VISION

Wednesday, June 02, 2021

Understanding India’s GDP Fall

Upsc

aditya 17:34

What is the issue?

In the latest estimates of economic growth (for the financial year that ended in March 2021), India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracted by 7.3% in 2020-21.
It is imperative, in this context, to understand the reasons for this contraction in GDP.

How could this be approached?

There are two ways to view this contraction in GDP:

To look at this as an outlier - India, like most other countries, is facing a once-in-a-century pandemic
To look at what has been happening to the Indian economy over the last decade, and more precisely over the last 7 years

Notably, between the early 1990s until the pandemic hit the country, India grew at an average of around 7% every year.
So, the latest GDP data suggests that India’s economy had been steadily worsening during the current regime even before the Covid-19 pandemic.
The “fundamentals of the economy” (a bunch of economy-wide variables showing an economy’s health) suggest this, as discussed below.

How has the GDP been?

Daily Current Affairs, 02nd June 2021

vision ias current affairs

aditya 17:27

1) WHO names Covid-19 variants first found in India as ‘Kappa’ and ‘Delta’

•The UN health agency, World Health Organisation (WHO), has given easy-to-say labels to two variants of the Covid-19, first found in India. The two variants are B.1.617.1 and B.1.617.2. The B.1.617.1 variant of the Covid 19 has been named as ‘Kappa’ while the B1.617.2 variant is named as ‘Delta.’

•The naming of these variants do not aim at replacing the existing scientific names of these #SARSCoV2 Variants of Concern (VOCs) & Interest (VOIs), but is aimed at helping the public discussion about VOI/VOC.

2) OECD estimate growth cut of India to 9.9% FY22

•The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has cut India’s growth projection to 9.9 % for Financial Year 2022. In March, it estimated growth to 12.6%. The rate was cut witnessing covid cases lockdowns which have threatened to stall the nascent economic recovery of India. As per OECD, “pandemic can be contained quickly but GDP (gross domestic product) growth will still be about 10% in 2021-22 and 8% in 2022-23.

3) Justice A.K. Mishra to head NHRC

•Former Supreme Court judge Arun Kumar Mishra will be the new chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) after a high-powered recommendation committee proposed his name. The selection panel consisted of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Harivansh, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge.

•Former Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court, Mahesh Mittal Kumar, and former Director of Intelligence Bureau, Rajiv Jain, had also been recommended by the high-powered panel as members of the NHRC but the official notification is yet to be out until the filing of this report.

4) SBI Economists Revises GDP Growth Estimate in FY22 to 7.9%

•SBI economists, in its research report “Ecowrap”, has sharply cut the GDP growth estimates for the Indian economy to 7.9 per cent in FY22, compared to an earlier projection of 10.4 per cent. This is the lowest growth rate estimate for India among all analysts.

•The key factor for revision in the growth estimate is the impact of the second wave of COVID-19 infections. The SBI economists project a “W-shaped” recovery in FY22, with two troughs, instead of the earlier anticipated “V-shaped” recovery.

5) Centre for World University Rankings 2021-22 announced

•Centre for World University Rankings 2021-22 has announced, 19,788 institutions were ranked, and those that placed at the top made the global 2000 list. Harvard University has topped the ranking globally followed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, University of Cambridge, and Oxford University respectively.

•As many as 68 Indian institutes have made it to the list of the top 2000 higher education institutes across the world, as per the Centre for World University Rankings (CWUR) 2021-22. The Indian pack is led by the IIM-Ahmedabad which has bagged 415th rank followed by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) at 459th rank.

6) IIT-Ropar Develops ‘AmbiTAG’ India’s First Indigenous Temperature Data Logger

•Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar (IIT Ropar) in Punjab has developed a first-of-its-kind IoT device, “AmbiTag” that records real-time ambient temperature during the transportation of perishable products, vaccines and even body organs and blood. That recorded temperature further helps to know whether that particular item transported from anywhere in the world is still usable or perished because of temperature variation. This information is particularly critical for vaccines including the Covid-19 vaccine, organs and blood transportation.

