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India moved a step closer to increasing circulation of the rupee in the Gulf region with the signing of two memoranda of understanding (MoU) between the Reserve Bank of India and the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates.
The signing of these agreements was witnessed by UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was on a day-long visit to the Gulf country on his way back from France.
The first agreement between the RBI and the UAE Central Bank will establish a framework to “promote the use of local currencies (rupee and dirham) for cross-border transactions.
The other MoU between the two central banks is aimed at interlinking their “payment and messaging systems.
The leaders expressed their interest in strengthening cooperation in the payment systems area by enabling integration between cross-border transactions between the UAE and India more efficiently.
Such cooperation will also include the mutual acceptance of domestic card schemes by interlinking national card switches.
Integration between these systems will enhance access to payment services for the benefit of the citizens and residents of the two countries.
Ayushman Bharat embraces AI to tackle fraud (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
Since its inception five years ago, penalties amounting to ₹20.17 crore have been levied on individuals (beneficiaries) and hospitals (service providers) as part of the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) anti-fraud drive. Data with the Health Ministry viewed that of this, ₹9.5 crore has been recovered.
In addition, 5.3 lakh Ayushman cards have been disabled, 210 hospitals de-empanelled, and 188 hospitals suspended (as a warning), based on information of fraud obtained through machine-learning-based anti-fraud programs. Up to 0.18% of the authorised hospital admissions under the scheme have been confirmed as fraud.
Besides routine checks, use of artificial intelligence (AI) has now made for a comprehensive analytics solution to detect fraud proactively by developing algorithms that can be used on large volumes of data to identify suspect transactions and entities, and risk-scoring of hospitals and claims.
Previously, the National Health Authority (NHA), the implementing agency of AB-PMJAY, issued a comprehensive set of anti-fraud guidelines. Anti-fraud advisories were also issued to States/UTs.
The National Anti-Fraud Unit (NAFU) was created at NHA for overall monitoring and implementation of the anti-fraud framework supported by State Anti-Fraud Units (SAFUs) at State level.
Additionally, the feature of Aadhaar-based biometric verification of beneficiary at the time of admission and discharge is active at all private hospitals.
Besides this, the Ministry claims that it has addressed 99% of all registered grievances (3.93 lakh) until July 4 this year.
As per government data, AB-PMJAY has been implemented in 33 States and UTs with 24 crore health cards issued till date.
The government is now pushing for Ayushman card saturation (40% created in the last financial year), deployment of health kiosks, timely settlement of claims, empanelment and activation of hospitals, and increasing scheme uptake.
The Ministry is working on the implementation of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, which is aimed at creating a national digital system to ensure that health-related personal information remains safe.
News
Revised statement from Modi, Macron drops key points on defence deals (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
India and France have revised the joint statement initially released after bilateral talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron, with the new version released on Friday omitting key details on defence deals.
These omissions included references to a road map on the joint development of a combat aircraft engine, and the construction of three additional Scorpene submarines.
They also announced a road map for joint actions in the Indo-Pacific region, where both nations are resident powers with vital stakes, and said they are finalising an Indo-French development fund to jointly finance sustainable development projects by other nations in the region.
The joint statement — ‘Horizon 2047: 25th Anniversary of the India-France Strategic Partnership, Towards A Century of India-France Relations’ — lays out a road map for the bilateral relationship till 2047.
In its initial version, it had announced that India and France would continue the “ground-breaking” defence cooperation in “advanced aeronautical technologies” by supporting the “joint development of a combat aircraft engine”, stating that a road map on this project would be prepared by the Defence Research Development Organisation and French engine manufacturer Safran “before the end of the year”.
The joint statement also welcomed the Memorandum of Understanding between Mazagon Dock Limited and Naval Group for the construction of three additional submarines under the P75 programme.
However, the revised statement omitted the reference to additional Scorpene submarines, and instead said, “India and France hail the success of the first Scorpene submarine construction programme (P75 – Kalvari), a model of Make in India and the sharing of naval expertise between companies in the two countries.
G-20 Sherpa meet ends with hopes of a joint declaration in September (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 2, International Organisation)
As the third G-20 Sherpa meet before the September summit came to a close in Hampi, officials said they are “confident” of being able to forge a compromise between the G-7 countries and the Russia-China combine in order to hammer out a joint declaration.
For now, officials have prepared the rest of the G-20 draft, including the “development agenda”, leaving a blank place-holder for the two contentious paragraphs on Ukraine to be dealt with at the fourth and final Sherpa meeting beginning September 3 in New Delhi.
