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Wednesday, August 12, 2020

Roman Saini Static GS 500 Most Important Topics for UPSC Prelims 2020

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The HINDU Notes – 12th August 2020

10:32




📰 India’s population data and a tale of two projections

The country’s demographic future will see peaking and then declining numbers driven by a sharp fertility reduction

•A new study (https://bit.ly/30JzoKd), published in the highly regarded journal, The Lancet , and prepared by the Seattle-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), has shaken up the world of population policy. It argues that while India is destined to be the largest country in the world, its population will peak by mid-century. And as the 21st century closes, its ultimate population will be far smaller than anyone could have anticipated, about 1.09 billion instead of approximately 1.35 billion today. It could even be as low as 724 million.

•Readers who follow COVID-19 projections will remember that in March 2020, the IHME projected U.S. deaths from COVID-19 to be around 81,000 by August. Deaths in the U.S. today are more than twice that number. The underlying assumptions for the initial model were not borne out. The IHME population projections are also subject to underlying assumptions that deserve careful scrutiny. They predict that by the year 2100, on average, Indian women will have 1.29 children. Since each woman must have two children to replace herself and her husband, this will result in a sharp population decline. Contrast this predicted fertility rate of 1.29 for India with the projected cohort fertility of 1.53 for the United States and 1.78 for France in the same model. It is difficult to believe that Indian parents could be less committed to childbearing than American or French parents.

•Until 2050, the IHME projections are almost identical to widely-used United Nations projections. The UN (https://bit.ly/2PGYALh) projects that India’s population will be 1.64 billion by 2050, the IHME projects 1.61 billion by 2048. It is only in the second half of the century that the two projections diverge with the UN predicting a population of 1.45 billion by 2100, and the IHME, 1.09 billion.

•Part of this divergence may come from IHME model’s excessive reliance on data regarding current contraceptive use in the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) and potential for increasing contraceptive use. Research at the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) National Data Innovation Centre by Santanu Pramanik and colleagues shows that contraceptive use in the NFHS is poorly estimated, and as a result, unmet need for contraception may be lower than that estimated by the IHME model, generating implausibly low fertility projections for 2100.

Fertility decline

•Regardless of whether we subscribe to the UN’s projections, or the IHME projections, India’s demographic future contains a peaking and subsequently declining population driven by a sharp reduction in fertility. In the 1950s, India’s Total fertility rate (TFR) was nearly six children per woman; today it is 2.2. Ironically, the massive push for family planning coupled with forced sterilisation during the Emergency barely led to a 17% decline in TFR from 5.9 in 1960 to 4.9 in 1980. However, between 1992 and 2015, it had fallen by 35% from 3.4 to 2.2.

•What happened to accelerate fertility decline to a level where 18 States and Union Territories have a TFR below 2, the replacement level? One might attribute it to the success of the family planning programme but family planning has long lost its primacy in the Indian policy discourse. Between 1975 and 1994, family planning workers had targets they were expected to meet regarding sterilisations, condom distribution and intrauterine device (IUD) insertion. Often these targets led to explicit or implicit coercion. Following the Cairo conference on Population and Development in 1994, these targets were abandoned.

•If carrots have been dropped, the stick of policies designed to punish people with large families has been largely ineffective. Punitive policies include denial of maternity leave for third and subsequent births, limiting benefits of maternity schemes and ineligibility to contest in local body elections for individuals with large families. However, as Nirmala Buch, former Chief Secretary of Madhya Pradesh, wrote, these policies were mostly ignored in practice.

Aspirational revolution

•If public policies to encourage the small family norm or to provide contraception have been lackadaisical, what led couples to abandon the ideal of large families? It seems highly probable that the socioeconomic transformation of India since the 1990s has played an important role. Over this period, agriculture became an increasingly smaller part of the Indian economy, school and college enrolment grew sharply and individuals lucky enough to find a job in government, multinationals or software services companies reaped tremendous financial benefits. Not surprisingly, parents began to rethink their family-building strategies. Where farmers used to see more workers when they saw their children, the new aspirational parents see enrolment in coaching classes as a ticket to success.

•The literature on fertility decline in western countries attributes the decline in fertility to retreat from the family; Indian parents seem to demonstrate increased rather than decreased commitment to family by reducing the number of children and investing more in each child. My research with demographer Alaka Basu at Cornell University compares families of different size at the same income level and finds that small and large families do not differ in their leisure activities, women’s participation in the workforce or how many material goods they purchase. However, smaller families invest more money in their children by sending them to private schools and coaching classes. It is not aspirations for self but that for children that seems to drive fertility decline.