Daily Current Affairs, 01st June 2021

vision ias current affairs

aditya 17:20

1) World Milk Day celebrated on 01st June

•The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations celebrates World Milk Day every year on 01st June to recognize the importance of milk as a global food, and to celebrate the dairy sector. It aims to encourage people to talk about the advantages of dairy with regards to health including nutrition, accessibility and affordability.

•This year, our theme will focus on Sustainability in the dairy sector with messages around the environment, nutrition and socio-economics. In doing so we will re-introduce dairy farming to the world.

2) Madhya Pradesh Government launches ‘Ankur’ scheme

•In Madhya Pradesh, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan government has launched a scheme named ‘Ankur’ under which citizens will be awarded for planting trees during monsoon. Citizens taking part in this initiative will be given the Pranvayu Award, to ensure public participation in the programme.

3) WHO honours Dr Harsh Vardhan for efforts in tobacco control

•World Health Organisation (WHO) has awarded Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan with `WHO Director-General Special Recognition Award` for his accomplishments in the area of tobacco control. Every year, WHO recognises individuals or organisations in each of the six WHO Regions for their accomplishments in the area of tobacco control.

•This recognition takes the form of the WHO Director-General Special Recognition Award and World No Tobacco Day Awards. Dr Harsh Vardhan leadership was instrumental in the 2019 national legislation to ban E-cigarettes and heated tobacco products.

4) IFFCO introduces world’s first ‘Nano Urea’ for farmers across world

•Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) has introduced the world’s first Nano Urea Liquid for farmers across the world. According to an official statement issued by IFFCO, the world’s first Nano Urea Liquid was introduced in its 50th annual general body meeting held in the online-offline mode in India.

5) NATO Conduct Steadfast Defender 21 war Games

•North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is organising “Steadfast Defender 21 war games” military exercises in Europe as tensions with Russia increases. These war games are being organised with the aim of simulating the response of a 30-nation military organisation for the attack on any one of its members. It seeks to test the ability of NATO to deploy troops from America.

•Top NATO brass insists that the military exercises, involving some 9,000 troops from 20 nations, are not aimed at Russia specifically, but they focus on the Black Sea region, where Russia stands accused of blocking the free navigation of ships.

6) A book title ‘Savarkar: A contested Legacy (1924-1966) authored by Vikram Sampath

•Decorated historian and author Vikram Sampath has come out with the second and concluding volume of the book on the life and works of Veer Savarkar titled “Savarkar: A contested Legacy (1924-1966)”. The book will hit the stands on July 26, 2021, under the publication of Penguin Random House India.

•The first volume, “Savarkar: Echoes from a Forgotten Past” was released in 2019 and covered Savarkar”s life from his birth in 1883 to his conditional release from prison in 1924. The second volume will bring to light the life and works of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, from 1924 to 1966, the year he died.

7) Ravi Shahtri’s Debut Book Titled ‘Stargazing: The Players in My Life’

•Cricket all-rounder, commentator and coach, Ravi Shastri is now making his publishing debut, as he has penned a book titled ‘Stargazing: The Players in My Life’. The book is being published by HarperCollins India. It is been co-authored by Ayaz Memon. It is expected to be released on June 25, 2021. In the book, Shastri has written about some 60 extraordinary talents he has met from across the world who have inspired him.

8) IIT Guwahati researchers design “smart windows” to cut carbon emissions

•IIT Guwahati researchers have developed a “Smart Window” material that can effectively control the amount of heat and light passing through it in response to an applied voltage. This material can help in developing automatic climate control systems in buildings. Such materials can help develop efficient automatic climate control systems in buildings, the scientists claimed. This study was recently published in the journal- ‘Solar Energy Materials & Solar Cells.

•However, achieving such a target is made easier by innovation by Debabrata Sikdar, an assistant professor at IIT’s Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering, and his research student Ashish Kumar Chowdhary.

