Daily News Headlines (from The Hindu)

Tuesday, 27 April 2021

Polity & Governance

MHA advises States to impose localised 14-day lockdowns

The News:

·        Amid an alarming COVID 19 surge, the Centre advised stringent containment and lockdown measures in districts reporting either more than 10 per cent positivity rate over the last one week or more than 60 per cent occupancy of beds supported by oxygen or in ICU.

·        Due to lack of health infrastructure, there is an urgent need for states to consider strict COVID management and control measures in surge areas to break the chain of transmission and to flatten the current curve of the epidemic. 

·         

Centre said local containment must focus on three strategic areas of intervention, which include:-

1.     containment,

2.     clinical management and

3.     community engagement

India ranked 49th in CGGI

What’s in News?

India has been ranked 49th in the Chandler Good Government Index (CGGI), which classifies 104 countries in terms of government capabilities and outcomes.

Finland has topped the CGGI list, in which each country is measured across over 50 open data points.

·        “Civil service innovation and capacity building is a key focus for the Indian government.

·        The Chandler Good Government Index shows the importance of measuring and investing in governance capabilities that matter.

·        It highlights a key need for ‘pracademics’ in government – people who combine a rigorous understanding of research and data with a practical and grounded sense of what governments need to do to succeed.

CGGI:

About:

·        The CGGI is the most comprehensive index of effective national government in the world.

·        It measures the capabilities and effectiveness of governments in 104 countries.

·        The Index is made up of 34 indicators which are organised into seven broad pillars: -

leadership and foresight; robust laws and policies; strong institutions; financial stewardship; attractive marketplace; global influence and reputation; and helping people rise.

·        The Index uses more than 50 publicly available global data sources. Since data sources come in a variety of formats, the data from each source is normalised, given equal weight, and aggregated to produce the final CGGI score on a scale of 0 (lowest score) to 1 (highest score).

 Importance

·        The Index stems from the belief that good national governance and national prosperity are deeply connected.This relationship between national governance and prosperity is characterised by three principles:

1.     Government capabilities matter, and governments need to invest time and effort into enhancing these capabilities

2.     Effective governments create opportunities for citizens to thrive, building the foundation of national development and prosperity

3.     Good governance leads to better outcomes and increased public trust; high levels of public trust make it easier for governments to do their work.

·        It is important that governments have the means to measure their capabilities and achievements. This will support them in taking concrete steps to enhance their effectiveness, and to build good outcomes for national progress and prosperity.

Implications of the Report:

·       This analysis indicates that countries across a broad spectrum of population sizes fare well in terms of both capabilities and outcomes.

·       Large countries with established federal systems of government, such as the US, perform well, as do much smaller countries with unitary systems of government such as Singapore and the UAE.

·       The most populous countries in the world – China and India – exceed the CGGI average score for government capabilities, but not for outcomes.

·      These results do not prove that population size is meaningless. Now, as in the past, size matters. However, the CGGI shows that a country’s destiny is not determined by its size alone. Each country faces complex and distinctive circumstances, and a unique set of assets and challenges.

·        In India, the performance of individual states across governance metrics will often deviate from the national average. Moreover, there are also likely to be significant subnational variations that could drive India’s performance in one direction or another.

·        India is one of the country where effective police reform has been seen  – and it’s invariably tied to leaders. The problem is institutionalising the cultures of integrity, because those leaders change and corruption slips back in.

Does Good Governance Support Socioeconomic Progress?

Beyond GDP and income levels, good governance is also closely associated with good social outcomes for individuals, communities and societies.

Science & Technology

DRDO develops crystal blades for aero engines

The News:

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed single crystal blade technology.

Background:

Grain boundary:

·        During the normal casting of metal components, the metal while solidifying forms grains. Each grain has a different orientation of its crystal lattice from its neighbours.

·        A grain boundary is the interface between two grains, or crystallites, in a polycrystalline material.

·        The grain boundaries are characterized by increased chemical activity, slippage under stress loading, and the formation of voids. These conditions can lead to creep, the tendency of blade material to deform at a temperature-dependent rate under stresses well below the yield strength of the material.

·        Corrosion and cracks also start at grain boundaries. Thus, grain boundaries greatly shorten turbine vane and blade life, and require lowered turbine temperatures with a concurrent decrease in engine performance.

Single crystal technology:

·        To offset the limitations imposed by grain boundaries in polycrystalline materials, metallurgists have sought to eliminate grain boundaries from turbine airfoils altogether, by inventing techniques to cast single-crystal turbine blades and vanes, and design alloys to be used exclusively in single-crystal form.