Sources said the new confidence follows support from other countries during bilateral meetings and the informal “sofa talks” as well as from possible compromise language suggested by countries including Brazil and Russia.
A senior U.S. official also indicated that while G-7 countries would like to see the formulations on Ukraine to repeat those used in last year’s G-20 summit at Bali, they were willing to discuss and negotiate a new text as well to describe the war in Ukraine.
Several proposals are with us,” G-20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant confirmed in response to a question from The Hindu, during a briefing for presspersons at the end of the three-day Sherpa meeting in Hampi.
Sources said they had already compiled about five different proposals for possible language that could forge a breakthrough in the impasse over the draft.
World
Wang Yi calls for clarity on ties between EU and China (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
The European Union must not “vacillate” and needs to “clarify” its strategic relationship with Beijing, top diplomat Wang Yi said during a meeting with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. Germany, Europe’s leading economy on Thursday, announced plans to “de-risk” ties with China.
Other EU leaders, weary of China’s growing assertiveness and cosy relationship with Russia, have pushed to reduce reliance on Beijing.
The EU side should clarify the positioning of the strategic partnership between the two sides, and promote China-EU relations to move forward when they met on the sidelines of Southeast Asian talks in Jakarta.
Some EU member states worry about antagonising China and starting a trade war, while others argue now is the time to act to protect the bloc’s economic security.
China supports the establishment of a balanced, effective and sustainable European security architecture,” and that Beijing is “committed to promoting peace talks”.
Science
As global temperature soars, cooling needs will increase (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Switzerland, the U.K. and Norway will experience the largest relative surge in cooling needs if the increase in global mean temperature passes 1.5 degree C and rises to 2 degree C above pre-industrial levels, according to a modelling study.
The findings also suggest that countries in sub-Saharan Africa will have the greatest increase in cooling requirements. The Paris Agreement aims to limit the rise in the global mean temperature to 1.5 degree C.
Rising temperatures are already driving cooling demand, and it has been estimated that by 2050 the energy required by cooling could be the equivalent of the combined electricity capacity of the U.S., the European Union and Japan in 2016, as reported by the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Based on a global atmospheric General Circulation Model and historical climate data for 2006-2016, the researchers have estimated the annual changes in cooling degree days (CDDs) if the 1.5 degree C limit is overshot and warming increases to 2 degree C.
The cooling degree days compare the mean outdoor temperature of a region to a standard baseline temperature (in this case 18 degree C), to determine temperature exposure and cooling requirements.
The results show that regions surrounding the Equator, particularly the sub-Saharan countries (Central African Republic, Burkina Faso, Mali, South Sudan and Nigeria) would have the greatest increase in cooling demand.
According to the study, the results of relative changes in CDDs show that countries in the Global North (Switzerland, the U.K., Scandinavian countries, Austria, Canada, Denmark, and Belgium), which traditionally experienced cooler temperatures, will experience largest relative increases in the number of days that require cooling.
Eight of ten are European nations, which are unprepared for high temperatures and will require large-scale adaptation to heat resilience.
Unethical to continue using polio-causing oral vaccines (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
In 1988, the World Health Assembly declared WHO’s commitment to global eradication of polio by 2000. But in 1993, the goalpost was shifted — the goal was to eradicate only wild poliovirus globally by 2000.
That meant eradicating vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) and vaccine-associated paralytic poliomyelitis (VAPP) was no longer the objective.
The reason — developing countries using oral polio vaccine reported many vaccine-derived or vaccine-associated polio cases annually. Meanwhile, the developed countries switched to inactivated polio vaccine thus eradicating polio decades ago.
Though the last case of type 2 wild poliovirus was reported in October 1999 from India (and declared eradicated globally in 2015), more than 90% of vaccine-derived poliovirus outbreaks are due to type 2 virus present in oral polio vaccines.
Also, 40% of VAPP are caused by type 2 oral polio vaccine. Similarly, the last case of type 3 wild poliovirus was reported in November 2012 (and declared eradicated in 2019). But many cases of VAPP from type 3 virus occur in countries using the vaccine.
Surprisingly, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) has never reported VAPP cases throughout the 34 years of polio eradication efforts. And the Indian government does not count VAPP as polio as such cases are sporadic and pose little or no threat to others.
This is concerning as the number of VAPP-compatible cases showed an increasing trend in India from 1998 to 2013, so much so that they outnumbered the polio cases caused by wild poliovirus since 2004.
