32 per cent of them experienced large income losses in the month of May, which is much lower compared to the proportion among casual wage workers (73 per cent) and business households (70 per cent). 
• About 20 per cent of farm households reported no reduction in their income in May.
• The proportion of households that had to borrow to meet their day-to-day consumption needs during the lockdown was relatively low for the farmers (34 per cent) compared to casual wage workers and business households. 
• While 7 per cent of farm households suffered from occasional unavailability of food during the lockdown, this figure was much higher for casual workers (24 per cent) and business households (14 per cent).
• In the months of April and May, 21 per cent of 632 farm households received cash transfers through PM-KISAN. 
• Among the recipients, around two-thirds reported receiving Rs 2,000 and about a fourth received Rs 4,000 in April and May combined, possibly because family members engaged in agricultural activities may be co-residing within a household.

Relative immunity:

• On the whole, when compared to non-recipients of PM-KISAN (including both farm and non-farm households), these households exhibited lower signs of economic distress. 
• About 35 per cent of rural PM-KISAN recipients suffered income losses to a large extent in comparison to more than half of the non-recipients. 
• A little more than a third of PM-KISAN recipients borrowed money during this period as against 48 per cent of non-recipients. 
• However, these households were somewhat better off than the general rural population even before receiving PM-KISAN benefits. Thus, their relative immunity to the income shock may not be solely due to PM-KISAN.

Key challenges:

• Two aspects of this scheme present particular challenges. 
• First, PM-KISAN is not reaching all farmer households as intended. Most of the farmers in UP, Haryana and Rajasthan own land and should be receiving benefits. But only 21 per cent of the cultivators interviewed reported receiving the benefit. 
• The exclusion is greater in UP than in Haryana and Rajasthan. Second, this scheme is not pro-poor since recipients of PM-KISAN seemed to be better off than the general rural population even before the lockdown. 

Conclusion:

• Given this uncertainty over the reach of PM-KISAN and its targeting, the relevance of the scheme needs to be carefully evaluated during this period.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to the Haryana state employment of local candidates ordinance, 2020, consider the following statements:
1. It reserves 75% private sector jobs for residents of the state. 
2. The employers will have the option to recruit local candidates from one district to only 10 per cent.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: C

Mains Questions:
Q.1) Given this uncertainty over the reach of PM-KISAN and its targeting, the relevance of the scheme needs to be carefully evaluated during this period. Critically examine the statement. 
 

Negative returns for savers may hold back RBI from repo rate cut (Indian Express)

Mains Paper 3:Economy 
Prelims level: Repo rate cut
Mains level: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment

Context:

• The RBI decision to frontload repo rate cuts (115 basis points since February) to 4 per cent has partly led to negative returns for depositors. (File) 

REAL interest rates:

• WITH REAL interest rates (interest rate minus inflation rate) turning negative, and erosion in the returns of savers, a large section of bankers say the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the RBI— scheduled to meet August 4-6 — may adopt a status quo on policy rates in the near future.
• Technically, bank deposits are fetching negative real returns of nearly one per cent (-0.99 per cent) as one-year fixed deposit rate has come down to 5.10 per cent (State Bank of India rate) whereas inflation in June was 6.09 per cent. 
• The positive real interest rate logic weighs against an immediate further rate cut based on the current inflation trajectory. 
• There is a significant likelihood of MPC members voting for a pause during the forthcoming review.

Frontload repo rate cuts:

• However, despite the fall in deposit rates, there has been a 10.8 per cent rise in bank deposits. SBI’s 2.70 per cent rate on savings deposit accounts effectively means a negative real return of -3.39 per cent after adjusting for inflation.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decision to frontload repo rate cuts (115 basis points since February) to 4 per cent has partly led to negative returns for depositors. 
• The uncertainty about inflation trajectory for next couple of months may weigh the rate decision. 
• The upside inflation surprise suggests that headline inflation is likely to remain near the upper end of the RBI’s inflation mandate of 4 per cent plus or minus two till September.
• The real returns for savers have turned negative for some months now. 
• The CPI inflation-adjusted deposit rate (real interest rate) had turned negative -0.8 per cent in December 2019, when inflation touched 7.4 per cent and deposits rate 6.6 per cent. 
• It continued in the negative zone due to the uptick in inflation and downward interest rate scenario. “We expect that inflation will remain at elevated levels for the next few months so the real interest rate will continue to be in the negative zone,” SBI report says.

