THE CONTEXT: India promised to install 100 gigawatts of solar power by 2022. But the country will not be able to deliver on this climate pledge. According to a new report, India will miss this target by 27%. Also, India is likely to miss its solar energy target of 300 GW (gigawatt) for 2030 by around 86 GW, a new report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) and JMK Research. In this context, this article analyzes the present scenario of the Solar energy sector in India.

WHAT DOES THE REPORT SAY?

• As of April, only about 50% of the 100GW target, consisting of 60GW of utility-scale and 40GW of rooftop solar capacity, has been met.
• Nearly 19 GW of solar capacity is expected to be added in 2022 — 15.8GW from utility-scale and 3.5GW from rooftop solar. Even accounting for this capacity would mean about 27% of India’s 100GW solar target would remain unmet.
• A 25GW shortfall in the 40GW rooftop solar target is expected compared to 1.8GW in the utility-scale solar target by December 2022. Thus, it is in rooftop solar that the challenges of India’s solar-adoption policy stick out.

REASONS FOR MISSING INDIA’S SOLAR ENERGY TARGET

• In its early years, India’s rooftop solar market struggled to grow, held back by lack of consumer awareness, inconsistent policy frameworks of the Centre/ State governments, and financing. Recently, however, there has been a sharp rise in rooftop solar installations thanks to falling technology costs, increasing grid tariffs, rising consumer awareness, and the growing need for cutting energy costs.
• Other Factors impeding rooftop-solar installation include:
• Pandemic-induced supply chain disruption to policy restrictions.
• Limits to net-metering (or paying users who give back surplus electricity to the grid). Regulatory roadblocks.
• Taxes on imported cells and modules, unsigned power supply agreements (PSAs) and banking restrictions; financing issues plus delays in or rejection of open access approval grants; and the unpredictability of future open access charges.

OVERVIEW OF INDIA’S RENEWABLE ENERGY SECTOR

• At COP26 in Glasgow, our prime minister announced 500 gigawatts (GW) of non-fossil fuel capacity and 50% of energy from renewable sources by 2030, coupled with a net-zero target by 2070.
• Presently, India has installed 152.90 GW of renewable energy capacity projects (including large hydro) until February. It includes 50.78 GW from solar power, 40.13 GW from wind power, 10.63 GW from Bio-power, 4.84 GW from small hydropower, and 46.52 GW from large hydropower.

IMPORTANCE OF SOLAR ENERGY FOR INDIA

• India’s share of global energy demand is predicted to double to 11% in 2040, making it imperative to enhance energy security and self-sufficiency in power generation without increasing environmental costs.
• This increase in power demand is likely to increase India’s reliance on coal, oil, and natural gas as a source of energy. However, additional imports of oil and increased domestic production of coal will fall short of energy demand and entail economic and environmental costs.
• These are likely to hit harder than anticipated in an economy ravaged by COVID-19. Expansion of solar power units and increased reliance on solar power allows India to enhance energy security in the face of rising demand.
• India is dealing with an aggressive air pollution problem. In 2020, Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 328, indicating severe pollution. Solar production does not cause any toxic emissions and can help mitigate the pollution caused by fossil fuel usage.
• India is likely to face increasing water security issues and thus must shift to energy sources that don’t rely extensively on water. The groundwater levels in India declined by 61% between 2007 and 2017, with the majority of this water being used for irrigation. This is a major red flag for coal production which relies heavily on water for steam production and cooling. Solar power is neither dependent on groundwater supplies nor does it strain them.

WHAT IS INDIA’S SOLAR POLICY?

SOLAR ROOFTOP SCHEME: Under the rooftop scheme executed by SECI (Solar Energy Corporation of India), 200 MW of projects has been allocated. SECI launched a tender that is the largest global one offering a 30% subsidy to the residential sector, private not-for-profit educational organizations, social sector, and the health institutions.

SOLAR PARK SCHEME: Parks to facilitate the creation of infrastructure required to set up new solar power projects in terms of land allocation, transmission, access to roads, availability of water, etc. MNRE has come up with a scheme to set up a number of solar parks across several states, each with a capacity of almost 500 MW. The Scheme proposes to offer financial support by the Government of India to establish solar

SOLAR ENERGY SUBSIDY SCHEME: Under this Scheme, financial assistance and capital subsidy will be provided to the applicant to the extent of 50 percent, 75 percent, and 90 percent of the basis of the basic cost of the solar energy plant. The Government Yojana explains that a person is eligible for a subsidy if he has solar panels installed on the rooftop. The subsidy is decided as per the capacity of the solar power plant.

PRADHAN MANTRI- KISAN URJA SURAKSHA EVAM UTTHAAN MAHABHIYAN: It Aims to provide financial and water security to farmers through harnessing solar energy capacities of 25,750 MW by 2022. Solarisation of water pumps is a step in distributed power provided at the consumer’s doorstep.

THE JAWAHARLAL NEHRU NATIONAL SOLAR MISSION (JNNSM): The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), also known as the National Solar Mission (NSM), which commenced in January 2010, marked the government’s first focus on promoting and developing solar power in India.

GROWTH OF THE SOLAR SECTOR: Since 2011, India’s solar sector has grown at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 59% from 0.5GW in 2011 to 55GW in 2021.

RANKING OF INDIA: India currently ranks fifth after China, the U.S., Japan, and Germany in terms of installed solar power capacity.

PRESENT STATUS: As of December 2021, India’s cumulative solar installed capacity is 55GW, which is roughly half the renewable energy (RE) capacity (excluding large hydropower) and 14% of India’s overall power generation capacity. Within the 55GW, grid-connected utility-scale projects contribute 77% and the rest comes from the grid-connected rooftop and off-grid projects.

What should be done to achieve the targets?

• The need for focused, collaborative, and goals-driven R&D to help India attain technology leadership.
• The need for better financing infrastructure, models, and arrangements to spur the PV industry and consumption of PV products.
• Training and development of human resources to drive industry growth and PV adoption.
• With solar panels and solar systems getting more efficient vs their earlier generation, customers are wanting to invest in a technology that is getting them better output per square meter of the space they have.
• So there is a constant need to invest in research & development of a more efficient solar ecosystem involving energy storage systems. Like sharks, bifacial panels generate electricity from both the front and back of the solar panel.
• As India is making strides to fulfill its solar dream, Loom Solar and its smart methodologies shall continue to provide the Indian solar industry with much-needed assistance for ‘Mission 2030’.

SCOPE OF INDIA’S SOLAR SECTOR

• The generation of solar energy has tremendous scope in India. India being a tropical country, receives solar radiation throughout the year. With 3,000 hours of sunshine, this is equal to more than 5,000 trillion kWh of solar radiation per square meter.
• India has vast solar potential; it is a lucrative opportunity for entrepreneurs to start a solar business in India. With the growing economy, India’s power consumption is going to rise, so the solar energy business in India is the ideal way to manage the balance between economic growth and sustainable development.
• The government is constantly pushing and supporting the solar business in India through various programs and initiatives by enabling an increase in solar power at a subsidized cost.

THE CONCLUSION: Boosting solar capacity post-pandemic in a struggling economy will pose a whole new challenge. It will require innovative financing techniques and policies to bolster domestic production in the face of increasing environmental concerns.

Questions:

1. Recently, as per a report, India has missed its solar target. Find out the causes and also suggest the measures for the same.
2. It is imperative for India to achieve its solar energy target in the fight against climate change. Elaborate.

THE SOCIETY, ART, AND CULTURE

1. IN 2020, LADAKH RECORDED THE HIGHEST SEX RATIO IN THE COUNTRY, MANIPUR LOWEST

THE CONTEXT: The Union Territory of Ladakh recorded the highest sex ratio at birth in the country in 2020, followed by Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Tripura and Kerala, according to the annual report on Vital Statistics based on 2020 Civil Registration System report.

THE EXPLANATION:

• Highest Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB) based on registered events has been reported by Ladakh (1104) followed by Arunachal Pradesh (1011), A&N Islands (984), Tripura (974), and Kerala (969)
• Lowest sex ratio at birth was reported by Manipur (880), followed by Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (898), Gujarat (909), Haryana (916) and Madhya Pradesh (921).
• In 2019, the highest sex ratio at birth was reported by Arunachal Pradesh (1024), followed by Nagaland (1001), Mizoram (975) and A&N Islands (965), and the lowest sex ratio was reported by Gujarat (901), Assam (903), Madhya Pradesh (905) and Jammu & Kashmir (909).

OTHER DETAILS

No data from 4 States

• The report said that the requisite information from Maharashtra, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi on sex ratio at birth was “not available.” They had not provided the said data to the RGI in 2019 as well.
• None of the States or Union Territories have recorded sex ratio at birth below 880.

Infant deaths

• The report noted that 1,43,379 infant deaths were registered in 2020 and the share of rural area was only 23.4%, while that of urban area was 76.6% in total registered infant deaths.
• Sex ratio at birth is number of females per thousand males.

2. THE DEBATE ON THE NATIONAL LANGUAGE

THE CONTEXT: The people of Karnataka celebrated Eid Ul Fitr and Basava Jayanthi together with peace and harmony. The day was celebrated as the ‘Harmony Day’.