According to a 2015 Perspective piece in Indian Pediatrics, VAPP cases occur at a frequency of two-four cases per million birth cohort per year in countries that use oral polio vaccine. Based on this incidence rate, an estimated 50-100 children might suffer from VAPP every year in India.
A new diarrhoea-causing parasite found (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
A three-year surveillance study from March 2017 to February 2020 in Kolkata has found an amoeba pathogen that previously did not cause any amoebiasis (a form of diarrhoea) in humans has now become pathogenic.
Surprisingly, a team of researchers from the Kolkata-based National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (ICMR-NICED) found that not only had the amoeba pathogen — Entamoeba moshkovskii — turned pathogenic, it was the leading cause of amoebic infections in humans; more than half of the amoebic infections were caused by this.
The researchers studied the stool samples of diarrheal patients in Kolkata. Of particular concern is the fact that infections caused by E. histolytica, which used to be the predominant amoeba pathogen that caused amoebiasis, were decreasing and the newly pathogenic E. moshkovskii was taking its place.
The researchers identified a few mutations that signify an essential role of the new pathogenic parasite in adapting to the gut environment of humans or in acquiring other enteric pathogens.
Diarrhoea can be caused by bacteria, viruses and amoeba pathogens. In the study, the team of researchers led by Dr. Sandipan Ganguly of NICED found nearly 5% of patients with diarrhoea that was caused by different Entamoeba species and over 3% of patients were infected with E. moshkovskii.
While there were no statistically significant differences between infections in males and females, the infections were most predominant in children aged 5-12 years.
While infections caused by E. histolytica peaked during the wet season and decreased with the arrival of the dry season, the seasonal pattern of E. moshkovskii infection in Kolkata was quite unique — there were two infection peaks coinciding with summer and post-fall season.
FAQ
Will 28% GST on online gaming affect its growth? (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, International Relation)
At the recently concluded 50th GST Council meeting, it was decided that online gaming would be taxed at 28% on the full-face value of the placed bets. Elaborating on the move, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman clarified that the idea was not to hurt the industry.
However, she stated, there was a moral question: whether the industry (also including casinos, horse racing) can be endowed greater encouragement than essential goods.
The Minister also stated that the endeavour was to simplify the mechanism, eradicate complexity and imbibe transparency. The decision was not greeted with enthusiasm.
Gaming platforms charge an entry fee from the user to allow them to participate in a particular game. Say, the amount is ₹100.
The platform operator deducts a certain amount of this entry fee to run the game and the overall platform, known as the gross gaming revenue (GGR). The rest is transferred to the prize pool. In our example, let us peg the GGR at ₹20.
Till now, GGR was liable to be taxed at 18% — this implied the operator would have to pay ₹3.6 as taxes. However, the latest provision means that tax will be levied on the entry bet (that is, the ₹100 in our example) at 28%, taking the taxation amount to ₹28.
Broadly, this will translate to lesser money to charge the necessary platform fee from, and also, lowered available resources for the prize pool.
A further disincentive, the industry argues, is the existing 30% taxation that is levied on the user on their final winnings.
Malay Kumar Shukla, secretary at the industry body E-Gaming Federation, termed the decision “extremely unfortunate”, saying “a tax burden where taxes exceed revenues will not only make the online gaming industry unviable but also boost black-market operators at the expense of legitimate tax-paying players, further undermining the industry’s image and capacity to survive.”
Why is there a controversy on the forest Bill? (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
The Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023 is likely to be tabled in the monsoon session of Parliament which is slated to begin from July 20.
A Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) which was looking at amendments to the Bill has approved the version sent by the government with almost no comment, revisions or suggestions.
The Bill seeks to amend the Forest Conservation Act, 1980. This is the legislation enacted to protect India’s forests and empowers the Central government to regulate the extraction of forest resources — from timber and bamboo to coal and minerals — by industries as well as forest-dwelling communities.
A separate Act, the Forest Rights Act, protects the rights of tribals and forest-dwellers dependent on forests for their livelihood.
From 1951-1975, about four million hectares of forest land has been diverted for various non-forestry purposes. From 1980 to 2023, under the purview of the Act, only a million hectares have been diverted — a sign of its impact in reducing the pace of forest appropriation.
However, such protection was only available for areas already marked out as ‘forest’ in Central or State government records.
A Supreme Court judgment in 1996, in the Godavarman Thirumulpad case, expanded the scope of such protection. Under it, even areas not formally notified as ‘forests’ but conforming to the ‘dictionary’ meaning of forests were protected.