Conclusion:

• If we take a look at the income effect, it is a possibility that people might increase their savings in a low interest rate regime to compensate for the loss in income and especially if there is a excessive economic uncertainty regarding the future and there is absence of social security nets.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to the stressed companies, consider the following statements:
1. A company would be eligible to be called stressed if it has defaulted on its payment obligations for more than 90 days or if the credit rating agencies have downgraded its securities to ‘D’.
2. An entity, which has an inter-creditor agreement in terms of Reserve Bank of India (Prudential Framework for Resolution of Stressed Assets) Directions 2019, will also be identified as stressed.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: C

Mains Questions:
Q.1) How the quantitative and qualitative tools opted by RBI for maintaining the liquidity in the market and changes brought by RBI to stabilise financial market like cut in Repo Rate? What are the recent outcomes of various steps taken by RBI in this regard? 

Stress and strain (Indian Express)

Mains Paper 3:Economy 

Prelims level: Sample Registration System’s 2018 report

Mains level: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment

Context:

• The first-quarter data on central government accounts, released by the Controller General of Accounts.
• It underlines the stress in government finances stemming from the curtailment of economic activities during this period. 

Four broad trends emerge:

• First, at the aggregate level, the Centre’s gross tax revenues have contracted by almost a third as compared to the same period last year, highlighting the extent of the economic shock. However, as the lockdown restrictions were eased, and economic activity picked up, the pace of contraction in government revenues did ease. 
• Second, with consumption picking up, the recovery in indirect taxes during the first quarter has been far swifter as compared to that in direct taxes. 
• Third, despite this shortfall in tax revenues, central government expenditure has grown in line with what was projected in the Union budget 2020-21. 
• Fourth, and more crucially, the government’s capital expenditure has grown at a much faster pace as compared to its revenue expenditure.

Contraction:

• At the aggregate level, the Centre’s gross tax revenues contracted by a staggering 32.6 per cent in the April-June quarter of the current financial year. 
• However, a closer look reveals that the pace of contraction eased with each passing month. 
• Tax revenues contracted by 44. 3 per cent in April — the first full month of the lockdown — easing thereafter to 22.7 per cent in June. 
• The disaggregated data shows that while direct and indirect taxes contracted by 30.6 per cent and 34.1 per cent respectively, the pace of contraction in indirect taxes has eased considerably. 
• Indirect taxes in June were almost at the same level as last year, driven in part by rising excise collections owing to the steep hike in duties on fuel products. 
• On the direct tax side, the contraction in income taxes by more than a third in the April-June quarter underlines the extent to which the slowdown in activities has impacted individual incomes. 
• Similarly, the 46 per cent contraction in corporate tax revenues in June — the month of advance tax collections — highlights the grim situation for India Inc.
• On the other hand, despite the subdued revenues, the Centre has maintained its expenditure, especially capital expenditure, which was up 40 per cent in the first quarter, over the same period last year. 
• In large part, this spurt was driven by higher spending by the department of food and public distribution and road transport and highways. 
• Government spending on rural development also saw a surge, much of which is likely to be on account of the relief measures to address the fallout of the crisis.

Way forward:

• The first-quarter data on government finances broadly affirms the trend of a gradual pick up in the economy from the lows observed in April. 
• However, with economic activity now beginning to show some signs of plateauing, at lower levels, it underscores the difficulty of fiscal management. 
• Reaching back to pre-COVID levels will depend in large part on the success in containing the virus, and on how economic activity shapes up, especially with the reimposition of the lockdown in several parts of the country.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to the Sample Registration System’s 2018 report, consider the following statements:
1. The SRS 2018 report estimates that in 2018, nearly 66% of the Indian population was between 15 and 59.
2. Two states Andhra Pradesh and Telangana had over 70% of their populations in the working-age bracket. 
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: C

Mains Questions:
Q.1) Highlights the four broad trends emerged in India’s economic activity. Do you think the gradual pick-up and signs of plateauing of economic activity underscore difficulty of fiscal management? Comment. 

One country, one system (Indian Express)

Mains Paper 2:International 
Prelims level: Hong Kong’s National Security Law
Mains level: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora

Context:

• In the month since China imposed the controversial national security law in Hong Kong.
• China claimed the legislation was necessary to end the months of disruption caused by protests.
• The faultlines between the city and Beijing have only deepened. 

International opprobrium:

• The elections to the city’s government due in September have been postponed, ostensibly due to the COVID pandemic. 
• However, given that several pro-democracy candidates were barred from contesting and other activists have been arrested for online posts, the justification wears thin. 
• International opprobrium against the decision, too, has intensified. 
• The US has imposed sanctions on China and the UK, Australia, Canada and Germany have suspended extradition treaties with Hong Kong.