THE EXPLANATION:

• In 2022, Eid and Basava Jayanti, both fell on the same day with several people across the state celebrating the festivals together, including in the North Karnataka region.
• Members of Both communities came together to celebrate the festivals as “Harmony Day” and the event also marked the beginning of a new organization that aims to counter the divisive forces.
• After floral tributes to the portrait of 12th-century social reformer Basavanna (Basaveshwara), the speakers said communal harmony and peaceful co-existence was the essence of India.

BASAVA JAYANTI

• Basava Jayanti is a Hindu festival celebrated by Lingayats in Karnataka, and other parts of south India to mark the birth anniversary of Lord Basavanna.
• Basavanna, a 12th century poet and philosopher, is celebrated and held in high regard, especially by the Lingayat community, as he was the founder of Lingayatism.
• As per the Hindu calendar, the birth of Basavanna falls on the 3rd day of Vaisahaka month in the Shukla paksha. This usually falls either in April of May of the English calendar.

CONTRIBUTION OF BASAVESHWARA

• Basaveshwara is known to have brought about several social reforms.
• He believed in a society free of the caste system, with equal opportunity for all and preached about manual hard work.
• He founded the Anubhava Mantapa, loosely translated as the forum of experiences, an academy that included Lingayat mystics, saints, and philosophers.
• These academicians and philosophers would congregate and share experiences and wisdoms of life.

THE SOCIAL ISSUE AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

3. 40 MILLION MORE PEOPLE EXPERIENCED FOOD INSECURITY IN 2021 THAN 2020

THE CONTEXT: Some 40 million more people globally experienced acute food insecurity at crisis or worse levels in 2021 than 2020, according to a new report released May 4, 2022.

THE EXPLANATION:

• Of these, over half a million people (570,000) in Ethiopia, southern Madagascar, South Sudan and Yemen were classified in the most severe phase of acute food insecurity.
• The report showed that around 193 million people in 53 countries or territories experienced acute food insecurity at crisis or worse levels in 2021.

CAUSES OF SUCH SCENARIO

• The Russian invasion of Ukraine- it found that conflict forced 139 million people in 24 countries/territories into acute food insecurity. This is an increase from 99 million in 23 countries/territories in 2020.
• Weather extremes- which forced over 23 million people in eight countries/territories into acute food insecurity, up from 15.7 million in 15 countries/territories in 2020.
• Economic shocks- Over 30 million people in 21 countries/territories suffered acute food insecurity in 2021 due to economic shocks, down from over 40 million people in 17 countries/territories in 2020.

SOLUTIONS

• The need for a greater prioritisation of smallholder agriculture as a front line humanitarian response, to overcome access constraints and as a solution for reverting negative long-term trends
• Urgent action is required to avert widespread collapse of livelihoods, starvation and death for these half a million, according to the report by the Global Network Against Food Crises (GNAFC).
• The GNAFC is an international alliance of the United Nations, the European Union, governmental and non-governmental agencies working to tackle food crises together.

THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

4. RBI RAISES KEY REPO RATE BY 40 BPS IN OFF-CYCLE MOVE

THE CONTEXT: In a surprise move, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decided to increase the repo rate by 40 basis points (bps) in an off-cycle meeting, citing inflation concern.

THE EXPLANATION:

• This was followed by a 50 bps hike in the cash reserve ratio to 4.5 per cent, which will drain out Rs 87,000 crore liquidity from the banking system.
• This was the first repo rate hike in 45 months — since August 2018. The increase in the repo rate will lead to lending rates getting pushed up because 40 per cent of the loans of commercial banks are linked to it.
• The 10-year government bond shot up 26 bps, with the street expecting another rate hike in the June policy. As a result, the standing deposit facility (SDF) rate is now at 4.15 per cent and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate at 4.65 per cent.
• The SDF and MSF constitute the lower and the upper end of the interest rate corridor. While hiking the repo rate, the MPC decided to stay “accommodative” but dropped the word “stance” from its resolution — for the second meeting in a row.

• The hike in the cash reserve ratio (CRR) is in line with the central bank’s objective to drain out excessive liquidity, which is around Rs 7 trillion.
• Banks do not earn any interest on keeping CRR money with the RBI. Bankers said the hike in the repo rate, which would increase lending rates, would more than compensate for the high CRR.

5. BIHAR BOASTS OF INDIA’S FIRST GREENFIELD GRAIN-BASED ETHANOL PLANT

THE CONTEXT: Bihar has the distinction of being the first state in the country to set up a greenfield grain-based ethanol production plant.

THE EXPLANATION:

• Spread over an area of 15 acres and estimated cost of about Rs.105 crore, the Purnia plant is expected to produce 65,000 litres of ethanol per day.
• This is first ethanol production plant in Purnia district. This is among the 17 ethanol units proposed to be set up in the state.
• According to the Bihar industries department officials, the 17 ethanol production plants will produce approximately 35.2 crore litres of fuel from sugarcane, maize, rice and molasses every day, which will be subsequently supplied to oil marketing companies for blending into petrol and later diesel.
• After this plant, the state will be able to sell its agricultural produce at the actual price fixed by the government.

THE DISASTER MANAGEMENT

6. INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON DISASTER RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE

THE CONTEXT: The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi addressed the inaugural session of the fourth edition of the International Conference on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure.

THE EXPLANATION:

Highlights of PM speech

• The gathering that the solemn promise of the Sustainable Development Goals is to leave no one behind.
• Infrastructure is about people and providing them high quality, dependable, and sustainable services in an equitable manner.
• The importance of infrastructure in unleashing the human potential and damage to infrastructure leads to lasting damage for generations.
• India is tackling climate change in a very direct way. That is why, at COP-26 India has committed to attain ‘Net Zero’ by 2070, in parallel with its developmental efforts.
• In order to make our future resilient world have to work towards a ‘Resilient Infrastructure Transition’. Resilient infrastructure can also be the centre piece of our wider adaptation efforts.

What is Disaster Resilient Infrastructure?

• As the name implies, disaster-resilient infrastructure include vital buildings, public communal facilities, transit systems, telecommunications, and power systems that are strategically designed to withstand the impact of a natural disaster like a flood, earthquake, or wildfire.
• Communities building resilient infrastructure in their city or town need to analyze the risk of potential natural disasters, consider which architectural improvements will be most beneficial in their community, and consider a budget and timeline for implementing said improvements.
• Disaster resilient architecture is one of the pivotal aspects of risk management and disaster preparedness.

THE PRELIMS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

QUESTION OF THE DAY

Q. Which of the following statements is/are correct about the Lord Basavanna?

1. He was the founder of Lingayatism.
2. He was in favour of caste system.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

a) 1 only

b) 2 only

c) Both 1 and 2

d) Neither 1 nor 2

ANSWER FOR 3rd & 4th MAY 2022

Answer: B

Explanation:

• Statement 1 is incorrect: If the bill after reconsideration is passed again by the state legislature with or without amendments, the governor has to give his assent to the bill.
• Statement 2 is correct: Constitution does not lay down any time frame for the Governor to take action on the bill passed by the state legislature.

[WpProQuiz 216]

THE CONTEXT: The Union Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change has launched the ‘Action Plan for Introduction of Cheetah in India’ under which 50 of these big cats will be introduced in the next five years. A delegation from India visited Namibia in February 2022 to discuss the translocation logistics with the Namibia Government. Namibia would be giving 3 cheetahs for translocation to India and may become the first nation from where cheetahs would be relocated to Kuno wildlife sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh. This article analyses the different aspects related to the issue of the reintroduction of cheetahs in India.

KEY DETAILS ABOUT CHEETAHS

The cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus, is one of the oldest of the big cat species. It is also the world’s fastest land mammal and is capable of running at speeds of 80 to 128 km/h. They are considered native to Africa and central Iran. The cheetah occurs in a variety of habitats such as the Savannah grasslands in the Serengeti (Kenya-Tanzania, Africa), arid mountain ranges in the Sahara, and hilly desert terrain in Iran. The cheetah is threatened by several factors such as habitat loss, conflict with humans, poaching, and high susceptibility to diseases. In 2016, the global African Cheetah population was estimated at around 7,100 individuals in the wild; it is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.

Historically ranging throughout most of Sub-Saharan Africa and extending eastward into the Middle East and to central India, the cheetah is now distributed mainly in small, fragmented populations in central Iran and southern, eastern, and north-western Africa. The Asiatic cheetah is classified as a critically endangered species by the IUCN Red List and is believed to survive only in Iran. It is smaller and paler than an African cheetah and looks more like a cat with a smaller head and long neck.

CHEETAHS IN INDIA AND HOW DID THEY BECOME EXTINCT?