In language of the past

•Ironically, even in the face of this sharp fertility decline among all segments of Indian society, the public discourse is still rooted in the language of the 1970s and on supposedly high fertility rate, particularly in some areas such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar or among some groups such as women with low levels of education or Muslims. This periodically results in politicians proposing remedies that would force these ostensibly ignorant or uncaring parents to have fewer children.

•Demographic data suggest that the aspirational revolution is already under way. What we need to hasten the fertility decline is to ensure that the health and family welfare system is up to this challenge and provides contraception and sexual and reproductive health services that allow individuals to have only as many children as they want.

📰 Whither our view of the world?
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THE HINDU NEWSPAPER IMPORTANT ARTICLES 12.08.2020

07:19
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Tuesday, August 11, 2020

Daily Current Affairs, 11th August 2020

17:05





1) National Infrastructure Pipeline Online Dashboard launched
•The National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) Online Dashboard has been inaugurated by the Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman. The newly launched platform “NIP” will act as one stop solution for all stakeholders seeking for information on infrastructure projects in New India. The platform is being considered a step towards the vision of an Aatma Nirbhar Bharat. It will attract investors for PPP projects and also ensure easy accessibility to updated project information.

 •The National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) Online Dashboard will improve project preparation, attract investments (both domestic & foreign) into infrastructure and would be hosted on the India Investment Grid (IIG). IIG is an online platform that provides information about the updated & real-time investment opportunities in the country to the global investor community. NIP will cover both economic as well as social infrastructure projects.

2) Webinar on ‘AtmaNirbhar Madhya Pradesh: Health and Education’
•A webinar with title ‘AtmaNirbhar Madhya Pradesh: Health and Education’ was inaugurated by Union Minister of Education Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ in New Delhi. The webinar was held to discuss the topics namely education and health with subject experts from across the nation for Madhya Pradesh as part of the ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’ programme.

 •While addressing the webinar, the Union Minister of Education Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ highlighted the various initiatives taken by the Ministry of Education during COVID- 19 pandemic. He also applauded the state Government of Madhya Pradesh for swiftly responding to the COVID-19 crisis by introducing a series of interventions across all sectors.

3) GoI launched National Portal “SURAKHSYA” on Human Elephant conflict
•Union Environment Minister, Prakash Javadekar has launched National Portal on Human-Elephant conflict called “SURAKHSYA”. The portal aims to collect real-time information and will also manage conflicts on a real-time basis. The portal will help to set data collection protocols, data visualization tools and data transmission pipelines.

 •The National Portal was launched during the celebration of international annual event World Elephant Day. The World Elephant Day is celebrated every year on August 12 to create elephant conservation and share knowledge for better protection of wild captive elephants. The portal will help to set data collection protocols, data visualization tools and data transmission pipelines.

4) Mahinda Rajapaksa takes oath as Sri Lankan PM for 4th time
•Sri Lanka’s former President, Mahinda Rajapaksa took oath as the country’s Prime Minister for the fourth time, after his party secured a landslide victory in the parliamentary elections on 5 August 2020. Mahinda Rajapaksa was administered the oath of office for the ninth Parliament by his younger brother and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at a historic Buddhist temple, Rajamaha Viharaya in Kelaniya, a north Colombo suburb.

 •The 74-year-old Sri Lanka People’s Party (SLPP) leader has been appointed as the PM of Sri Lanka. Prior to this, Mahinda Rajapaksa was first elected prime minister in 2004 and again appointed for brief periods in 2018 and 2019. He has also served as the island nation’s president from 2005 to 2015.




5) Walter Roger Martos Ruiz becomes new PM of Peru
•The former defence minister and retired army general, Walter Roger Martos Ruiz becomes new Prime Minister of the country. His appointment was confirmed by President of Peru, Martin Vizcarra. Ruiz will succeed Pedro Álvaro Cateriano Bellido. The swearing-in ceremony took place at the Government Palace in Lima.

6) Mohamed Ould Bilal becomes new Prime Minister of Mauritania
•Mohamed Ould Bilal has been appointed as the new Prime Minister of Mauritania. The appointment was made by the Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani. Mohamed Ould Bilal is a veteran public administrator and has served as the head of the country’s national water agency, a presidential aide and a cabinet minister.

 •Appointment of Mohamed Ould Bilal as the Prime Minister of Mauritania was made following the resignation of his predecessor Ismail Ould Cheikh Sidiya and his entire government.

7) Russia becomes 1st country to register COVID-19 Vaccine
•Russian President, Vladimir Putin has announced that a COVID-19 vaccine developed in the country has been registered for use. Russian Ministry of Health has given regulatory approval for what it claims is the world’s first Covid-19 vaccine, developed by Moscow’s Gamaleya Institute. Russia is the first country to register a coronavirus vaccine.