There is no all-encompassing definition of a ‘forest’ and the Thirumalpad judgment directed States to define and demarcate forests using their own criteria. Not all States did, and over the years there has been considerable debate over the extent to which the judgment abetted forest conservation. India’s forest policy of 1988 prescribes a third of the country’s geographical area to be under forests.
Realistically, only 21% is under such cover and it is about 24% if one also accounts for tree cover outside areas under recorded forest, plantations, orchards. It is to address this latter issue, the Environment Ministry says, that amendments were required to the Act.
What is NATO’s stand on Ukraine’s entry? (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 2, International Organisation)
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) sought to put up a united face at its two-day summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 11-12, at a time when it’s deeply involved in the Russia-Ukraine war.
Right before the summit opened, Turkey, the second largest military force of NATO after the U.S., lifted its opposition to the accession of Sweden to the alliance.
The summit also approved new spending goals for member countries and offered to provide long-term support to Ukraine.
Yet, the one issue that overshadowed the Vilnius summit was Ukraine’s promised membership in the alliance on which there was no clarity or time frame.
In the Bucharest summit of 2008, NATO had offered eventual membership to Ukraine and Georgia, two Black Sea basin countries that share land borders with Russia.
The alliance said then that both countries “will become members of NATO”. Fifteen years later, ahead of the Vilnius summit, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy demanded a more concrete commitment from NATO for his country’s membership.
But the Vilnius communique stated, “We will be in a position to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the alliance when allies agree and conditions are met”.
So, Ukraine hasn’t gained much over the past 15 years in its push for NATO membership. But in 2008 when the membership was offered, several countries, including France and Germany, were opposed to Ukraine joining the alliance out of fears that such a move would poke the Russian bear.
But now, in the midst of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, more member countries agree to the idea of Ukraine joining NATO, which is a marked change.
Ukraine would continue its cooperation with NATO through the Ukraine-NATO Council. The Group of Seven (G-7) advanced industrialised economies have pledged to support Ukraine’s defence base, which has been battered by the war, by providing military training and institutional support for attaining NATO membership.
Profiles
A flight to the moon (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
On moonlit nights between now and the final days of August, curious Indians will turn their gazes to the sky, surveying it in playful attempts to pick out a spacecraft — a mere man-made speck in the vast, forbidding reaches of space — as it resolutely makes its way to the Earth’s closest neighbour and lone companion.
Predictably, India’s third lunar mission, which got off to a thrilling start from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, has captured the imagination of the public as did the two earlier ones.
The Chandrayaan-3 mission, launched aboard the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) hefty Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM3), is a follow-up mission to Chandrayaan-2, which it resembles in many ways.
Once the spacecraft is safely in orbit around the moon in late August, ISRO will attempt to soft-land the lander and deploy the six-wheeled, box-shaped rover, which it failed to do with the Chandrayaan-2 mission in 2019. ‘Vikram’, the Chandrayaan-2 lander, had crashed on the lunar surface.
This time, the mission is better designed to withstand the challenges of a robotic moon landing near the south pole, according to S. Somanath, Chairman, ISRO.
The propulsion module will carry the lander-rover configuration to a 100-km circular polar orbit around the moon. All three, the propulsion module, the lander and the rover, carry scientific payloads designed to further our knowledge of the earth’s lone natural satellite.
The lander has four payloads: ChaSTE, designed to measure the thermal properties of the lunar regolith near the polar region; the RAMBHA, a Langmuir Probe, for measuring near-surface plasma density and how it changes with time; the Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA) for measuring seismicity; and the LASER Retroreflector Array (LRA), a passive experiment to understand the dynamics of the moon.
Business
Textile exports slide again in June, small mills suspend output (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Textile and apparel exports contracted 11.3% year-on-year (y-o-y) in June even as many textile mills in the South suspended production on account of tepid demand.
Export of cotton yarn, fabrics, made-ups and handloom products slid 1.21% y-o-y. Shipment of manmade products saw a 17.2% decline while export of jute products and carpets plunged 26.7% and 15.4%, respectively, according to data shared by the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI).
While textile exports in June were worth $1,624 million ($1,736 million in June 2022), apparel shipments stood at $1,248 million ($1,501 million).
Export of cotton products was expected to revive in two months as the rate of month-on-month decline in June for cotton textiles had narrowed to -1.21%, said Siddhartha Rajagopal, executive director of Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council.
Meanwhile, smaller textile mills in Tamil Nadu have halted production on account of indifferent order flow. Smaller companies were the worst affected in the Tiruppur cluster, said K.M. Subramanian, president of Tiruppur Exporters Association.