CHEETAHS IN INDIA

• India has a long history of cheetahs. The name ‘cheetah’ comes from the Sanskrit word chitraka which means ‘spotted’.
• The earliest historical references to cheetahs are in classical Greek records of India from the geographer Strabo, about 200 BCE.
• Coming down to the Mughal Period, the cheetahs were used extensively for hunting. Mughal Emperor Akbar had 1,000 cheetahs in his menagerie. People in Central India, particularly Gwalior State and Jaipur State, used to hunt cheetahs. The last three cheetahs living in the country were killed in 1947 by the ruler of the erstwhile Koriya state in present-day Chhattisgarh. The species was officially declared extinct in India in 1952.

HOW DID THE CHEETAH BECOME EXTINCT IN INDIA?

• The animal is extremely easy to tame, compared to other non-domesticated predators, and was used to hunt prey, a sport called ‘coursing’. The animal was a popular part of many royal courts throughout India and other parts of Asia where it was found.
• But another trait of the cheetah was that it was impossible to breed in captivity. There was only one recorded successful attempt at breeding a cheetah in captivity until the 20th century, an event recorded by Emperor Jahangir in 1613 in the book Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri.
• As the Cheetah number dwindled due to the high number of Cheetahs being taken from the wild, the animal was also then finally brought to extinction with the advent of the widespread hunting brought to India during the time of the British Raj.
• While the government has officially stated that the animal was driven extinct from desertification, experts suggest that the animal had plenty of habitat and prey population to survive if it weren’t hunted to extinction.

THE ACTION PLAN FOR CHEETAH REINTRODUCTION IN INDIA

• Under the action plan, the Government of India would bring 50 Cheetahs over the next five years to form a founding population of the species. Further, former cheetah-range states, i.e. Gujarat, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh would be duly analyzed by the experts.
• As part of the plan, India will be translocating around 12-14 cheetahs from South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana to Kuno Palpur National Park in Madhya Pradesh. Kuno National Park has been chosen because of its suitable habitat and adequate prey base. KNP is 748 sq. km. in area, devoid of human settlements, and is estimated to have a capacity to sustain 21 cheetahs.
• Each of these cheetahs would also be fitted with Satellite/GSM-GPS-VHF radio collars before their release in the wild to enable monitoring remotely. This could be the world’s first intercontinental cheetah translocation project.

RELEVANCE CHEETAH REINTRODUCTION

SUITABLE LIVING CONDITIONS:

• The cheetah used to live and thrive in the Indian Subcontinent for centuries, hence their reintroduction is a realistic step.
• Further, the proposed location of Kuno is woodland and cheetahs have been known to survive in woodland.
• Cheetahs are quite good at navigating the whistling thorn and acacia scrublands in places like the Maasai Mara game reserve in Kenya (contiguous to Serengeti National Park in Tanzania).
• India now is considering restoring its lost natural heritage for ethical as well as ecological reasons. The conservation of the cheetah will revive grasslands and their biomes and habitat, much like Project Tiger has done for forests and all the species that have seen their numbers go up.

SUFFICIENT PREY:

• The Kuno national park has a good prey base for cheetahs, comprising the four-horned antelope, chinkara, nilgai, wild pig, spotted deer, and sambar.

ECOSYSTEM STABILITY:

• In saving cheetahs, one would have to save not only its prey-base comprising certain threatened species, but also other endangered species of the grasslands and open forest ecosystems.

LESS PROBABILITY OF MAN-ANIMAL CONFLICT:

• It is also observed that among large carnivores, conflict with human interests is lowest for Cheetahs. They are not a threat to humans and do not easily attack large livestock.

ECONOMIC RELEVANCE:

• The reintroduction of a species like the Cheetah would attract a significant amount of tourism to the cheetah range states. This would give a boost to other sectors like transportation, hotels, etc., and also generate additional jobs.

CHALLENGES WITH THE REINTRODUCTION PROGRAMME

GENETIC DIFFERENCES:

• Many experts have expressed concerns over the reintroduction of African Cheetahs instead of Asiactic cheetahs. They believe that Asiactic cheetahs would have been a more suitable choice considering the historical survival of species in the region and their ability to quickly acclimatize.

DISEASE TRANSMISSION TO OTHER SPECIES:

• There are very few diseases unique and specific to predators. However, the transmission of these to the endemic tiger population is a cause for concern.

INTERSPECIES COMPETITION AND SCIENTIFIC CONUNDRUMS:

• The Kuno National Park is already home to around 30 leopards. Tigers from the Ranthambore Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan, 140 km away from Kuno, are also believed to migrate to the park. The proximity of three predators in the same ecosystem may reduce the survival rates of cheetahs.
• There is no science available currently to suggest that cheetahs, lions, tigers, and leopards can coexist comfortably in the same habitat. It has never occurred anywhere else before, so there is no real-life experience to draw upon.

MAN-ANIMAL CONFLICT:

• More aggressive predators such as tigers and leopards will compete with the cheetahs in the park. They may drive cheetahs to the outskirts of the park, where they could come into conflict with humans.

THE WAY FORWARD

• The wildlife authorities should be prepared for some attrition arising out of natural interactions., around 10% of cheetahs in Savannah in Africa are killed by lions. A similar ratio may be killed by Tigers in Kuno. The officials must expect some deaths and tolerate the negative and damaging interactions with cheetahs, keeping in mind the long-term goal of creating a natural interactive landscape and habitat.
• A detailed analysis of animals’ lineage and condition should be checked in the host country. This would ensure that they are not from an excessively inbred stock and are in the ideal age group, to conform to the needs of a founding population.
• The strategy of cold release should be duly followed as suggested by experts. Under this, the cheetahs would be kept in an enclosure called a boma and prey will be released into this enclosure for cheetahs to catch.
• Active negotiations should be done with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES), as its permission is necessary for initiating translocation.
• A team of experts from various fields is required for each of the project sites along with the training of the personnel both within India and abroad for the successful outcomes of the reintroduction project.

THE CONCLUSION: A careful analysis of the pros and cons shows that cheetah reintroduction is feasible in India considering the species used to exist in the region for centuries. However, the associated concerns should be duly addressed to ensure their long-term survivability. The Cheetah habitat in India historically is from Jammu to Tamil Nadu, very widespread and they were found in any habitat dry forests, grasslands, scrub forests, etc. and it is expected that they will survive quite happily.

Mains practice question:

1. “Reintroductions of large carnivores have increasingly been recognised as a strategy to conserve threatened species and restore ecosystem functions.” Elaborate on the context of cheetah reintroduction in India.

ADD TO YOUR KNOWLEDGE

ABOUT KUNO NATIONAL PARK:

• The topography of Madhya Pradesh in Central India is fascinating. Perhaps, it is the only Indian state with such a diversity of habitats—the dense forests on the Satpura foothills, the open dry grasslands, and the sparse, thorny forests found across the state and the wetlands of River Chambal.
• Located in the northern district of Sheopur, Kuno National Park predominantly consists of grasslands and sparse forests that are home to an abundance of mammals, reptiles, birds, and butterflies. Although there has been a lot written about the tiger reserves of Madhya Pradesh, the beautiful Kuno National Park (KNP) has emerged in general discourse because of Cheetah’s reintroduction.
• Kuno National Park has a rich floral diversity with more than 129 species of trees. These tropical dry deciduous forests mainly consist of Anogeissus pendula (Kardhai), Senegalia catechu (Khair) Boswellia serrata (Salai), and associated flora.
• Kuno’s forests are arguably the finest remnants of the Central Indian Highlands; they were once the hunting grounds of the Gwalior maharajas.
• They are inhabited by carnivores such as the Indian Leopard, Indian Wolf, Golden Jackal, Sloth Bear, Indian Fox, and Striped Hyena. The herbivores found here are Spotted Deer, Sambhar, Nilgai, Chousingha, and Blackbuck. The high density of ungulates in Kuno can be attributed to the abundance of short grass species to feed on and the tall grass which provides shelter to the fawns.

Pre 2017 Question:

1. Recently there was a proposal to translocate some of the lions from their natural habitat in Gujarat to which one of the following sites?

a) Corbett National Park.

b) Kuno Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary.

c) Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary.

d) Sariska National Park.

Answer: B

HISTORIC AND PRESENT CHEETAH RANGE OF THE WORLD

THE POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. CAN NOT FORCE VACCINATION: SUPREME COURT

THE CONTEXT: The Supreme Court has ruled that no individual can be forced to take any vaccination but stated that the government can impose some restrictions in the interest of the community.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The Supreme Court ruled that no individual can be forced to get vaccinated against Covid-19 but added that “as long as there is a risk of spreading the disease, there can be restrictions placed on individuals’ rights in larger public interest”.
• A bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and B R Gavai delivered the judgement on the plea challenging mandatory Covid-19 vaccine mandates as unconstitutional, “Considering bodily autonomy, bodily integrity is protected under article 21. No one can be forced to get vaccinated. (But) government can regulate in areas of bodily autonomy.”
• Observing that restrictions on unvaccinated individuals imposed through various vaccine mandates by State Governments/Union Territories cannot be said to be proportionate, the court clarified that the suggestion to review the vaccine mandates imposed is limited to the present situation alone.
• The personal autonomy of an individual, which is a recognized facet of the protections guaranteed under Article 21, encompasses the right to refuse to undergo any medical treatment in the sphere of individual health,” said a bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and B R Gavai in the judgment.
• The bench also reiterated that subject to the protection of privacy of individual subjects, with respect to ongoing clinical trials and trials that may be conducted subsequently for COVID-19 vaccines, all relevant data required to be published under the extant statutory regime must be made available to the public without undue delay.
• The bench said that no data has been placed by the Union of India or the States controverting the material placed by the petitioner in the form of emerging scientific opinion which appears to indicate that the risk of transmission of the virus from unvaccinated individuals is almost on par with that from vaccinated persons.
• In light of this, restrictions on unvaccinated individuals imposed through various vaccine mandates by State Governments/Union Territories cannot be said to be proportionate.
• The bench also approved the vaccination policy for children but directed that the clinical trial data be made public at the earliest.