·        By eliminating grain boundaries, single-crystal airfoils have longer thermal and fatigue life, are more corrosion resistant and can also be cast with thinner walls.

Economy

India expected to invest $1 billion in AI by 2023

·        Global enterprises are expected to invest $98 billion in artificial intelligence (AI) by 2023 and India’s share in it will be about $1 billion.

·        However, worryingly, 55% of this proposed global investment may go waste due to a lack of familiarity or understanding of newer practices, technologies and tools and the inability to optimise data. The corresponding wastage in India will be around $484 million. Further, poor management practices may also lead to further losses.

Editorials

Another wave spells more nutrition loss (Economy) 

GS Paper3: Economy & GS Paper 2: Govt. policies

Context:

1.     The political and social handling of the COVID-19 pandemic has added to the persisting issues of food insecurity faced by millions in India even prior to the novel corona virus pandemic.

2.     India consistently has ranked poorly in all international rankings on hunger (ranking 102 among 117 countries in the Global Hunger Index 2019).

3.     With the second, more vigorous wave of COVID-19, the inability of those already on the brink of subsistence to absorb a second economic shock cannot be overlooked even as the current health crisis is creating havoc.

4.     Rural distress specifically needs closer examination and urgent policy attention.

Data collection, findings

1.     The Rapid Rural Community Response or RCRC to COVID-19, a collective of over 60 non-governmental organisations has collected three rounds of data since the lockdown.

2.     The third round conducted between December 2020-January 2021 has collected data from 11,766 households across 64 districts, in Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh.

Cutting down on food

1.     The most recent data suggest a persistence of cutting down on food even nine months after the first lockdown, during the seeming “revival” period.

2.     While 40% of the sample cut down on food during the first lockdown, an alarming 25% reportedly continued to cut down on food during the most recent survey conducted between December and January 2021.

3.     Households reported cutting down on nutritious food — 80% cut down on milk, vegetables, pulses and oil (around 50% reported cutting down on pulses alone).

4.     Disaggregating the figure, socially marginalised Dalits, and those with lesser access to food security schemes (such as migrants) faced more severe food insecurity.

5.     Comparing similar households, households in Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand were faring among the worst performing States.

6.     These reductions will undoubtedly further accelerate the impending effects on children’s nutrition, as highlighted in the National Family Health Survey or NFHS-V (2019-20) and the Global Food Policy Report, 2021.

7.     The loss in nutrition may have come as a consequence of people losing their jobs and/or being pushed into lower income brackets over time due to the nature and handling of the pandemic.

Reduction in incomes

1.     Pew Research Center has indicated that the middle class in India has shrunk by over 32 million households in the past year.

2.     Survey suggests an over 70% reported reduction in incomes post the pandemic, with many falling into significant pre-carity.

3.     While 55% of households recalled earning less than ?5,000 per month prior to the pandemic, around 74% reported doing so in December 2020-January 2021.

4.     It is thus unsurprising that around 30% households were also seeking loans, and among them, at least half of them reported needing loans for food, all indicative of the debilitating food and financial insecurities that poor households continue to face.

Migrants on the margins

1.     The second wave of the pandemic comes on the back of an uneven recovery and persistence of crippling food and financial insecurity among the poorest households, especially migrants.

2.     Migrants who have travelled to cities only months ago are again travelling back to their villages.

3.     In one sample, 74% households had migrant members who had returned to the village during or after the lockdown (in mid-2020); 57% among them had gone back to the destination city by December-January, with 59% of those remaining also wanting to go back.

4.     There was limited support for migrants even in existing social protection schemes such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

a.     For example, among the poorest, households with migrants were more likely to seek work than those without (43% versus 32%), but less likely to get work (49% versus 59%) under the scheme. 

Food security is a must

1.     The Government has promised to restart the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) with 5 kg of rice/wheat per person per month for the next two months.

2.     The government needs to provide similar support for stabler longer periods;

1.     Expand the current offering to include nutritious foods like pulses;

2.     Address issues faced in existing schemes such as MGNREGA (like delays in wages and rationing); and

3.     New schemes such as a potential urban employment scheme should be explored.

3.     Food security schemes such as ration provided to children through anganwadis, Public Distribution System and mid-day meal scheme in primary schools need to be ramped up systematically and urgently.

4.     For migrants stuck in cities without work, community kitchens (such as Amma canteens) are required.

5.     The most vulnerable will need more predictable and stable support than ever before.