9) Tata Steel’s T.V. Narendran takes over as CII president

•Tata Steel Ltd chief executive officer and managing director, T.V. Narendran has taken over as president of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for 2021-22. He takes over the leadership of the industry body from Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd managing director and chief executive officer Uday Kotak, who has completed his term.

•Narendran, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, has been associated with the CII for many years. He was the chairman of CII eastern region during 2016-17 and has led the industry body’s national committees on leadership and human resources, besides being chairman of CII Jharkhand.

10) CBDT member JB Mohapatra gets additional charge of chairman

•The Finance Ministry Jagannath Bidyadhar Mohapatra, Member, CBDT, has been given the additional charge of chairman of the direct taxes board for three months. The extended tenure of the incumbent chairman Pramod Chandra Mody ended on May 31.

•In February, he was given a third extension till May 31. Last week, the government had appointed three new members to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the administrative and policy-making body for the Income Tax Department.

11) RBI cancels licence of Shivajirao Bhosale Sahakari Bank

•The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cancelled the licence of Pune-based Shivajirao Bhosale Sahakari Bank. The bank ceases to carry on banking business, with effect from the close of business on May 31. The bank does not have adequate capital and earning prospects. As such, it does not comply with the provision of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

•The RBI observed that the bank with its present financial position would be unable to pay its present depositors in full. The bank was placed under RBI Directions from the close of business on May 4, 2019.

•With the cancellation of licence and commencement of liquidation proceedings, the process of paying the depositors of the bank as per the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC). Act, 1961, will be set in motion. As per the data submitted by the bank, more than 98 per cent of the depositors will receive full amounts of their deposits from DICGC.

12) Utah Jazz’s Jordan Clarkson wins 2021 Sixth Man of the Year

•Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson has won the 2020-21 Kia NBA Sixth Man Award for his contributions in a reserve role. This is the first Sixth Man honour for Clarkson, who becomes the first player to win the annual award with the Jazz.

•Clarkson becomes the first player in Jazz franchise history to win the award and was presented the trophy by his teammate and fellow Sixth Man of the Year Finalist Joe Ingles. Clarkson received 65 first-place votes and earned 407 total points from a global panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters.

The HINDU Notes – 02nd June 2021

the hindu notes

aditya 16:59

📰 China’s coercive population measures serve as warning for India: Experts

We are at a desirable replacement level fertility. We need to focus on stabilisation, they say

•China’s decision to relax its two-child norm and allow couples to have three children must serve as a warning for India that coercive population strategies can be counter-productive, say experts.

•After enforcing one-child and two-child policies to control its population over the past four decades, China on Monday announced that it will allow couples to have a third child as it stares at a fast ageing population. India, on the other hand, has been toying with the idea of population control measures through a two-child norm, which found a mention in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day speech two years ago.

•“India can learn from China’s failed experience of enforcing coercive population policies. Stringent population control measures have landed China in a human crisis that was inevitable. If coercive measures like a two-child limit are enforced, India’s situation could be worse,” says Poonam Muttreja of Population Foundation of India. “Within three decades, we will end up with the same issues of an ageing population and very few people to take care of them. In Sikkim and Lakshadweep we will be facing similar challenges of an ageing population as well as shrinking workforce given that they have low fertility rates.”

•India has long been concerned about curbing population ‘explosion’, but needs to focus its attention on population stabilisation instead.

•“India has done very well with its family planning measures and now we are at replacement level fertility of 2.1, which is desirable. We don’t need any coercive measures. But we need to sustain population stabilisation because in some States like Sikkim, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Kerala and Karnataka the total fertility rate is way below replacement level, which means we will experience in 30-40 years what China is experiencing now,” says Niranjan Saggurti, Director, Population Council of India.

•Replacement level fertility is the level of fertility at which a population exactly replaces itself from one generation to the next. A rate of less than 2.1 leads to each new generation being less populous than the older, previous one.