2. THE DEBATE ON THE NATIONAL LANGUAGE

THE CONTEXT: The “national language” debate came back in focus recently, as Hindi actor Ajay Devgn took to Twitter to react to a comment by Kannada actor Kiccha Sudeep.

THE EXPLANATION:

• Under Article 343 of the Constitution, the official language of the Union shall be Hindi in the Devanagari script. The international form of Indian numerals will be used for official purposes.
• The Constituent Assembly was bitterly divided on the question, with members from States that did not speak Hindi initially opposing the declaration of Hindi as a national language. Proponents of Hindi were insistent that English was the language of enslavement and that it should be eliminated as early as possible. Opponents were against English being done away with, fearing that it may lead to Hindi domination in regions that did not speak the language.
• There were demands to make Sanskrit the official language, while some argued in favour of ‘Hindustani’. There were differences of opinion over the script too. When opinion veered towards accepting Hindi, proponents of the language wanted the ‘Devanagari’ script to be adopted both for words and numerals. Some advocated that the Roman script be adopted, as it would facilitate faster learning of Hindi. The predominant opinion was in favour of adopting ‘international numerals’ (the Arabic form used and understood throughout the world) instead of Hindi numerals.
• Ultimately, it was decided that the Constitution will only speak of an ‘official language’. And that English would continue to be used for a period of 15 years. The Constitution said that after 15 years, Parliament may by law decide on the use of English and the use of the Devanagari form of numbers for specified purposes.

WHAT IS THE EIGHTH SCHEDULE?

• The Eighth Schedule contains a list of languages in the country. Initially, there were 14 languages in the schedule, but now there are 22 languages. There is no description of the sort of languages that are included or will be included in the Eighth Schedule. There are only two references to these languages in the text of the Constitution.
• One is in Article 344(1), which provides for the formation of a Commission by the President, which should have a chairman and members representing these scheduled languages. The purpose of the Commission is to make recommendations for the progressive use of Hindi for official purposes of the Union and for restricting the use of English.
• The second reference, found in Article 351, says it is the Union government’s duty to promote the spread of Hindi so that it becomes “a medium of expression for all elements of the composite culture of India” and also to assimilate elements of forms and expressions from Hindustani and languages listed in the Eighth Schedule.

WHAT WERE THE 1965 PROTESTS ABOUT?

• The Official Languages Act, 1963 was passed in anticipation of the expiry of the 15-year period during which the Constitution originally allowed the use of English for official purposes. Its operative section provided for the continuing use of English, notwithstanding the expiry of the 15-year period. This came into force from Jan 26, 1965, a date which marked the completion of 15 years since the Constitution was adopted.
• Jawaharlal Nehru had given an assurance in 1959 that english would remain in official use and as the language of communication between the Centre and the States. The Official Languages Act, 1963, did not explicitly incorporate this assurance, causing apprehensions in some States as the January 1965 deadline neared. At that time, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri reiterated the government’s commitment to move towards making Hindi the official language for all purposes.
• In Tamil Nadu, then known as Madras, the prospect of the use of Hindi as the medium of examination for recruitment to the Union public services created an apprehension that Hindi would be imposed in such a way that the future employment prospects of those who do not speak Hindi will be bleak. With the Congress government in the State taking the view that the people had nothing to fear about, protests broke out in January 1965.
• It took a violent turn after more and more student activists joined the protest and continued even after key Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leaders were arrested. More than 60 people died in police firing and other incidents as the protests went on for days. The agitation died down later, but by then the Congress at the Centre realised the sensitivity of the language issue among Tamil-speaking people. When the Official Language Rules were framed in 1976, it was made clear that the Rules apply to the whole of India, except Tamil Nadu.

THE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

3. INDIA-DENMARK TIES

THE CONTEXT: India and Denmark on 3 May 2022, agreed to further strengthen the Green Strategic Partnership with a focus on green hydrogen, renewable energy and wastewater management.

THE EXPLANATION:

• A number of agreements covering sectors such as green shipping, animal husbandry and dairying, water management, energy, cultural exchange were inked after the bilateral talks.
• The two Prime Ministers welcomed the Letter of Intent on the establishment of a Centre of Excellence on Green Shipping, which will further strengthen bilateral maritime cooperation.
• The two leaders also agreed to expand the cooperation on agriculture by a Joint Declaration of Intent establishing among others a Centre of Excellence on Dairy.
• India and Denmark also confirmed their continued collaboration in the field of antimicrobial resistance.
• India conveyed its acceptance of the Danish invitation to join the International Center for Antimicrobial Resistance Solutions (ICARS) as Mission Partner.

4. INDIA EXTENDS MORE ASSISTANCE TO SRI LANKA

THE CONTEXT: On 2 April 2022, India had extended its current credit line by a further $200 million to replenish Sri Lanka’s rapidly depleting fuel stocks.

THE EXPLANATION:

• India has committed more than $3 billion to debt-ridden Sri Lanka in loans, credit lines and credit swaps since January this year,as the island nation tries to navigate through its worst economic crisis since independence.
• The ongoing crisis in Sri Lanka is caused in part by a lack of foreign currency, which has meant that the country cannot afford to pay for imports of staple foods and fuel, leading to acute shortages and very high prices.
• A $400-million currency swap with the Reserve Bank of India, extended early this year, was on April 18 extended by another three months. A billion-dollar credit line for essential imports is operational and around 16,000 MT of rice has been supplied under it so far.
• India has helped Sri Lanka defer repayment of loans totalling $1 billion under the Asian Clearing Union. Further, 400,000 MT of fuel has been delivered to Sri Lanka through a $500 million credit facility.
• “Multi-pronged assistance provided by India testifies to the importance Government of India attaches to the welfare of the people of Sri Lanka and is guided by the twin principles of ‘Neighbourhood First’ and S.A.G.A.R (Security and Growth for All in the Region)”.
• Sri Lanka’s economic crash intensified from the beginning of this year, with the country’s foreign reserves plunging to barely a couple of billion dollars, owing to an acute balance of payments crisis in recent years.
• The crisis manifested in severe shortages of food, fuel and medicines, as the country experiences record inflation, that hit nearly 30% in April. Consequently, the ruling Rajapaksa administration’s popularity has plummeted over the last few months, with citizens demanding that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa quit.
• For almost a month now, demonstrators have been gathering at Colombo’s seafront, protesting every day against the government’s “failed” crisis response. Students, professionals, business people, worker unions, and scores of children, among others, can be spotted at the daily rallies, chanting anti-government slogans.

THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS

5. GST SIGNALS: ON APRIL GST COLLECTIONS

THE CONTEXT: The first month of the new financial year has yielded a sharp surge in Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections, taking them well past ₹1.67 lakh crore — the highest, by a wide margin, in the five years since the levy was introduced by subsuming myriad State and central duties.

THE EXPLANATION:

• GST revenues have scaled fresh highs in three of the last four months, having hit ₹1.41 lakh crore in January and ₹1.42 lakh crore in March.
• Overall GST revenues had grown 30.8% in 2021-22 to ₹14.9 lakh crore, despite slipping below the ₹1 lakh crore mark for two months when the second COVID-19 wave raged.
• The 20% year-on-year revenue uptick this April could be seen as a comforting signal about 2022-23 revenue prospects for policymakers at the Centre and the States, whose treasuries are fretting about the prospect of income falling off a cliff from this July when the assured compensation for implementing the GST comes to an end.
• Compensation cess levies will persist till at least March 2026, but they will be used to pay off special borrowings of 2020-21 to bridge revenue shortfalls and recompense States.
• The Centre needs a mechanism to expedite the payment of outstanding compensation dues to States (₹78,700-odd crore, or four months of dues). The Finance Ministry has blamed ‘inadequate balance’ in the Compensation Cess fund and promised to pay up ‘as and when’ the requisite cess accrues.
• The Centre, which called the April inflows a sign of ‘faster recovery’, must also state whether these revenue levels warrant a rethink of its concern that the effective GST tax rate had slipped from the revenue-neutral rate envisaged at its launch.
• A clear acknowledgment is needed that the higher revenues are not solely driven by a rebound in economic activity. Persistently higher input costs facing producers for a year and their accelerating pass-through to consumers, seen in higher retail inflation, have contributed too, along with tighter input credit norms introduced in the Union Budget.
• That revenue growth from goods imports has outpaced domestic transactions significantly in recent months, also suggests India’s consumption story is yet to fully resurface. Urgent policy action is needed to rein in the inflation rally and bolster consumer sentiment, so as not to sink hopes of more investments, faster growth and even greater revenues.

