ATL App Development Module for school children launched.

Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) of NITI Aayog has launched the ATL App Development Module for school children across the country. The app was launched to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. The move comes as it is crucial for young Indians to learn skills at a young age and to enable them to become the next generation of technology leaders.

ATL App:

·         AIM, NITI Aayog launched the ATL App Development module in collaboration with Plezmo, an Indian homegrown startup.

·          The ATL App is an online course and is completely Free for school children.

·          The young innovators can learn to build mobile apps through six project-based learning modules and online mentoring sessions in various Indian languages and showcase their talent.

·          It is also aimed to help to build capacities and acumen for app development within school teachers, periodic Teacher Training sessions will be conducted on the AIM App Development course.

·          The skills of app development to the young tinkerers of Atal Tinkering Labs across India so that they can integrate their Tinkering Lab innovations with mobile apps enhancing the usability and reach of their innovations.

·          It will be one of the largest app learning and development initiatives at a school level in any country.

·          So far, more than 5100 ATLs have been established in more than 660 districts across the country by AIM with more than 2 million students having access to the Tinkering Labs.

 

Indian Railways to become Green Railway by achieving net-zero carbon emission.

The Ministry of Railways has announced mission mode with the goal of transforming Indian Railways into Green Railways by the year 2030. It has taken a number of major initiatives towards mitigation of global warming and combating climate change.

Highlights:

·         Indian Railways, as a part of mission mode, has planned to electrify All routes on Broad Gauge (BG) network by December 2023.

·          Indian Railways is currently focusing on the electrification of last-mile connectivity & missing links. Under this, 365 km of major connectivity work has been commissioned amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

·          Indian Railways strategy to achieve net-zero carbon emission includes Railway Electrification, improve the energy efficiency of locomotives and trains and fixed installations, green certification for installations/stations, fitting bio-toilets in coaches and switching to renewable sources of energy, among others.

·          So far, Indian Railways has completed electrification of more than 40,000 Route km (RKM) (63% of Broad Gauge routes). Out of the total 18,605 km electrification work was done during 2014-20. Earlier, only 3,835 km electrification work was completed during the period 2009-14. Indian Railways has fixed a target of electrification of 7000 RKM for the year 2020-21.

 

NTPC Ltd won 2019 CII-ITC Sustainability Awards.

NTPC Ltd, a central PSU under Minister of Power and India’s largest power Generation Company, has won the prestigious CII-ITC Sustainability Award 2019, under the outstanding Accomplishment in Corporate Excellence Category. NTPC has received Commendation for Significant Achievement in the category of CSR.

Highlights:

·         NTPC always strives for sustainable development around the power stations.

·          CSR program Girl Empowerment Mission (GEM) is a 4 weeks residential program and it has been institutionalized in the vicinity of its power stations for benefit of school-going girls from underprivileged backgrounds to support their overall development.

·          NTPC has initiated Contractors’ Labour Information Management System (CLIMS) through which payment to contract labourers is paid on the last day of the month at project sites.

·          NTPC Ltd was recognized and rewarded for excellence in sustainability practices.

·          It is considered as the most credible platform for sustainability recognition in the country.

·         NTPC has a total installed capacity of 62110 MW. The group has 70 Power stations comprising of 24 Coal, 7 combined cycle Gas/Liquid Fuel, 1 Hydro, 13 Renewables along with 25 Subsidiary & JV Power Stations Station.

 

World Population Day.

Every year, 11th July is celebrated as the World Population Day 

Theme for 2020: How to safeguard the health and rights of women and girls amid the Covid-19 pandemic 

It was established by the then-Governing Council of the UN Development Programme in 1989, an outgrowth of the interest generated by the “Day of Five Billion” which was observed on 11 July 1987.

Current estimates indicate that roughly 83 million people are being added to the world’s population every year. 

India has just 2% of the world’s landmass and 16% of the global population.  

