Whatsapp 93125-11015 For Details
The formation of a “more representative” and multipolar world order is in the global interest, leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation said at a virtual summit chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The grouping’s decision to induct Iran as its ninth and latest member was one of a number of agreements signed at the summit. However, India, who hosted the summit for the first time, refused to join other members on paragraphs relating to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in the joint statement, and stayed out of a joint statement on SCO Economic Development Strategy 2030, indicating a lack of consensus in the grouping.
Mr. Modi also took sharp aim at Pakistan for cross-border terrorism, and at China for connectivity projects that do not respect sovereign boundaries.
The SCO grouping now comprises China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
The agreements signed include the New Delhi Declaration, outlining areas of cooperation between SCO countries; a joint statement on countering radicalisation; and one on digital transformation, where India offered to share expertise on digital payment interfaces.
In a reference to sanctions on Russia and Iran, SCO members jointly criticised non-UN sanctions as “incompatible with the principles of international law”, which have a “negative impact” on other countries. SCO members also agreed to explore the use of “national currencies” for payments within the grouping, which would circumvent international dollar-based payments.
However, the declaration noted that only “interested member states” signed the economic strategy statement, while leaving India out of the paragraphs supporting China’s BRI. India opposes the BRI over its inclusion of projects in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Better connectivity not only enhances mutual trade but also fosters mutual trust. However, in these efforts, it is essential to uphold the basic principles of the SCO charter, particularly respecting the sovereignty and regional integrity of the Member States.
Editorial
A macro view of the fiscal health of States (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
In India, the States mobilise altogether more than a third of total revenue, spend 60% of combined government expenditure, and have a share in government borrowing that is around 40%.
Given the size of the fiscal operation of States, an up-to-date understanding of their finances is critical in order to draw evidence-based inferences on the fiscal situation of the country — in short, an analysis of the emerging fiscal situation of States by examining key data on State finances from individual State budgets for 2023-24.
As we complete the first quarter of the fiscal year 2023-24, it is becoming evident that the increase in general government deficit and debt that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic has begun to recede.
There have been significant post-pandemic fiscal corrections at the Union and State levels. At the Union level, the fiscal deficit declined from 9.1% of GDP in 2020-21 to 5.9% in 2023-24 (BE).
All State fiscal deficit was 4.1% of GDP in 2020-21. It declined to 3.24% of GDP in 2022-23 (RE). For the major States, for the year 2023-24 (BE), it is expected to be 2.9% of GDP.
This sharp reduction in fiscal deficit suggests that we cannot have an impressionistic view of the fiscal situation of the country, especially on the finances of States.
Due to the absence of aggregation of individual State Budget data, a consolidated view of general government finances is not readily available.
Every year, this data become available only after the publication of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Annual Study on State Finances.
Aggregating fiscal data from individual State Budgets is rigorous and time consuming. Hence, the timeline of this publication by the RBI is during the second half of the fiscal year.
The analysis here is based on the data collated from the individual Budgets of 17 major States. These States are responsible for more than 90% of the combined spending of all States.
Antibiotics with promise — a lifeline India awaits (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
In the relentless battle against highly drug-resistant infections, a team of doctors recently witnessed a glimmer of hope amid the challenges they faced. Their extraordinary efforts and the life they saved highlight the critical need for action.
This is not just a story; it is an earnest plea for Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) for essential antibiotics that can make a profound difference between life and death.
In an intensive care room of a leading hospital in Hyderabad, an 18-year-old patient bravely fought not only his aggressive T-cell leukemia but also a formidable and resistant adversary — Extensively Drug Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
This strain, known for its high resistance to multiple antibiotics, left the medical team with limited and often ineffective treatment options. Despite the administration of last-resort antibiotics, the patient’s condition deteriorated rapidly.
Persisting fever spikes, and the infection’s assault on his lungs signalled a grave situation. The bacteria were literally eating up the patient’s face. Time was running out, and his life hung in the balance.
In their quest for a lifeline, the doctors turned to a promising antibiotic, cefepime/zidebactam. Developed by Indian researchers, this antibiotic combines two active components to combat drug-resistant gram-negative pathogens, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
While still undergoing phase 3 trials internationally, this Indian innovation has shown remarkable potential. Under a compassionate use protocol, the necessary approvals were obtained, and the patient received cefepime/zidebactam.
Miraculously, signs of clinical improvement began to surface. The patient’s fever subsided, blood cultures turned negative, and the need for oxygen diminished. Slowly but steadily, his strength returned, reigniting hope.
This extraordinary case underscores the urgent importance of granting EUA for antibiotics currently in phase 3 trials or licensed from other countries.
The survival of this young patient serves as a poignant reminder of the need for timely access to effective antibiotics for those most in need.
Opinion
Lessons from the fracas over foodgrains (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The Karnataka government’s decision to convert the promised Anna Bhagya scheme to a direct benefit transfer temporarily has brought into focus the limits of a State government’s policy intervention on a crucial matter such as food security.
Under Anna Bhagya, the government had envisaged the provision of five kg of free rice per person per month to 4.42 crore beneficiaries, including 45 lakh Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) cardholders, 3.58 crore Priority Household (PHH) cardholders, and 39 lakh cardholders belonging to Karnataka’s own category of PHH.
This was in addition to the regular entitlements to the beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA). The State would have required around 2.3 lakh metric tonnes of rice every month to meet this commitment.
The Food Corporation of India (FCI) had agreed on June 12 to supply the quantity under the Open Market Sale Scheme-Domestic (OMSS-D) for July, but the Centre had a different plan.
Anna Bhagya, which was to be launched on July 1, ran into a serious problem on June 13 when the Union Food Ministry discontinued the sale of rice and wheat under OMSS-D to all State governments, with exceptions.