6. NO SHORT CIRCUITS: ON ELECTRIC VEHICLES CATCHING FIRE

THE CONTEXT: A spate of incidents related to the burning of electric vehicles (EV) has resulted in the Union government announcing an expert panel to investigate the battery explosions causing them and a few manufacturers recalling batches of electric scooters after some caught fire.

THE EXPLANATION:

• EVs have increasingly become a viable transportation device, with more than 11 lakh electric/battery-operated vehicles registered in India (Vahan database, April 2022).
• The increase in the utilisation of EVs has also been largely helped by the significant reduction in costs of lithium-ion batteries that have fallen by an estimated 89% since 2010. With climate change concerns driving governments, including India’s, to incentivize the shift to EVs, their manufacture for commercial use has undergone an acceleration with an increase in indigenous companies in the Indian market as well.
• The enhanced use of EVs and utilization of the underlying technology is welcome as, despite the institution of fuel emission norms and building these into fossil fuel-driven vehicles, the shift to EVs from petrol and diesel ones is expected to gain significant net environmental benefits. But it must also be remembered that the Li-ion battery packs that form the core of the technology, are sophisticated devices and there should be no compromise on the inbuilt safeguards.
• Battery fires occur due to the convergence of heat, oxygen and fuel, and the controlled manufacturing of devices is specifically required to prevent these.
• Engineering higher safety into EVs can result in higher costs but the smooth functioning of Li-ion batteries without accidents is reliant on the absence of “shoddy engineering” and “cutting corner approaches”.
• With long-term device changes in Li-ion batteries such as the use of solid-state electrolytes, special safety switches, etc. still some time away in implementation, the onus is on manufacturers and regulators to ensure that testing and certification standards related to battery management systems such as devices that prevent accidental shorting of the cells, and thermal management solutions among others are met in existing EV systems and supply chains.
• The Ministry of Road Transport will issue guidelines for EVs which would include tests for compliance with specific safety norms. While the regulation of a fledgling albeit growing sector that has shown a lot of promise but requires adequate safety norms to be put in place is an imperative, manufacturers and other companies in the EV supply chain should also proactively work in recalling defective batches of vehicles and ensuring safety compliance to prevent the recurrence of mishaps.

THE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

7. NASA TO SHUT DOWN SOFIA TELESCOPE

THE CONTEXT: NASA and the German Aerospace Center are permanently shutting down the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), a telescope on an airplane that has been scrutinized for years for its high cost and low scientific output.

THE EXPLANATION:

The organisation announced April 28, 2022, it would shut down the operations of the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) mission by September 30, 2022.

ABOUT SOFIA –

• SOFIA is a 2.7-meter infrared telescope sitting inside a Boeing 747 SP airplane, flying at an altitude of 38,000-45,000 feet above the surface.
• It’s the second-most expensive astrophysics mission, according to NASA’s Financial Year 2023 budget estimates report. The document mentioned a 2020 decadal survey report, which concluded that SOFIA’s science productivity did not justify its operating costs.
• SOFIA is a collaboration between NASA and the German Space Agency (DLR). “SOFIA is globally unique and, with the start of regular operations in 2014, has been successfully used for scientific research during a total of approximately 800 flights.
• Since its inception in 2014, SOFIA has been collecting data to understand star birth and death and the formation of new solar systems. It has also been keeping a close eye on planets, comets and asteroids in our solar system, nebulas and galaxies, celestial magnetic fields and black holes at the centre of galaxies.
• SOFIA was designed to observe cosmic objects in far-infrared wavelengths. This allows researchers to watch star formation by looking through huge, cold clouds of gas, according to NASA.
• NASA’s decision to shut down SOFIA closely follows the White House’s 2023 federal budget request released on 28 March 2022, which did not allocate money to SOFIA.

IMPORTANT DISCOVERIES:

• The project has generated 309 scientific studies, according to information on SOFIA’s website. In 2020, NASA announced that SOFIA discovered water molecules (H2O) on the sun-facing side of the Moon.
• The site is the Clavius Crater, located in the Moon’s southern hemisphere. The telescope’s data suggested that the site contained water in concentrations of 100 to 412 parts per million — roughly equivalent to a 12-ounce bottle [355 millilitres] of water, according to NASA.
• India’s Chandrayaan-1 mission and NASA’s ground-based Infrared Telescope Facility found evidence of hydration in the sunnier regions, they couldn’t confirm whether hydrogen was in the form of H2O or OH, the report stated.
• In 2019, SOFIA also discovered helium hydride — the first molecule formed in the Universe almost 14 billion years ago, the German space agency said.

THE PRELIMS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

QUESTION OF THE DAY

Q.Consider the following statements:

1. Even if the bill after reconsideration is passed by the state legislature with or without amendments, the governor is not bound to give his assent to the bill.
2. Constitution does not lay down any time frame for the Governor to take action on the bill passed by the state legislature.

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 FOR 1 & 2 MAY 2022

Answer: B

Explanation:

World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

• It is an intergovernmental organization with a membership of 193 Member States and Territories.
• It originated from the International Meteorological Organization (IMO), the roots of which were planted at the 1873 Vienna International Meteorological Congress.
• Established by the ratification of the WMO Convention on 23 March 1950, WMO became the specialized agency of the United Nations for meteorology (weather and climate), operational hydrology and related geophysical sciences a year later.
• The Secretariat, headquartered in Geneva, is headed by the Secretary-General.
• Its supreme body is the World Meteorological Congress.

[WpProQuiz 215]

THE CONTEXT:  In April 2022, the SC has given a slew of directions in the Mullaperiyar dam issue. The dam is at the center of a decades-old dispute: for Kerala, where it is situated, the dam presents a threat to lakhs living downstream; and for Tamil Nadu, which controls the dam, the water it provides is the lifeline of people in five districts. This article examines the controversy related to the dam in the light of the SC verdict.

ALL YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT MULLAPERIYAR DAM

The dam sits on the upper portions of the Periyar River, which originates in Tamil Nadu and goes into Kerala. Within the Periyar Tiger Reserve, the reservoir is located. The water diverted from the reservoir is used to generate electricity in Tamil Nadu’s lower Periyar region before flowing into the Suruliyar, a tributary of the Vaigai river, and then irrigating roughly 2.08 lakh hectares in Theni and four other districts farther afield.

WHAT IS THE CONTROVERSY?

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:

• The British administration regarded the Periyar waters useless to Travancore; thus the Maharaja of Travancore signed the ‘Periyar Lease Deed’ with the British government in 1886.
• It intended to redirect the water to Tamil Nadu’s parched districts. After 20 years of defiance, the Maharaja signed the deal.
• The dam was completed in 1895. In 1959, the Madras government began generating hydel power. The capacity was later raised to 140 MW.

CONCERNS FOR SAFETY:

• Concerns about the dam’s safety stretch back to the early 1960s when the media stated that it was dangerous.
• In 1961, Kerala brought the issue to the Central Water Commission’s attention. In 1964, the water level was dropped for the first time, from 155 feet to 152 feet, following a joint examination by Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
• In the years that followed, Tamil Nadu witnessed public agitations demanding that the level be increased; Kerala opposed the demand.

STAND OF KERALA:

• Kerala has been strongly advocating the need to decommission the “deteriorated” structure and build a new one.
• It cited climate change-induced erratic and heavy rainfalls that could further damage the structure.
• Political leaders of Kerala argue that the dam is a ticking time bomb that can explode at any moment, causing the deaths of thousands in the state.
• It maintains that the only solution is razing down the existing weak structure and constructing a new dam.

STAND OF TAMIL NADU:

• Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu considers it a safe and well-maintained dam and is making persistent efforts to raise the water storage level in it to 152 feet through interventions in Madras high court, Supreme Court, Central Water Commission, and other top bodies.
• Tamil Nadu says water from the dam is vital to the arid villages and towns of the southern districts to address their drinking water and irrigation concerns.

BATTLE IN COURTS:

• Over the years, petitions have been filed in the high courts of both states. These were subsequently transferred to the Supreme Court. In 2000, the Centre appointed an expert committee to look into safety and suggest storage levels. (Read Ahead).

A TIMELINE OF THE COURT BATTLE OVER MULLAPERIYAR DAM

2006:

• The Supreme Court allowed Tamil Nadu to raise the water level to 142 ft.
• It said after completing strengthening work, the level could be restored to 152 ft if an expert committee examined and recommended it.
• In March 2006, the Kerala Assembly amended the Kerala Irrigation and Water Conservation Act, 2003, bringing Mullaperiyar into the ‘Endangered Dams’ schedule and restricting its storage at 136 ft.
• Since then, the issue has shifted to the safety of the dam.

2007:

• In 2007, the Kerala Cabinet permitted preliminary work on a new dam. Tamil Nadu approached the Supreme Court against the move.

2008:

• In 2008, a flood routing study by IIT Delhi found the dam was unsafe, and in next year, IIT Roorkee reported the dam was in an earthquake-prone area and would not survive a major quake.