More to lose:

• On the face of it, it may appear that China has more to lose by ending the “one country two systems”, under which Hong Kong was governed. 
• It is this status that has made it a hub for finance capital, international technology giants and the service industry. 
• Tech giants like Facebook and Google, for example, can operate in Hong Kong, which has been outside the “Great Firewall”. 
• Under the new law, authorities can arrest and extradite for trial and imprisonment to mainland China citizens of Hong Kong under vague charges including “secession, subversion, organisation and perpetration of terrorist activities, and collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security”. 
• However, the end of “one country two systems” is of a piece with Xi Jinping’s vision for China, and the ideological shift his tenure as head of the party-state has marked. 
• China’s aggression in the Indo-Pacific vis a vis India as well as the ambitious strategic-economic expansionism of the Belt and Road Initiative, are part of the same pattern.

Failed opportunity:

• Delhi has, as in the past, been reticent about commenting on the special status of Hong Kong and its abrogation. Rajiv Kumar Chander, permanent representative to the UN, told the UNHRC that Delhi has been “keeping a close watch on developments”. 
• Given the historical role that the Indian community has played in Hong Kong’s modernisation, as well the significant Indian-origin population and workers in the service sector there, it might be time to consider a carefully calibrated engagement with the city’s new and unfolding reality. 
• With the heavy hand of the Chinese state looming, both finance capital and talent in the service sector are beginning to move out of Hong Kong. 
• Delhi has largely failed to take advantage of the shift in global manufacturing out of China, losing out to countries like Vietnam. 
• It could partially make up for that by trying to attract those from Hong Kong looking for a free society and economy.

Conclusion:

• Assault on Hong Kong's autonomy is of a piece with Xi's assertiveness at home and expansionism abroad

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to the Sample Registration System (SRS) 2018 report, consider the following statements:
1. Bihar has the highest under-five mortality rate.
2. In India as a whole and in most states, the deaths in the 0-4 age group constitute a higher proportion of total deaths in rural than in urban areas. 
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: B

Mains Questions:
Q.1) What do you mean by the Hong Kong’s National Security Law? What are the changes made to the legal system?Why this security law was enacted by China, not Hong Kong? Also discuss the implication of India after implementing the law.

Parents, the first and natural tutors (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2:National 
Prelims level: National Education Policy
Mains level: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Education

Context:

• The National Education Policy (NEP) emphatically makes the case for early childhood care and education (ECCE). 
• It says, “Schools providing quality ECCE reapthe greatest dividends for children who come from families that are economically disadvantaged.” 
• Over 85% of a child’s cumulative brain development occurs before the age of six. 
• Yet, over 5 crore children are estimated to not have attained foundational literacy and numeracy in India. 
• At present, says the policy, children from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds do not have access to ECCE.

Role of parents:

• The NEP lays out a detailed paradigm for educators to provide high-quality ECCE through preschools and anganwadis. 
• It also talks of how parents can be active stakeholders in their children’s education. 
• Indeed, it is crucial that we dig deeper into how parents can help, as any learning in school can be reinforced or undone at home. 
• Parents are their children’s first and natural tutors at that age. 
• Involving them is necessary to ensure that children learn the foundational skills they need to succeed in school.
• But how can low-income parents, with constraints on their time and energy, start getting more involved in ECCE? 
• Through our work with low-income communities and youth, we believe the answer is through AIM (aspiration, information, and motivation and measurement).

 Building aspiration:

• At present, 30% of low-income parents don’t send their children to any ECCE institutions. 
• Instead, many opt to send their children to primary school too early, when they are still cognitively and emotionally unprepared for Class 1 studies. 
• These are often the children who get left behind in primary school and beyond, with limited scope for recovery. 
• Evidence suggests that low-income parents do value education from primary school onwards, spending a disproportionate amount of their monthly income on it. 
• However, awareness of the importance of education at the preschool age is missing. 
• Indeed, while high-income parents face a huge amount of social pressure to help their children achieve developmental milestones before the age of six, low-income parents lack such social incentives. 
• Building aspiration through role modeling, mass media and social media involving examples of celebrities and influencers is the crucial first step.

 Providing information:

• Once awareness and aspiration have been built, we must provide low-income parents with educational tools to support their children that they can themselves confidently administer. 
• Preschool-aged children usually have an attention span of 5-15 minutes, which is not enough to focus on learning materials themselves, so parental involvement is necessary. 
• Fortunately, all parents are usually equipped to understand the foundational skills that their children are learning at this age as 70% of mothers and even more fathers are educated up to Class 5 themselves. 
• We need to assist them in combing through the vast wealth of print and online content. 
• Information must be simplified and contextualised — creation, curation, and dissemination of content that is in their local language, relevant to their context, and relatively convenient to administer is essential.

Nudge:

• Nudge is a concept in behavioral economics, political theory, and behavioral sciences which proposes positive reinforcement and indirect suggestions as ways to influence the behavior and decision making of groups or individuals.