Although the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) is declining in India, poorer states like Bihar (3.2), Uttar Pradesh (3.0), Rajasthan (2.6) and Jharkhand (2.5) still have TFRs above the national average of 2.2. 

Total Fertility Rate (TFR) is the average number of children born to women during their reproductive years. For the population to remain stable, an overall total fertility rate of 2.1 is needed. 

 

ASEEM portal portal was launched by MSDE.

Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) has launched ‘Aatamanirbhar Skilled Employee Employer Mapping (ASEEM)’ portal to help skilled people find sustainable livelihood opportunities. 
ASEEM portal will provide employers a platform to assess the availability of skilled workforce and formulate their hiring plans. 

The portal will map details of workers based on regions and local industry demands and will bridge demand-supply gap of skilled workforce across sectors. 

The Artificial Intelligence-based platform will also provide real-time granular information by identifying relevant skilling requirements and employment prospects.  

Also available as an application (app), it consists of three IT based interfaces: 

·         EmployerPortal: Employer onboarding, demand aggregation, candidate selection. 

·         Dashboard: Reports, trends, analytics, and highlight gaps. 

·         Candidate Application: Create & track candidate profile, share job suggestions. 

 

Rewa solar power project.

The 750- megawatt Rewa solar Power Plant in Madhya Pradesh was dedicated to the nation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi 

Key Takeaways 

The plant consists of three solar power generating units that are located on a 500-hectare plot of land inside a 1,500-hectare solar park 

The solar plant was set up by the Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Limited, a joint venture between Madhya Pradesh Urja Vikas Nigam Limited and the Centre’s Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI). 

 This project will reduce carbon emission equivalent to approx. 15 lakh ton of CO2 per year, which is equivalent to planting 26 million trees. 

Do You Know? 

The process of reverse auction in bidding for projects was tried for first time in India for this project

 It has a purchase rate of 2.97 rupees per unit, which is the lowest rate till date. 

International Finance Corporation, a World Bank group company, has invested close to $440 million or Rs 2,800 crore in the project 

Bhadla Solar Park in Jodhpur district in Rajasthan has a capacity of 2,245 MW and Pavagada Solar Park in Tumkur district, Karnataka has a capacity of 2,050 MW .

 

Evidence of Ocean Mixing

·         A New Research has provided the first direct evidence for the Gulf Stream blender effect,
identifying a new mechanism of mixing water across the swift-moving current.

·         The results have important implications for weather, climate, and fisheries because ocean mixing plays a critical role in these processes.

Highlights:

·         The churning along the edges of the Gulf Stream across areas as small as a kilometer could be a leading source of ocean mixing between the waters on either side of the current.

·         As the Gulf Stream courses its way up the east coast of the U.S. and Canada, it brings warm salty water from the tropics into the North Atlantic.

·          But the current also creates an invisible wall of water that divides two distinct ocean regions: the colder, fresher waters along the northern edge of the Gulf Stream, and the warmer, saltier waters on the southern edge of the current.

·          By showing that small-scale mixing across the Gulf Stream may have a significant impact, the new study reveals an important, under-recognized contributor to ocean circulation,
biology, and potentially climate.

·          The Gulf Stream plays an important role in what's known as the ocean biological pump—a system that traps excess carbon dioxide, buffering the planet from global warming.

·          In the surface waters of the Gulf Stream region, ocean mixing influences the growth of phytoplankton—the base of the ocean food web. This phytoplankton absorbs carbon
dioxide near the surface and later sink to the bottom, taking carbon with them and trapping it in the deep ocean.

Gulf Stream:

·          The Gulf Stream is one of the largest drivers of climate and biological productivity from Florida to Newfoundland and along the western coast of Europe.

·         It is part of the North Atlantic Gyre and formed due to ocean circulation. Its presence has led to the development of strong cyclones of all types, both within the atmosphere and within the ocean.