2010:

• In 2010, the Supreme Court formed an empowered committee to look into the dam’s safety. As per the said order, the terms of reference of the Empowered  Committee were to:
• Hear parties to the suit on all issues that will be raised before them, without being limited to the issues that have been raised before the Hon’ble Supreme Court, and furnish a report, as far as possible, within six months from their constitution.
• The Committee shall frame its own procedure and issue appropriate directions as to the hearings as well as the venue of its sittings.
• The Committee is free to receive such further evidence as it considers appropriate.
• Legal and constitutional issues, including the validity of the Kerala Irrigation and Water Conservation (Amendment) Act, 2006 would be considered by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India.

2011:

• In November 2011, Kerala sought the Centre’s intervention to bring down water levels to 120 ft after the area witnessed minor tremors.

2014:

• In 2014, the Supreme Court order allowed Tamil Nadu to fix the water level at 142 ft.

2018:

• The Supreme Court directed Union Govt. to form a Sub-Committee under the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to monitor the measures for ensuring a high level of preparedness to face any disaster in relation to Mullaperiyar Dam.

2021:

• The SC directed Supervisory Committee on Mullaperiyar Dam to address three core issues i.e., the instrumentation plan of the dam, the rule curve & the gate operation schedule/reservoir operation plan.

2022:

• On April 8, the Supreme Court reconstituted the Mullaperiyar dam’s supervisory Committee, including one technical expert each from Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
• It gave the panel functions and powers comparable to those of the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA), a body established under the Dam Safety Act of 2021.

THE SC ORDER IN A NUTSHELL

The court has enabled the supervisory Committee to deliberate on any pending concerns linked to the dam’s safety and undertake a new review of its safety and give it NDSA powers and functions. For any failure, “due to action” will be taken against the individuals involved, not only for violating the court’s orders, but also under the Act, which stipulates a year in prison or a fine, or both, for refusing to comply with the commands of entities established under the law. The two states are anticipated to nominate one representative each to the supervisory Committee and one nominee each, within two weeks, as ordered by the Supreme Court in its most recent ruling.

HOW REAL IS THE ENVIRONMENTAL THREAT?

UNITED NATIONS REPORT: 

• A report prepared by the United Nations University-Institute for Water, Environment and Health, cited “significant structural flaws” in the dam and said it “may be at risk of failure”.
• “Leaks and leaching are also concerning, as the methods and materials used during construction are considered outdated, compared to the current building standards, it said

IIT ROORKEE STUDY:

• Commissioned by the Kerala Government in the latter part of the 2000s, a study by IIT-Roorkee raised questions about the survival of the dam, located in seismic zone-3, in the event of an earthquake of a fairly high magnitude.

TREMORS AND FLOODS:

• Massive landslides had devastated central Kerala’s hilly regions, and weather prediction was ominous.
• A series of tremors felt in the area in 2011 caused alarm. Subsequently, the floods of 2018 and the erratic nature of annual monsoons ever since brought the focus back on the 126-year-old dam.

THE CENTRAL WATER COMMISSION’S VIEW:

• The Central Water Commission (CWC) informed the Supreme Court that a new review of the safety of Mullaperiyar is due.
• In a status report before the apex court, CWC said that no review on safety was taken place for the last 12 years.
• However, the same report quotes Empowered Committee constituted by the Supreme Court in 2010 that noted that Mullaperiyar was found to be safe in all respects, hydrologically, structurally, and seismically.

DO YOU KNOW?

A rule curve, also known as a rule level, indicates how much storage or empty space should be kept in a reservoir at different times of the year. It determines how a reservoir’s storage levels fluctuate. The rule curve is used to determine when a dam’s gates will open. It’s a part of a dam’s “core safety” mechanism. The TN government frequently blames Kerala for delaying the rule curve’s finalization.

THE WAY FORWARD:

DECENTRALISED STORAGE FACILITY:

• The best solution is to construct a few smaller storage structures in the five districts of Tamil Nadu and divert the excess water from the dam to the storage.
• A decentralised storage facility can avert the situation of keeping vast amounts of water in the 19th-century lime concrete structure.

NEW DAM IS NOT A FEASIBLE IDEA:

• Constructing a new dam in the same seismic zone is dangerous. Decommissioning and construction activities would happen in a seismic zone that comes within a tiger reserve, known for rich biodiversity.
• Given the experiences from different parts of the world, dam construction can heighten earthquake, landslide, and rockfall threats.
• The huge human presence required for construction activities will kill the highly crucial Periyar Tiger Reserve surrounding Mullaperiyar.

CREATE DAM DEFORMATION DATABASE:

• At present, there is very little dam deformation data in the case of Mullaperiyar.
• The time requires the creation of an independent group of experts jointly by the two states to check existing technical reports and collect and analyse dam deformation data to decide on the dam’s future stability prospects.

WORK OF SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE:

• The latest directions of the SC that empowered the Supervisory Committee to need to be implemented in letter and spirit, Both the states should provide all support for its work.

THE CONCLUSION: Political leadership of both the states needs to get their acts together for a viable solution to the dam issue. Science, data, and evidence need to drive the discourse that new technologies can speed up decision-making. The construction of a new dam carries risk. Hence, a decentralized approach to water management at the Tamil Nadu level and monitoring of the dam from the safety and structural aspects need to be undertaken.

Questions:

1. What is the Mullaperiyar dam controversy? How far do you think constructing a new dam will resolve it?
2. “ Without political solutions, judicial interventions fail” Comment in the light of the Mullaperiyar dam issue between Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

THE ENVIRONMENT, ECOLOGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

1. HEATWAVES MORE INTENSE AND ARE STARTING EARLIER THAN IN PAST IN INDIA: WMO

THE CONTEXT: Extreme heat is gripping large parts of India and Pakistan, impacting hundreds of millions of people in one of the most densely populated parts of the world said the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).

THE EXPLANATION:

• As large parts of India and Pakistan experience scorching temperatures, the U.N.’s specialized agency on weather has said while it is premature to attribute the extreme heat in the two countries solely to climate change, it is consistent with a changing climate, with heatwaves starting earlier than in the past.
• Extreme heat is gripping large parts of India and Pakistan, impacting hundreds of millions of people in one of the most densely populated parts of the world, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).
• It said that according to The India Meteorological Department, maximum temperatures reached 43 to 46°C in widespread areas on April 28 and that this intense heat will continue until May 2.
• It is premature to attribute the extreme heat in India and Pakistan solely to climate change. However, it is consistent with what we expect in a changing climate. Heatwaves are more frequent and more intense and starting earlier than in the past.
• Heatwaves have multiple and cascading impacts not just on human health but also on ecosystems, agriculture, water and energy supplies and key sectors of the economy, the WMO said adding that the risks to society underline why it is committed to ensuring that multi–hazard early warning services reach the most vulnerable.
• It noted that the heatwave was triggered by a high–pressure system and follows an extended period of above average temperatures. India recorded its warmest March on record, with an average maximum temperature of 33.1 ºC, or 1.86 °C above the long–term average. Pakistan also did so for at least the past 60 years, with a number of stations breaking March records.
• The WMO noted that India has established a national framework for heat action plans through the National Disaster Management Authority which coordinates a network of State disaster response agencies and city leaders to prepare for soaring temperatures and ensure that everyone is aware of heatwave dos and don’ts.
• It said Ahmedabad was the first South Asian city to develop and implement a city-wide heat health adaptation in 2013 after experiencing a devastating heatwave in 2010.This successful approach has been expanded to 23 heatwave–prone States and serves to protect more than 130 cities and districts.
• According to the WMO both countries have successful heat–health early warning systems and action plans, including those specially tailored for urban areas.
• Heat Action Plans reduce heat mortality and lessen the social impacts of extreme heat, including lost work productivity.
• The WMO said the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in its Sixth Assessment Report, said heatwaves and humid heat stress will be more intense and frequent in South Asia this century.
• The WMO also cited an open–access publication recently issued by India’s Ministry of Earth Sciences that highlights that the frequency of warm extremes over India has increased during 1951–2015, with accelerated warming trends during the recent 30-year period 1986–2015.
• Civil society, such as the Red Cross Red Crescent Society and the Integrated Research and Action for Development (IRADe), also play a critical role, deploying lifesaving communications and interventions to vulnerable communities.