•In India, according to the UNFPA’s India Ageing Report 2017, the share of population over the age of 60 is projected to increase from 8% in 2015 to 19% in 2050. By the end of the century, the elderly will constitute nearly 34% of the population. The annual growth rate of the elderly will be over 3% till the middle of this century indicating faster pace of growth than other age categories. On the contrary, the growth rate of younger age group is already negative.

Empowerment for women

•“The proven ways to lower the fertility rate are to give women the control over their fertility and ensure their greater empowerment through increased access to education, economic opportunities and healthcare. As a matter of fact, China’s fertility reduction is only partly attributable to coercive policies, and is largely because of the sustained investments the country had made in education, health and job opportunities for women. These are the three essential three things India needs to do for its population to stabilize,” says Ms. Muttreja.

•With China’s fertility rates expected to drop in the coming years, demographers have predicted that India may overtake China as the most populous country by 2023 or 2024, but this should not be a cause for worry and be turned into an opportunity, argues Abhijit Das, Managing Trustee, Centre for Health and Social Justice. “India should not be worried about being the most populous country, instead it should focus on improving employability of its youth to improve productivity to fuel economic growth. Instead we are wasting our demographic dividend.”

📰 ‘Give details on scheme for orphaned children’

•The court asked Ms. Bhati to detail the mechanism for identifying the beneficiaries of the scheme and the method to monitor the flow of benefits to the children.

•The court further agreed with Mr. Agrawal’s suggestion to initially focus on the welfare schemes available for COVID-19 orphaned children in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand. Mr. Agrawal explained that these States were ahead in their compilation of data about children orphaned by COVID-19 and he would start with them while giving other States time to compile information within their own jurisdictions. The court is hearing an application filed by Mr. Agrawal, who placed on record a report in The Hindu about the plight of children in the pandemic.

•He said the pandemic had wreaked havoc on the lives of many children who have either lost both parents or guardians to the virus. Quoting the newspaper report, he said there had been a marked increase in child trafficking, especially of girls. The government had an obligation to protect children, he added.

📰 NCPCR tracks data on orphans

The HINDU Notes – 01st June 2021

the hindu notes

aditya 11:57

📰 Defence Ministry notifies second negative import list

209 items now on ‘positive indigenisation list’ for local procurement.

•The Defence Ministry on Monday notified the second negative import list — now renamed as the ‘positive indigenisation list’ — of 108 items that can now be only purchased from indigenous sources. The new list takes the total number on the list to 209. It is planned to be implemented progressively with effect from December 2021 to December 2025, the Defence Ministry said.

•“The second list lays special focus on weapons and systems which are currently under development/trials and are likely to translate into firm orders in the future. Like the first list, import substitution of ammunition which is a recurring requirement has been given special focus,” a Ministry statement said.

•The ‘second positive indigenisation list’ comprises complex systems, sensors, simulator, weapons and ammunitions like helicopters, next generation corvettes, Air Borne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) systems, tank engines, medium power radar for mountains, Medium Range Surface to Air Missile (MRSAM) weapon systems and many more such items to fulfil the requirements of Indian armed forces, it stated.

•The second list has been prepared after several rounds of consultations with government and private manufacturing industry confederations to assess future capabilities of Indian Industry which will be able to meet requirements of the armed forces, the statement said.

•“Not only does the list recognise the potential of local defence industry, it will also invigorate impetus to domestic Research and Development by attracting fresh investment into technology and manufacturing capabilities,” it said.

•The list also provides an excellent opportunity for ‘start-ups’ as also Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), the statement said.

•Towards this, the Ministry, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Service Head Quarters will take all necessary steps, including hand holding of the industry, to ensure that the timelines mentioned in the list are met, “thereby facilitating an environment for Indian defence manufacturers to create world class infrastructure, assist in the government’s ‘Make in India’ vision to make India self-reliant in defence and develop the capabilities for defence export in the near future,” it added.