Measuring progress:

• The last essential piece of the puzzle for sustained engagement from parents is to motivate them on a regular basis and give them measurable indicators of progress and change. 
• Behavioural research on nudges, social incentives, and the power of creating habits demonstrates some possible ways to provide continuous feedback and encouragement. 
• Measurement also acts as a powerful motivation mechanism. 
• The child’s progress and growth can be measured through rigorousassessments and through visual learning journeys. 
• Sharing results with parents, and developing plans in partnership with them, can ensure that truly no child is left behind.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to the International Day of Friendship, consider the following statements: 
1. The International Day of Friendship is being celebrated on July 30, 2020.
2. The International Day of Friendship was proclaimed in 2011 by the UN General Assembly with the idea that friendship between peoples, countries, cultures and individuals can inspire peace efforts and build bridges between communities.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: C

Mains Questions:
Q.1) Importance of early childhood care and education (ECCE)? How can parents more involved in early childhood care and education?

Rebuild India’s confidence, revive the economy (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 3:Economy 
Prelims level: Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
Mains level: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment

Context:

• These are extraordinarily difficult times for our nation and the world. People are gripped with the fear of disease and death from COVID-19. 
• This fear is ubiquitous and transcendsgeography, religion and class. 
• The inability of nations to control the spread of the novel coronavirus and the lack of a confirmed cure for the disease have exacerbatedpeople’s concerns.
• Such a heightened sense of anxiety among people can cause tremendous upheavalsin the functioning of societies. 
• Consequently, disruption of the normal social order will inevitably impact livelihoods and the larger economy.
• The economic impact of COVID-19 has been much discussed. 
• There is unanimity among economists that the global economy will experience one of its worst years in history. 
• India is no exception and cannot buck the trend. While estimates vary, it is clear that, for the first time in many decades, India’s economy will contract significantly.

An event with deep impact:

• Economic contraction is not merely a GDP number for economists to analyse and debate. It means a reversal of many years of progress. 
• A significant number among the weaker sections of our society may slip back into poverty, a rare occurrence for a developing nation. 
• Many enterprises may shut down. An entire generation may be lost due to severe unemployment. 
• A contracting economy can adversely impact our ability to feed and educate our children owing to a shortage of financial resources. 
• The deleteriousimpact of an economic contraction is long and deep, especially on the poor.
• It is thus imperativeto act with utmost urgency to nurse the economy back to good health. 
• The slowdown in economic activity is both a function of external factors such as the lockdown and behavioural changes of people and enterprises, driven by fear. 
• The foundation for reviving our economy is to inject confidence back in the entire ecosystem. People must feel confident about their lives and livelihoods. 
• Entrepreneurs must feel confident of reopening and making investments. Bankers must feel confident about providing capital. 
• Multilateral organisations must feel confident enough to provide funding to India. 
• Sovereign ratings agencies must feel confident about India’s ability to fulfil its financial obligations and restore economic growth.

 On NREGA and cash support:

• There is extreme duress among India’s poor. 
• At a time when agriculture activity has been robust, data show that just in the month of June, 62 million people demanded work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). 
• This is thrice the usual number and 10 times more than the total number employed by the entire listed corporate sector. 
• It is evident(obvious) that most of them are displaced non-agricultural workers, struggling to make ends meet. 
• Such is the scale and enormity of despair in our labour force. 
• Fortuitously, the MGNREGA programme has proved to be a bedrockof support in such times but it is not enough.
• A meaningful cash transfer can restore confidence in these families. 
• Money in the hands of people can provide an immediate sense of security and confidence, which is the cornerstone to restoring economic normalcy. 
• India is perhaps the only large democracy that has not provided direct cash assistance of a significant amount during the COVID-19 crisis. 
• There seems to be a misplaced sense of apprehension that providing large cash assistance may deterpeople from returning to the workforce when needed and starve industry of labour. 
• While it is inordinately late, it is still prudent to provide a significant sum as direct cash assistance to the poor which can inject confidence in them to weather this COVID-19 storm.

Look at the financial system:

• There is also a direneed to restore confidence in the financial system which acts as the vital lubricant for the economy. 
• COVID-19 assistance measures undertaken by the RBI and the government such as interest rate reductions, credit guarantee and liquidity enhancement schemes are welcome steps.
• But such steps have largely failed since banks are not confident of lending. 
• Reviving the health of the banking sector is not merely about capital infusion or disinvestment of public sector banks. 
• Allowing institutions such as the RBI, public sector banks, bankruptcy boards, securities and insurance regulators to function freely and professionally is the foundational step to restoring confidence in the financial system. 
• It is critical to allow processes such as the insolvency process to function smoothly without intervention. 
• If there is confidence among people to spend and among bankers to lend, then the private sector will spontaneously derive the confidence to reopen and invest. 
• When firms feel confident of availability of capital and consumers, they do not need much else to kick-start production and investment. 
• Corporate tax cuts, such as the one announced last year, are misguided luxuries that will neither boost private investment nor are fiscally affordable. 
• Knee-jerk reaction such as protection of Indian industry through trade restrictions cannot catalyse economic activity immediately but instead, is a dangerous reversal of established industrial policy that has generated enormous economic gains over the last three decades.
• A large direct cash assistance to people, improving capital adequacy of banks and providing credit guarantee schemes for corporates require significant financial resources. 
• Government finances are already stretched with a major shortfall in revenues. 
• New avenues for tax revenues are not feasible in the short term. Higher borrowing by the government is inevitable. 
• India cannot afford to be too fiscally restrained in these distressing times.

Government needs to borrow:

• India must make full use of loan programmes of international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. 
• Our long track record as an impeccableborrower with no default, timely repayments and full transparency make us an ideal borrower for these institutions. 
• However, these will not suffice, and the government needs to borrow more.
• Some have opined that India should hark back to the old ways of deficit monetisation by the RBI, also known as printing money. 
• This is understandable given the current unforeseen circumstances. 
• But we must be cognisant of the unhealthy impulses that seemingly free money creates for governments. 
• Deficit monetisation imposes high intangible and institutional costs, as we have experienced in the past. 
• It is perhaps prudentto adopt deficit monetisation as the last resort when all other options are exhausted.
• India is confronted with a dangerous trinity of military, health and economic threats. 
• Diverting people’s attention from these threats through choreographed events and headlines will not make them disappear. 
• India entered the COVID-19 crisis in a precariousposition, with slowing growth, rising unemployment and a choked financial system. 
• The epidemic has manifestly made it more painful.

Setting things right:

• It is important to enlarge one’s diagnosis of India’s economic woes from mere GDP numbers to the underlying sentiments of fear, uncertainty and insecurity prevalent in people, firms and institutions. 
• Restoring confidence in people through direct cash assistance and other welfare programmes can help them live their lives and spend. 
• Restoring confidence among bankers through autonomy of institutions and processes will help them lend. 
• Restoring confidence among businesses with greater access to capital will help them invest and create jobs. 
• Restoring confidence among international organisations by re-establishing the credibility of our institutions will help get funding assistance and objective sovereign ratings.

 Conclusion:

• The path to India’s sustained economic revival is through the philosophical pursuitsof improving confidence and sentiments of all in our society, using the economic tools of fiscal and monetary policies.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to the All India Tiger Estimation Report-2018, consider the following statements:
1. The All India Tiger Estimation is undertaken every two years, the latest in 2018.
2. Jim Corbett national park in Uttarakhand has the most number of tigers.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: B

Mains Questions:
Q.1) What are the social, economic and political impact of COVID-19? What measures government have taken and ought to take to rebuild the socio-economic structure of the country?

Contraction slows: On signs of economic recovery (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 3:Economy 
Prelims level: Index of Industrial Production
Mains level: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment

Context:

• The latest data on output at the eight core industries point to tentative signs that the pandemic caused economic contraction may have begun to bottom out. 
• The sector-wise performance also affirms that the gradual reopening since June appears to have helped tease backsome smatteringof demand in the economy. 
• Data:
• Of the seven industries that extended their contractions, only coal shrank at a faster pace (-15.5%) than in May, when production had declined 14%. 
• Refinery products, the largest weight on the index contributing 28%, shrank 8.9% marking an improvement from the 21.3% contraction seen the previous month. 
• The lifting of restrictions on inter and intra-State movement of persons and goods revived both vehicular movement and, consequently, demand for auto fuels. 
• With personal modes of mobility preferred given the fear of infection, petroproduct consumption grew 11% month-on-month in June. 
• Electricity output too fell at a slower 11% pace than the precedingmonth’s 14.8% slump, again signalling an uptick in demand from some manufacturing clusters including in western and northern India.

Increasing fiscal deficit:

• Among the other sectors, steel production continued to tumble— output shrank by more than a third (-33.8%) from June 2019.
• Cement appeared to have put the worst behind as urban construction and projects under the rural job guarantee scheme spurreddemand. 
• Cement output fell 6.9%, a sharp deceleration in the pace of decline from May’s 21.4% contraction. 
• Fertilizers, the only industry to post growth for a second straight month, however, saw the expansion ease to 4.2%, from 7.5% in May. 
• Still, with monsoon activity above normal so far this year, kharif sowing was almost 14% higher as on July 31 than at the same time in 2019. 
• With the IMD forecasting above average rainfall in August and September as well, the outlook for the agriculture-reliant rural economy is far more promising than for most other sectors. 
• To be sure, the economy is still a fair distance from a sustained turnaround with other data flagging the risks to a recovery. 
• For one, the significant shortfalls in GST collection point to the difficulties the central and State governments are facing in garnering crucially needed revenue. 
• This has already swelledthe fiscal deficit at the end of the first quarter to 83% of the full year’s target. 