 2. INSURANCE COVERAGE FOR FISHERIES, AQUACULTURE UNITS ABYSMAL IN INDIA, SAYS FAO REPORT

THE CONTEXT: FAO ‘World Review of Capture Fisheries and Aquaculture Insurance 2022’ has recommended that private and public insurance service providers work together as there is low penetration of insurance products in the fisheries sector. The service providers must also take proactive measures to help the aquaculture and fisheries insurance market of India recover.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The low penetration of insurance products in the fisheries sector, the ‘FAO World Review of Capture Fisheries and Aquaculture 2022’ has recommended that public and private insurance service providers work together to take proactive measures to help India’s fisheries and aquaculture insurance market recover.
• With the weather being a factor in the fisheries industry, insurance service providers should be encouraged to participate in order to improve the sector’s overall competitiveness and efficiency of service delivery.
• When occupational hazards to fishers’ and fish farmers’ lives and property are on the rise as a result of more frequent extreme weather events in recent years, the report takes on greater significance.
• Fishermen and aquaculture farmers, on the other hand, are generally unaware of insurance options. In India, fishing vessels, coastal immovable property, and aquaculture units have abysmal insurance coverage. Appropriate extension efforts by government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and aquaculture societies, with appropriate participation from the fishing community, could bridge the gap and facilitate insurance product marketing at the grassroots level.
• The asset insurance and fishing vessels in the coastal region have a high cost for insurance policies and this is affecting insurance coverage as people are not willing to invest that amount. Also, the premiums in this sector cannot be paid in installments. Along with this the aquaculture farmers and fishermen are mostly unaware of available insurance options.
• The report suggested that bundling disaster risk insurance packages with existing micro-credit schemes could be a viable option, given the strong network of micro-finance institutions and self-help groups in coastal areas.
• One of the reasons for the low adoption of the fishing vessels and asset insurance in the coastal region, is the prohibitive cost of the policies currently available.

THE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

3. INDIA-UAE COMPREHENSIVE ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT (CEPA)

THE CONTEXT: India and the UAE have signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with the aim of increasing bilateral merchandise trade to $100 billion by 2030 and it will be operationalized from 1 May, 2022.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The India-UAE CEPA marks the first trade agreement India has made with a major trading partner in over a decade. The last major FTA India signed was with Japan in 2011.
• The agreement is the first in a series of FTAs that India is pursuing to boost exports sharply to 1 trillion dollars each in merchandise and services by 2030.
• India is also pursuing FTAs with Australia, UK, Canada, Israel and the EU.
• Under the agreement, the UAE is set to eliminate duties on 80 per cent of its tariff lines which account for 90 per cent of India’s exports to the UAE by value. This is particularly important for exports in highly competitive areas such as textiles and garments where India exporters have thus far been facing a competitive disadvantage in import tariffs.
• The zero-duty access for Indian products to the UAE is set to expand over 5-10 years to 97 per cent of UAE tariff lines corresponding to 99 per cent of India’s exports by value.
• Key domestic sectors that are set to benefit include, gems and jewellery, textiles, leather, footwear, sports goods, engineering goods, automobiles and pharmaceuticals.
• India has excluded certain goods from the agreement through a “sensitive list” of products amounting to 10 per cent of tariff lines that are excluded completely from the agreement.
• Dairy, fruits, vegetables, cereals, tea, coffee, sugar, food preparations, tobacco, toys, plastics, scrap of aluminium, and copper are among the products that are excluded from the pact. Certain other areas such as those that have seen sharp growth in domestic production or areas where the government is incentivising manufacturing through production-linked incentive schemes have also been excluded from the agreement.
• The India-UAE CEPA is based on the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘SabkaSaath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas aur SabkaPrayas’. India wants a larger share of the UAE market as Government sets its eyes on achieving $1 trillion goods exports by 2030.

THE GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES AND POLICIES

4. MECHANISM TO PROCESS UNORGANIZED WORKERS’ ACCIDENT CLAIMS IN THE WORKS: MINISTRY OF THE UNION LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT

THE CONTEXT: The Union Labour and Employment Ministry is working on a mechanism to process accident insurance claims by unorganised workers registered on the e-Shram portal, which has seen over 27 crore registrations so far.

THE EXPLANATION:

Thee-Shram portal was launched six months ago with the aim of creating a national database of unorganised workers and to facilitate social security schemes for them. Among the promises made at the time was that the workers would be eligible for Rs 2 lakh as accident insurance.

• The discussions were based on to link the e-Shram portal with the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, the Centre’s existing accident insurance scheme. The scheme would allow the workers to get the direct benefit transfer (DBT) through the e-Shram unique ID number. The official added that the unique IDs on the e-Shram portal carried the same series from the Employees Provident Fund Organisation’s (EPFO) universal account number (UAN).

• At the time the portal was launched in August 2021, the Ministry had estimated that there were 38 crore unorganized sector workers in the country. According to the Ministry functionary, an analysis of the registrations so far was being carried out and a new campaign to get more workers to register would also be planned.
• In her Budget Speech 2022-2023, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced the linking of four portals- the National Career Service, e-Shram, UDYAM (for those interested in starting MSMEs) and ASEEM (Atmanirbhar Skilled Employee Employer Mapping).
• The Labour Ministry announced on April 20 that the inter-linking of the NCS and e-Shram portals had been completed recently.
• This linkage has enabled unorganised workers registered on e-Shram to seamlessly register on NCS and look for better job opportunities through NCS. So far, more than 26,000 e-Shram beneficiaries have registered on NCS and have started benefiting from this linkage.

5. WANT INDIA TO BE A KEY PARTNER IN GLOBAL SEMICONDUCTOR SUPPLY CHAIN: PM MODI

THE CONTEXT: Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his inaugural address At the ‘Semicon India Conference 2022’ in Bengaluru said the government’s aim is to place India as one of the key partners in the global semiconductor supply chain.

THE EXPLANATION:

• PM addressed that almost all of the top 25 semiconductor design companies globally have set up design and research and development centres in India. Additionally, the prime minster said that the government has undertaken several measures to transform the Indian manufacturing sector, when humanity was fighting a once-in-a-century pandemic.
• PM pointed out that the government has committed $10 billion to attract semiconductor companies to the country. The incentive scheme was announced on 15 December by Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, as part of efforts to establish the country as a global electronics hub.
• India was on its way to connect 600,000 villages with broadband, and is investing in developing capacity in 5G, IoT and green energy technologies.
• India is working to unleash the next wave of innovation in data, AI and other technologies. Thus, India is headed for robust economic growth. We have the world’s fastest growing startup ecosystem; new unicorns are coming up every few weeks. India’s own construction of semi conductors is expected to cross $80 billion by 2026 and $100 billion by 2030.
• The government has earmarked production linked incentive schemes to the tune of over $26 billion in 14 key sectors, with electronics industry expected to see record growth.
• To provide the enabling environment for the semiconductor industry in India, the efforts in enhancing digital connectivity, enabling broadband connections in the villages, technological advancements such as AI/ML, robust economic growth, and movements in ease of doing business and digitisation should be able to act as catylsts for the growth of the semiconductor industry in India.

THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS

6. INDIA’S UNEMPLOYMENT RATE ROSE TO 7.83% IN APRIL: CMIE DATA

THE CONTEXT: India’s unemployment rate rose to 7.83% in April from 7.60% in March, according to the recent data released by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE).

THE EXPLANATION:

• The urban unemployment rate rose to 9.22% in April from 8.28% in the March 2022, while the rural unemployment rate slipped to 7.18% from 7.29%, the data showed.
• The highest unemployment rate of 34.5% was recorded in the northern state of Haryana, followed by 28.8% in Rajasthan.
• Jobless rate in Haryana stood at 34.5 per cent, while it was 28.8 percent and 21.1 per cent in Rajasthan and Bihar respectively. While Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Assam saw the lowest unemployment rate which stood at a miniscule 0.2 per cent, 0.6 per cent and 1.2 percent respectively.
• The given reason for the rose unemployment rate is the labour market is showing signs of economic distress, also India’s labour force fell by 38 lakhs in the month of March, lowest level in the last eight months.
• According to Economists job opportunities have been hit by sluggish domestic demand and the slow pace of economic recovery amid rising prices.
• According to CMIE millions left the labor markets, they stopped even looking for employment, possibly too disappointed with their failure to get a job and under the belief that there were no jobs available.

7. INDIA’S FOREX RESERVES HAVE FALLEN OVER $30 BILLION

THE CONTEXT: India saw its foreign exchange (forex) reserves slump by $3.27 billion to $600.42 billion in the week concluded on April 22, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed in its latest data.

THE EXPLANATION:

• For the latest reported week, April 22 – the country’s forex reserves fell by $3.271 billion to $600.423 billion in the week ended April 22, compared to $631.527 billion reported for the February 25 week.
• Gold reserves shrank by $377 million to $42.768 billion in the reporting week. The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) fell $33 million to $18.662 billion, the central bank data showed.
• With the latest fall, the country has seen seventh straight drop in its forex reserves – wiping out over $30 billion in just two months since the Russia-Ukraine war broke out.
• For India to build its FX reserves to above $630 billion, it took almost a year, but the global energy crisis from the Ukraine war has hurt the country’s currency and its import cover, wiping out over $30 billion.
• The Reserve Bank had to keep interfering and selling dollars to prevent a slide in the value of the rupee in view of the Russia-Ukraine conflict situation.
• Further, the dollar’s rise against key currencies overseas amid US inflation surge and bond yields hitting multi-year highs too added to the pressure on the rupee as the US situation warranted that the Fed take an aggressive posture on rate hikes.
• The double whammy from the rupee slide and crude oil surging to well above $100 per barrel roiled market sentiment in India because the country depends on imports for 85 per cent of its oil needs.
• It suggests that the RBI keep selling dollars to prevent a slide in the value of the rupee amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.