Karnataka had planned to utilise OMSS-D to implement the scheme, which was one of the five pre-poll guarantees of the Congress party.
Though the OMSS is meant for the sale of surplus stocks of wheat and rice at pre-determined prices through e-auctions in the open market, to improve the supply of foodgrains and control the price line, States have generally been allowed to purchase the surplus stock without e-auctions.
The OMSS is now limited to accommodate small and marginal buyers and traders. The quantity that a bidder can purchase in a single bid ranges from 10-100 metric tonnes at present.
The Centre’s decision took several States, especially rice-deficit ones, by surprise, since OMSS is one of the routes that they use to supplement their allocation.
Explainer
The student debt crisis in the U.S. (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, International Organisation)
U.S. President Joe Biden has already released a new plan to cancel billions in student loan debt after the Supreme Court of the U.S. (SCOTUS) in a 6-3 decision on June 30 blocked his ambitious plan to cancel $430 billion in debt.
As per the latest Federal Reserve figures, more than 45 million Americans owe a total of $1.77 trillion in student debt to the U.S. government.
As per the Congressional Research Service (CRS), approximately 63% of the U.S. population over the age of 25 has at some time enrolled in some level of higher education and roughly 17% of the country’s population aged 18 or above has federal student loans. Meanwhile, the median student loan debt is just above $17,000.
Research by the nonprofit College Board suggests that over the past three decades, the cost of higher education has risen sharply in the U.S., doubling at private four-year colleges and universities and rising even further at public four-year schools. Between 2006 and 2019, the outstanding balance of student loans has nearly quadrupled.
In the U.S., the federal government is the primary source of student loans, running several loan programmes to help students and their families finance higher education.
Once a student borrows a federal loan, they enter into a contractual obligation to repay the loan with interest. They can sign up for specific repayment plans, with repayment periods spanning a decade or more. Under a standard 10-year repayment plan, a borrower has to make 120 equal payments of principal and interest spread over a decade.
Then there are income-driven repayment (IDR) plans, the kind that President Biden wanted to alter in order to cancel student debt.
Such plans cap the monthly payment installments at a share of the borrower’s discretionary income, say 10%-15%; extend the repayment period over a span of 20 or 25 years, and forgive or write off any unpaid principal and interest remaining after that period.
The plan, announced in August 2022, was supposed to cancel $10,000 in federal student loan debt for those making less than $1,25,000 a year or households making less than $2,50,000.
Text
The irrevocable connection between anaemia and maternal health (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
Of late anaemia has been in the news in India, what with the government proposing to remove a question on it from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) and instead do a more elaborate test to determine haemoglobin levels in the blood as part of the Diet and Biomarker (DAB) survey.
A paper recommending that normative values for haemoglobin must be lowered in India, based on a small study, has also come in for criticism.
The WhatsApp groups of two professional sectors, where repartees have been flying hard and fast are those belonging to nutritionists and obstetricians and gynaecologists.
The latter groups who have actually seen the impact of anaemia especially on maternal and infant health have been articulating their views on keeping the standards for anaemia, and to not amend them based on a statistically insignificant study.
Policy makers in India must allow the results of a multi-country study published recently in The Lancet to inform their rules on measuring anaemia, handling it and making sure the interventions are sensible and far reaching.
Anaemia has a very strong link with postpartum haemorrhage (excessive vaginal bleeding after delivery), and the risk of death or near miss is very high.
As per the study, by the WOMAN (World Maternal Antifibrinolytic )-2 trial collaborators, worldwide, more than half a billion women of reproductive age are anaemic.
Each year, about 70,000 women who give birth die from postpartum haemorrhage, almost all of them in low-and middle-income countries.
While a known risk of anaemia or low haemoglobin levels is postpartum death, researchers decided to examine in detail the association between anaemia and the risk of postpartum haemorrhage.
This trial enrolled over 10,000 women with moderate or severe anaemia giving birth vaginally in hospitals in Pakistan, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Zambia, countries where anaemia in pregnancy was common and established by other trials.
They examined the continuous association between prebirth haemoglobin and the risk of postpartum haemorrhage in a large cohort of women from low-and middle-income countries.
News
Govt. to help combat child trafficking in border areas, set up rehabilitation homes (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 2, Social Justice)
The Centre has decided to help build infrastructure in border areas to combat child trafficking and help in rehabilitation and protection of victims.
As part of this initiative, the Women and Child Development Ministry will provide financial assistance to the States and Union Territories (U.T.) along the border areas to set up homes for the protection and rehabilitation of trafficking victims from neighbouring countries.
These homes would provide shelter, food, clothing, counselling, primary health facilities and other daily needs for the trafficking victims, most of whom are children and minors.
According to the officials, India is a source as well as a destination country for human trafficking. The main source countries are Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar from where women and girls are trafficked in the lure of a better life, jobs and good living conditions on this side.
A majority of those trafficked are minor girls or young women who after their arrival in India are sold and forced into commercial sex work.
These women often reach major cities such as Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad from where they are taken out of the country mainly to West Asia and South East Asia.
Thus, the States bordering these countries need to be more vigilant and have adequate facilities to provide relief and rehabilitation, and in order to aid this, the Ministry would provide the financial assistance.
Till now, the Women and Child Development Ministry has been providing financial assistance to all States and Union Territories under the Nirbhaya Fund to set up and strengthen Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTU) in every district of the country.
Funding has also been provided for setting up these units in border guarding forces such as the Border Security Force (BSF) and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB). As of now, 788 AHTUs are functional.
The trafficking victims in the border areas will also be produced before the child welfare committees to declare them fit for availing sponsorship as per the Mission Vatsalya Scheme guidelines and accordingly, the States and U.T.s will be requested to do the needful, he said.
Mission Vatsalya is the central scheme focused on the protection and welfare of children.