Conclusion:

• With the new infections curve showing no signs of plateauingas yet, policymakers have the tough task of cutting the COVID-19 surge without dampeningeconomic momentum.
• As lockdown restrictions ease, the economy sees the first signs of recovery.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to the International Tigers day, consider the following statements:
1. International Tigers day was observed on July 29, 2020.
2. St. Petersburg declaration on tiger conservation resolved to double tiger numbers across their global range by 2022.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: C

Mains Questions:
Q.1) What is core sector industries? Highlights the impacts of lockdown on the Core sector andalso measures opted by the government.

Towards a new normal: On Unlock 3 (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2:Governance
Prelims level: Unlock 3
Mains level: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation

Context:

• The Centre has announced further relaxations in the lockdown that began on March 25 to combat the COVID-19 pandemic although the numbers are unrelenting. The third phase will now take effect from August 5. 
• At nearly 17 lakh, India stood third among countries with the highest number of cases; a third of these cases are currently active. 
• With over 36,000 deaths, India’s case fatalityrate of 2.16% is relatively low. 

Vigil must continue:

• The possibility of wider prevalenceindicated in serology surveys in Delhi and Mumbai suggests that the death rate could be even lower than current estimations. 
• The disease spread has been uneven within the country. The responses of States and cities have also remained inconsistent. 
• Along with the number of cases, overworked health-care professionals experiencing fatigueand the public showing impatience with restrictions are also on the rise. 
• This is not a pleasant mix of circumstances, and utmost vigilmust continue. 
• By now, it is also evident that complete lockdowns that disrupt economic activities cannot be sustained over long periods of time. 
• Gyms and yoga centres, but not educational institutions, metro rail, and large gatherings, will be allowed in the next phase. 
• Movement of people and goods across borders will be easier as per the Centre’s guidelines. 
• Random restrictions on movement such as those in Tamil Nadu, where an e-pass is required for intra- and inter-State travel, must now be done away with.

Key adaptation:

• As a vaccine or a cure is not yet visible, it is time the focus on adaptation got sharper. 
• Though many questions about COVID-19 remain, certain measures are evidently helpful in managing the pandemic better and bringing fatalities down. 
• The coming phase of unlocking must prepare the country for complete opening. 
• For that, first of all, testing should be unlocked and made available on demand as close to home as possible. 
• For those infected to not step out of home is a far superior measure in preventing spread, compared to inadequate mask usage. 
• With most cases turning out to be asymptomatic, wider and cheaper availability of testing must be a thrust area for the government now. 
• Easy, early diagnosis of infections, even when asymptomatic, will go a long way in containment. 
• The concerns regarding increased dependence on rapid antigen tests in some places must be addressed. 
• Second, real time epidemiological data should be unlocked. 
• Just as weather data is freely available, and allows for cropping practice readjustments, disaggregatedreal time data enables micro-planning and localised behavioural response. 
• The proclivityshown by some States and cities to conceal data has been self-defeating. 
• Even official death counts do not match with the numbers available with other sources. 

 Conclusion:

• There must be efforts to harvestaccurate data, and with ease of availability. 
• Normalcy, albeita new one, could be reached faster with the right efforts.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to the Near Field Communication (NFC), consider the following statements:
1. Near Field Communication (NFC) is a contact-less communication technology based on a radio frequency (RF) field using a base frequency of 13.56 MHz. 
2. NFC technology is perfectly designed to exchange data between two devices through a simple touch gesture.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: C

Mains Questions:
Q.1) India is moving towards unlocking state from the lockdown, in this context, what are measures that are much needed in managing the pandemic better and keeping the fatalities low?

Fighting the infodemic (Indian Express)

Mains Paper 2:Governance
Prelims level: Indian Council of Medical Research
Mains level: Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability

Context:

• A significant data project for systematic, long-term engagement with the COVID-19 pandemic awaits clearance from the ethics committee of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). 
• In collaboration with the health ministry and other institutions of national importance, the ICMR will pool a national clinical registry covering all COVID-19 patients who have been hospitalised. 
• The institutions will mentor other clinical organisations involved in the response to the pandemic, to widen the footprint of the database. 
• Both in the short and long term, the utility of a common repository for clinical data cannot be underestimated.