THE PRELIMS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

QUESTION OF THE DAY

Q. Consider the following statements about World Meteorological Organization (WMO):

1. It was established in 1950 through WMO Convention.
2. It is specialized agency of the United Nations.
3. Its secretariat is headquartered in Rome.
4. India is founding member of WMO.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

a) 1 and 2 only

b) 1, 2 and 4 only

c) 2, 3 and 4 only

d) All of them

ANSWER FOR 30TH APRIL 2022

Answer: A

Explanation:

Statement 1 is correct: The judges of a high court are appointed by the President.The chief justice is appointed by the President after consultation with the chief justice of India and the governor of the state concerned. For appointment of other judges, the chief justice of the concerned high court is also consulted. In case of a common high court for two or more states, the governors of all the states concerned are consulted by the president.

Statement 2 is incorrect: Constitution has not prescribed a minimum age for appointment as a judge of a high court.

Statement 3 is incorrect: Constitution does not prescribe a fixed tenure of a judge of a high court. He holds office until he attains the age of 62 years.

Statement 4 is incorrect: The Judges Enquiry Act (1968) regulates the procedure relating to the removal of a judge of a high court by the process of impeachment.

THE CONTEXT: The Covid-19 pandemic has shown the inadequacies of the healthcare provisions in India which once again created a debate on Universal Health Care (UHC). There are many approaches to providing the UHC to the people of a country and Healthcare as an optional public service (HOPS) is one of them. This article examines the benefits and challenges of HOPS in providing a UHC.

NOTE: For the purpose of our discussion, Universal Health Coverage and Universal Health Care are used interchangeably.

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE?

DEFINITION: 

• According to WHO, Universal Health Coverage means that all people have access to the health services they need, when and where they need them, without financial hardship.
• It includes the full range of essential health services, from health promotion to prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and palliative care.
• The basic idea of UHC is that no one should be deprived of quality health care for the lack of ability to pay.

NEED:

• Currently, at least half of the people in the world do not receive the health services they need.
• About 100 million people are pushed into extreme poverty each year because of out-of-pocket spending on health.
• This must change.

THE INDIAN SCENARIO:

• India has one-of-the highest levels of Out-Of-Pocket Expenditures (OOPE) contributing directly to the high incidence of catastrophic expenditures and poverty, notes the Economic Survey.
• It suggested an increase in public spending from 1% to 2.5-3% of GDP — as envisaged in the National Health Policy 2017 — can decrease the OOPE from 65% to 30% of overall healthcare spending.
• The Survey observes that the health of a nation depends critically on its citizens having access to an equitable, affordable, and accountable healthcare system.
• Public and private expenditures on healthcare in India do not exceed 5.5% of its GDP.

MODES OF UHC:

• UHC generally relies on one or both of two basic approaches: public service and social insurance. But there is another approach that aims to leverage the strength of both while minimising the limitations. (Read Ahead).

TEN PRINCIPLES OF UHC IN INDIA

THE PREVAILING ROUTES TO THE UHC

PUBLIC SERVICE:

• Health care, like the services of a fire department or a public library, is offered as a free public service.
• Surprisingly, this socialist vision has been successful not only in communist countries like Cuba but also in capitalist ones (well beyond the United Kingdom).
• Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) which is the best example of this genre, is free at the point of use for anyone who is a UK resident.
• Healthcare is provided by a single-payer – the British government – and is funded by the taxpayer although there are multiple providers.
• All appointments and treatments are free to the patient (though paid for through taxes), as are almost all prescription drugs.
• Responsibility for health services is devolved to local boards or trusts.
• These local units directly manage or contract services in their communities. Britain spends 9.9% of its GDP on the NHS.

SOCIAL INSURANCE:

• This method provides for both private and public health care.
• But the expenses are borne mostly by the social insurance fund(s), rather than the patient.
• Everyone has access to high-quality health care.
• A social insurance market is not the same as a private insurance market.
• The most basic version is one in which insurance is mandatory and universal.
• It is funded mostly by general taxation and administered by a single public-interest non-profit organisation.
• That’s how it works in Canada (at least in some provinces) and to varying degrees in other nations with “national health insurance” (e.g., Australia and Taiwan).
• This single-payer system makes it easier for the state to negotiate with healthcare providers for a decent price.
• However, various countries have different social models.

WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES IN BOTH THE APPROACHES?

PUBLIC SERVICE:

• Providing free public health care to all will put a huge financial burden on the exchequer.
• The capacity of public health infrastructure in the country is hugely inadequate.
• There is a severe shortage of human resources in the health sector including medical, paramedical, and other staff as pointed out by the National Health Policy-2017.
• The profit-private healthcare system is highly developed and too entrenched in India. And hence, it is too costly to displace it.

SOCIAL INSURANCE:

• In the absence of public health centers, there is a danger of patients rushing to expensive hospitals every other day.
• This would make the system wasteful and expensive.
• Containing costs is a major challenge with social insurance because patients and healthcare providers have a joint interest inexpensive care — one to get better, the other to earn.
• Expanding social insurance to commercial healthcare providers is especially dangerous given their power and influence
• Another challenge with social insurance is to regulate for-profit private healthcare providers.

WHAT IS INDIA’S APPROACH TO UHC AS OF NOW?

Ayushman Bharat is National Health Protection Scheme, which covers over 10 crore poor and vulnerable families (approximately 50 crore beneficiaries) providing coverage up to 5 lakh rupees per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization the most important strategy for a UHC.  Ayushman Bharat – National Health Protection Mission subsumes the ongoing centrally sponsored schemes – Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) and the Senior Citizen Health Insurance Scheme (SCHIS). Benefits of the scheme are portable across the country and a beneficiary covered under the scheme will be allowed to take cashless benefits from any public/private impaneled hospitals across the country. It is an entitlement-based scheme with entitlement decided based on deprivation criteria in the SECC database. Also, there is a Primary Health Infrastructure system in place that caters to a wide range of medical health needs although there is a huge state-wide disparity in its reach and quality. There are also state-level medical insurance schemes and departmental medical facilities including defence, railways, etc.

HEALTHCARE AS AN OPTIONAL PUBLIC SERVICE(HOPS)- THE WAY FORWARD FOR THE UHC IN INDIA

WHAT ARE HOPS?: 

• It is a framework for UHC that is based primarily on health care as a public service, with the potential to eventually converge toward some kind of NHS.
• Everyone would have the legal right to access free, high-quality health care at a public facility if they so desired. It would not restrict someone from seeking private health care on their own expenses.
• The public sector, on the other hand, would provide adequate health care to everyone as a matter of right and at no expense.

HAS IT BEEN PRACTICED IN INDIA?:

• This is something that some Indian states are already attempting. Most ailments can be properly treated in the public sector in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, for example, at a low cost to the patient.
• A vibrant private sector exists as well, which needs better regulation.
• However, as an optional public service, everyone has access to adequate health care.

ARE HOPS TRULY EGALITARIAN?:

• HOPS is not as egalitarian as the NHS and the National Health Insurance model as those with the means can access private healthcare. However, it will still be a big step toward UHC.
• Moreover, as the public sector offers an increasingly wide range of medical services, it can become more egalitarian over time.
• If quality medical care is available free of charge in the public sector, most patients have little reason to rely on the private sector.

ROLE OF SOCIAL INSURANCE IN HOPS: 

• It can cover medical procedures that are not readily available in the public sector and thus can play a limited role in this framework.
• Social insurance needs to be built around public and non-profit private healthcare.

WHAT ARE THE DIFFICULTIES WITH HOPS?:

• Difficult to specify the scope of the proposed healthcare guarantee, including quality standards.
• UHC does not mean unlimited health care: there are always limits to what can be guaranteed to everyone.
• Not only does HOPS need health standards, but it also needs a reliable way to revise those standards over time.
• Some useful items are already available like the Indian Public Health Standards.
• But a major challenge is administrative and operational which do not have easy answers.

RIGHT TO HEALTH BILL- THE TAMIL NADU WAY FOR HOPS

Tamil Nadu is in a good position to achieve HOPS under the proposed Health Rights Bill. Tamil Nadu can already effectively provide most public-sector medical services.

According to the 4th National Family Health Survey, the majority of households in Tamil Nadu are going to the public sector for medical care in the event of illness. The scope and quality of these services have steadily improved over time. The proposed Health law is very supportive of the state’s commitment to quality medical care for all. The Bill seeks to cover all age groups and include people with disabilities and mental illnesses. It enables patients and their families to demand quality service and helps further improve the system. It will serve as a model and inspiration for all Indian states.

THE CONCLUSION: Healthcare provision in India faces many challenges and it requires multiple interventions. A good beginning can be ensuring a legal right to health in the nature of HOPS. Although not devoid of challenges, HOPS can provide “hopes” to the millions who are outside the formal medical care system.

QUESTIONS:

1. What do you understand by Healthcare as an Optional Public Service? Explain.
2. No society can legitimately call itself civilised if a sick person is denied medical aid because of a lack of means. Hence, a fully publicly funded healthcare system is required. Elaborate