 •The vaccine has proven efficient during tests, offering enduring immunity from the coronavirus. Many scientists within the country and abroad are sceptical, however, questioning the choice to register the vaccine before Phase 3 trials that normally last for months and involve thousands of individuals.

8) Belarusan President Alexander Lukashenko wins sixth term
•President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko has won his sixth consecutive term with 80.23 per cent of the vote at the country’s presidential election. A former English teacher Svetlana Tikhanouskaya, who emerged as Lukashenko’s main rival at the elections gets 9.9 per cent of the vote.

9) GoI bans import of 101 Defence items to boost Atma Nirbhar Bharat
•The Ministry of Defence has announced a list of over 100 items that would be banned for import beyond the time indicated against them. The government has prepared a list 101 items on which there would be an embargo on import to give a push to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan” (Self Reliant India Movement). It is estimated that contracts worth almost Rs 4 Lakh crore will be placed upon the domestic industry within the next six to seven years.

10) A.P. governent signs MoU with US Based IT Firm “Boston Group”
•The Boston Group has signed an MoU with the Andhra Pradesh government to set up an IT company in Visakhapatnam. The new IT company stated to be installed in the state according to the MoU is expected to create 250+ jobs in the IT sector.

 •The employees of this centre would be deployed in the R&D on Learning platforms and leverage advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Cyber Security and Human Resources.
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Kurukshetra Magazine August 2020 PDF Download In English

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KURUKSHETRA Magazine August 2020 English PDF




Click Here to download Kurukshetra Magazine August 2020 PDF
Click Here to Like our Facebook page for latest updates and free ebooks
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The HINDU Notes – 11th August 2020

12:08




📰 The WHO’s relevance is fading

It has been reduced to a coordinating body, beholden to the interests of rich member states

•COVID-19 has infected more than 19 million people, claimed over 0.7 million lives and devastated economies. As the pandemic transcends geopolitical boundaries, one is forced to ruminate on a counterfactual with a series of timely global health interventions by the World Health Organization (WHO) duly supported by governments. An early warning and timely policy measures by the WHO would have forewarned countries and set their preparatory efforts in motion for mounting a decisive response strategy.

Slow response

•With regional offices in six geographical regions and country offices across 150 countries, the WHO was expected to play the dual role of a think tank and oversee global responses to public health emergencies. It was reported that the earliest COVID-19 positive case in China was reported in November, but China informed the WHO about the disease only in January. With the WHO country representative stationed in Beijing, it is unlikely that widespread transmission went unnoticed.

•Then, even though confirmed cases were reported from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the U.S. in January, the WHO continued to downplay the severity of the virus. It took some inexplicable decisions and actions such as declaring the pandemic as a public health emergency of international concern only on January 30 and ignoring Taiwan’s hints of human-to-human transmission and requests on sharing “relevant information”. Further, the WHO went on to praise China’s response to the pandemic.

•WHO was severely criticised for its poor handling of the Ebola outbreak in 2014 as well. Incontrovertibly, the relevance of the health agency has been fading. The WHO has been reduced to a coordinating body, beholden to the interests of rich member states. Its functional efficiency has been disadvantaged with organisational lethargy, absence of decisive leadership, bureaucratic indolence, underfunded programmes, and inability to evolve to meet the needs of the 21st century.

•Director General Tedros Adhanom has been criticised for his leadership abilities during this pandemic. In contrast, Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Director General of the WHO (1998-2003), spearheaded the global health response with a host of significant policy decisions. She focused on projecting WHO as one entity and publicly reproached the Chinese leadership for its response to the 2003 SARS pandemic. The timely containment of SARS despite an unfavourable response from China bears the stamp of her decisive leadership.

Relying on rich member states

•WHO is funded through assessed contributions made by the member states and voluntary contributions from member states and private donors. While assessed contributions can be spent as per the organisation’s priorities approved at the World Health Assembly, the irregular voluntary contributions are allocated in consultation with the donors. While voluntary contributions accounted for nearly 80% of the budget in 2018-19, assessed contributions merely constituted 17% of the total budgetary support. The challenges owing to constrained finances encumber autonomy in decision-making by favouring a donor-driven agenda.

•While the WHO has failed in arresting the pandemic, governments across the globe are equally responsible for their inept handling and ill-preparedness. However, that does not vindicate WHO’s tardiness in handling the crisis. Many countries, especially in Africa and Asia, rely predominantly on the WHO for enforcing policy decisions governing public health. Political leanings and financial compulsions of WHO cannot betray that trust. The burden of their expectations must weigh heavily on every policy decision taken by the global health agency, for when the WHO fails, many innocent lives are lost.

📰 Isolating China, as proposition and the reality
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