Key challenges:

• The biggest challenge that the pandemic has presented to health professionals and policymakers is a lack of standardised information. 
• Amidst an infodemic, the world wasted valuable time in the pursuit of off-label miracle cures, ranging from a malaria drug to a vermifuge, on the basis of questionable or indifferent reports. 
• Many reported results that would have been treated as anecdotal, were the world not in crisis mode. 
• Even now, the long-term effects of the novel coronavirus remain in the realm of conjecture.
• Physicians are repeatedly calling for caution, as they report numerous yet anecdotalcases of recovered patients who return months after recovery with damage to organs.
• A unified database is essential for tracking patients over the long term, for their own safety, to propagatesuccessful interventions globally.
• It will also help to examine how the virus may interact with other factors, like genetic makeup, comorbidities, location, climate and diet.

 Critical questions:

• In the short term, a database would help to answer critical questions. 
• What is the phone number of the nearest plasma donor? Which patients can be helped immediately by a newly discovered intervention? 
• But to be completely useful, such a database should engage patients. 
• They should be able to report changes in their condition directly to the database in an organised and delimited manner. 
• It should automatically flag the need for intervention to the authorities, and points of interest to researchers.

Conclusion:

• A unified database of COVID-19 patients would streamline immediate responses and warn of future effects.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to the Bureau Of Indian Standards (BIS), consider the following statements:
1. It is a statutory body established in 1987 under the BIS Act 1986.
2. It is under the union ministry of Finance.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: A

Mains Questions:
Q.1) What are the key challenges associated with to combat with the pandemic?

Taking the easy way out (Indian Express)

Mains Paper 1:Society 
Prelims level: National Family Health Surveys
Mains level: Role of women and women’s organization, population and associated issues

Context:

• The government’s proposal to raise the legal age of marriage for women illustrates a timeless principle of governance that rises above all ideologies. 
• At a time when the country is facing its worst overall crisis since Independence, the government has set up a special task force to advise it on the issue of raising the age of marriage for girls from 18 to 21 years.
• We know only too well that India is usually near the bottom of the international rankings on gender indicators. 
• India also has the largest absolute number of girls who marry below the age of 18. 
• Therefore, raising the age of marriage to 21 could well be seen as a step towards gender equality that also addresses the health problems of young mothers and their infants. 
• But unfortunately, this reasoning is both unsound and unwise.

Child marriage:

• The topic of “child marriage” in contemporary India has not received the attention it needs. 
• Public discussion is confined to the occasional coverage in the media where child marriage and trafficking are often carelessly conflated. 
• The periodic National Family Health Surveys (NFHS) provide an internationally-recognised measure of child marriage, namely, the proportion of those in the age group 20-24 years who married before reaching 18 years of age. 
• In the latest survey, NFHS-4 of 2015-16, this proportion is 26.8 per cent, down from 47 per cent in 2005-06. 
• This is a significant decline and the Census shows a similar trend between 2001 to 2011. 
• Along with such impressive declines, NFHS-4 shows that only 6.6 per cent were marrying below the age of 15. 
• In other words, the problem in India today is no longer of child marriage but late adolescent marriage, and a declining one. 
• It might interest readers to know that there are no differences between Hindus and Muslims in these trends.

Global norm:

• There is an almost global consensus on 18 years as the age of social adulthood. 
• A common threshold for voting rights, driving privileges and much else (with employment and sexual consent at even younger ages), it is also the most common standard for marriage across the world. 
• Scientists have recognised it as the age when the female body reaches full development, such that a healthy woman with adequate ante-natal care can be expected to have a healthy baby. 
• It is already the legal age of marriage in India, so why the hurry to raise it above the international norm?

 Little impact:

• Raising the age of marriage will raise the age of motherhood, and thus the probability that mother and child will be healthier. It will also lower the fertility rate. 
• But this answer rests on a partial truth that is dangerously misleading. 
• Our health indicators on young mothers and their infants are as bad as they are because poorer (and therefore more malnourished) women are marrying at younger ages compared to their wealthier counterparts. 
• If poor women continue to remain poor and malnourished, raising their age of marriage by a few years will change very little. 
• Much of the same problems will recur when they marry at 21 years. This fact is confirmed by carefully disaggregated statistical analyses.
• Moreover, fertility rates in India have been declining sharply. 
• Demographers have been pleasantly surprised by the decline even in states like West Bengal and Telangana, which have high rates of early marriage. 
• Poor families today are having small families. Little is gained by pushing them to have these children three years later.
• Even in a progressive state like Kerala, famous for high levels of education and excellent health services, one-third (of women between 20-24) marry before they are 21. 
• Remember that these numbers are under-estimates since they do not count those women currently in the 18-20 age group who might also marry before 21. 
• How will it help to render such women without legal recourse by going beyond the international norm of 18 years?