•As part of efforts to boost the domestic defence industry and promote defence exports, last August, the government notified first ‘positive indigenisation’ list comprising 101 items. The Ministry is also soon expected to put out the final version of the ‘Defence Production and Export Promotion Policy (DPEPP) 2020’, the draft of which was released last August for public feedback.

📰 It’s time to define limits of sedition, says SC

Court protects 2 Telugu channels from any coercive action by Andhra govt for their reportage of COVID-19

•The Supreme Court on Monday said “it is time to define the limits of sedition” even as it protected two Telugu channels from any coercive action by the Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy-led Andhra Pradesh government for their reportage of the COVID-19 pandemic in the State.

•A three-judge Bench led by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud flagged indiscriminate use of the sedition law against critics, journalists, social media users, activists and citizens for airing their grievances about the governments COVID-19 management, or even for seeking help to gain medical access, equipment, drugs and oxygen cylinders, especially during the second wave of the pandemic.

•“We are of the view that the ambit and parameters of the provisions of Sections 124A (sedition), 153A and 505 of the Indian Penal Code 1860 would require interpretation, particularly in the context of the right of the electronic and print media to communicate news, information and the rights, even those that may be critical of the prevailing regime in any part of the nation,” the court noted in its order.

•“This is muzzling the media,” Justice L. Nageswara Rao, another judge on the Bench along with Justice S. Ravindra Bhat, said about the manner in which Andhra Pradesh had tried to “silence” channels TV5 and ABN.

•“It is time to define the limits of sedition,” Justice Chandrachud said. He pointed out that the Court had categorically told the States not to initiate penal action against the critics of COVID-19 management measures in an April 30 order.

•Justice Chandrachud referred to how, in an earlier suo motu hearing, he had wondered whether sedition charges would be launched against a news channel, which had published photograph of two persons throwing the body of a COVID-19 patient into a river from a bridge in Uttar Pradesh. “I had this case [Andhra] in mind when I said that,” he said.

•The court acknowledged the argument that the media was well within its rights to air critical programmes about a prevailing regime without attracting sedition.

Notice to A.P. govt

•The court issued notice to the Andhra Pradesh government and directed that “there shall be a stay on the Respondents [the State] adopting coercive proceedings against the two TV channels”.

•TV5, represented by senior advocate Shyam Divan and advocate Vipin Nair, and ABN Andhrajyothi argued that the sedition FIR against them was an “unfortunate assault”. The State had accused them of sedition for reporting news about the pandemic in an “unbiased manner”.

•“Merely because the content of the news reported in an unbiased manner is critical of a government or not to its liking, it cannot be said that the news outlet has committed an act of sedition or inciting hatred. To do so would be directly contrary to the freedom of Press,” ABN, represented by Guntur Pramod Kumar, said in the petition.

•TV5 said the “vague” FIR had a chilling effect on free speech in the media.

•“The attempt of the FIR is to create a chilling effect for news channels in the State, so that every news channel is wary of hosting any content which is critical of the government. By filing a vague FIR and abusing the process of law, the State intends to silence its critics and the media,” TV5 said.

Plea for contempt proceedings

•Both channels urged the Supreme Court to initiate contempt proceedings against the senior officials of the State government for violating the April 30 order of the Supreme Court to “immediately cease any direct and indirect threats of prosecution and arrest to citizens, who air their grievances”.

•Here the Andhra government had “gone one step ahead” to penalise the media, the channels said.

•The FIR, registered by the CID, alleges that a conspiracy is afoot against the government.

•TV5 said it had aired critical remarks made by the ruling YSRC party MP K. Raghurama Krishnam Raju about the State’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis. This had irked the government. Mr. Raju himself is in custody for sedition and has already approached the apex court for bail.

•“The State government is hell bent to suppress the right to freedom of speech by obstructing the media coverage on the management of Covid-19 in the State. While the State is witnessing a record number of cases, the focus of the Government is to mask the reality and to spread false propaganda,” the petition said.