Investing in education:

• There is so much else that must be tackled first. 
• Numerous studies show that parents are investing in their daughters’ education (with near gender parity even in higher education), but our education system is failing the young. 
• With few avenues of gainful employment for young women, a home-bound school drop-out becomes a source of anxiety, and marriage the only viable prospect. 
• Well-intentioned conditional cash transfer schemes by state governments rewarding families who obey the law are popularly known as “dahej” (dowry) schemes. 
• Instead of tackling gender inequality, they reinforce the belief that girls are a burden relieved only by marriage. 

 Conclusion:

• To bring genuine change, we need free education beyond schooling for girls, coupled with job guarantees, especially for those from rural areas and vulnerable social locations. 
• This would make it genuinely possible for girls to have some say as to whether, how or when they wished to marry.
• Poverty, not age of marriage, is responsible for women's poor health indicators.

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General Studies Pre. Cum Mains Study Material

Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to the bulk drugs and medical devices parks, consider the following statements:
1. The Scheme for promotion of Bulk Drug Parks envisages creation of 3 bulk drug parks in the country.
2. Maximum grant-in-aid for one bulk drug park is Rs.500 crore. 
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: A

Mains Questions:
Q.1) What are the recent government’s proposal to raise the legal age of marriage for women?

New policy, old test (Indian Express)

Mains Paper 2:National 
Prelims level: New Education Policy
Mains level: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Education

Context:

• The current education policy was drafted in the 1980s. It underwent modifications in 1992. 
• But that was when the liberalisation of the economy was barely out of the policy books, the importance of the digital sphere wasn’t recognised beyond specialist circles, the demographic dividend was scarcely talked about and the Right To Education Act was a decade-and-a-half away from entering the statute book. 

 Long overdue:

• The New Education Policy (NEP), announced by the government on Wednesday, is thus long overdue. 
• It has been in the making for nearly five years and reports of two committees — the TSR Subramanian Committee in 2016 and the K Kasturirangan Committee last year — have informed the final draft. 
• The challenge before its framers was not just to respond to the dynamics of the knowledge economy but also to reckonwith a milieuin which pedagogyhas become deeply politicised. 
• To its credit, the policy does not bear too heavy an imprint of the deeply polarised political climate in which it has been finalised.

Major reforms:

• The NEP proposes the extension of the Right to Education (RTE) to all children up to the age of 18 but it is also alive to the criticism that while mandating accessibility, the RTE Act paid short shrift to learning outcomes. 
• It talks about improving foundational literacy and numeracy and underlines the importance of pedagogicaland technological interventions to scale down the learning crisis. 
• It proposes a range of measures that aim “to make education more experiential, holistic, discovery-oriented, learner-centred and enjoyable”.
• The move to make the mother tongue or the local language the medium of instruction is also a welcome move.
• It is welcome that children will be given more choice of subjects, and “there will be no hard separation among arts, humanities and sciences”. 
• In higher education too, it does well to envisage the breaking of boundaries between disciplines and transforming institutions “into large multi-disciplinary universities and colleges”.

Key challenges:

• Yet enormous challenges remain. The policy recognises, for instance, that “vibrant campus life is essential for high-quality teaching learning processes”. 
• But if developments in some of the country’s premier universities — JNU and Jamia Millia Islamia, for instance — are indication, the campus’s promise as a space that nurtures critical thought, political argument and debate is increasingly embattled. 
• The NEP’s claims will also come up against a sharpening fault line — India’s digital divide that has been highlighted and deepened by the COVID pandemic. 
• As an ongoing series of reports in this paper during the lockdown have highlighted, the classroom itself is under pressure like never before. 
• Disparities between the rich and poor, urban and rural, show up strikingly in access to digital tools. 
• If technology is a force-multiplier in some cases, in others it is inaccessible. 
• The looming economic distress is playing out harshly in schools with students dropping out, their parents out of work and unable to pay fees, teachers not being paid their dues. 
• Surely, these are beyond the NEP’s remit but the test of a policy is on the ground — not just on paper. 
• With the largest number of young — and poor — in the world, the task is cut out.

 Conclusion:

• National Education Policy’s stress on reforms is welcome. It will be tested on campus and in classroom where deep faultlineslie.
• The New Education Policy (NEP), announced by the government on Wednesday, is thus long overdue.

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General Studies Pre. Cum Mains Study Material

Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to the pre-pack, consider the following statements:
1. A pre-pack is an agreement for the resolution of the debt of a distressed company through an agreement between secured creditors and investors instead of a public bidding process. 
2. In the case of pre-packs, the incumbent management retains control of the company until a final agreement is reached. 

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: C

Mains Questions:
Q.1) Highlights the key provisions under NewEducation Policy 2020? What are pros and cons of it?