Need of a fiscal council

Context: 

Former RBI Governor D. Subbarao gives his opinion on whether Fiscal Council is needed or not 

·         The government needs to borrow and spend more now in order  .

·         To support vulnerable households  

·         Engineer economic recovery Challenges

·         A steep rise in debt will jeopardise medium-term growth prospects 

Loss of inter-generational equity:

·         Increased borrowing increases interest burden on future generation and reduces their capability to borrow 

·         Possible downgrading of Sovereign ratings which may lead to slowdown of foreign investments in country

Inflation in near term 

·         Loss of market confidence due to government’s fiscal irresponsibility 

·         How to increase borrowing while still retaining market confidence? 

·         Government has to come out with a credible plan for fiscal consolidation post-COVID-19 in order to retain market confidence.  

·         The government can signal its virtue by establishing some new institutional mechanism for enforcing fiscal discipline, such as for example a fiscal council 

About Fiscal Council 

·         It was first recommended by the 13th Finance Commission and was subsequently endorsed by the 14th Finance Commission and then by FRBM (Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management) Review Committee headed by N.K. Singh. 

·         Fiscal council, at its core, is a permanent agency with a mandate to independently assess the government’s fiscal plans and projections against parameters of macroeconomic sustainability .

·         It will then put out its findings in the public domain.  

·         Such an open scrutiny will keep the government on the straight and narrow path of fiscal virtue and hold it to account for any default. 

·         It will give an independent and expert assessment of the government’s fiscal stance, and thereby aid an informed debate in Parliament.  

What will be the mandate/functions of Fiscal Council? 

The fiscal council’s mandate will include:-

·         Making multi-year fiscal projections, preparing fiscal sustainability analysis.

·         Providing an independent assessment of the Central government’s fiscal performance and compliance with fiscal rules .

·         Recommending suitable changes to fiscal strategy to ensure consistency of the annual financial statement.

·         Taking steps to improve quality of fiscal data.

·         Producing an annual fiscal strategy report which will be released publicly. 

Challenges.

·         Lack of Political will leading to Chronic fiscal irresponsibility.

·         Back in 2003 when FRBM was enshrined into law, it was thought of as the magic cure for fiscal ills.  

·         The FRBM enjoins the government to conform to pre-set fiscal targets, and in the event of failure to do so, to explain the reasons for deviation 

·         The government is also required to submit to Parliament a ‘Fiscal Policy Strategy Statement’ (FPSS) to demonstrate the credibility of its fiscal stance 

·         However, there is lack of in-depth discussion in Parliament on fiscal stance and the submission of the FPSS often passes off without even much notice. 

·         It's working may create confusion.

·         Fiscal council will give macroeconomic forecasts which the Finance Ministry is expected to use for the budget, and if the Ministry decides to differ from those estimates, it is required to explain why it has differed. 

·         Besides, forcing the Finance Ministry to use someone else’s estimates will dilute its accountability.  

·         If the estimates go wrong, Finance Ministry will simply shift the blame to the fiscal council. 

Duplication of Work

·         As of now, both the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and RBI give forecasts of growth and other macroeconomic variables, questions will be raised about need for Fiscal Council’s projections 

·         Another argument made in support of a fiscal council is that it will act as watchdog & prevent the government from gaming the fiscal rules through creative accounting. 

·         However, there is already an institutional mechanism in form of CAG to do the job of auditing & fiscal watchdog of government spending 

Way Ahead-

A week before the scheduled budget presentation, let the CAG, a constitutional authority, appoint a three-member committee for a five-week duration with a limited mandate of scrutinising the budget after it is presented to Parliament 

The committee will scrutinize government’s fiscal stance and the integrity of the numbers, and give out a public report .

The CAG’s office will provide the secretarial and logistic support to the committee from within its resources.  
The Finance Ministry, the RBI, the CSO and the Niti Aayog will each depute an officer to serve in the secretariat.  
The committee will be wound up after submitting its report .

 

India's  Approach to take on China in post covid era..

There is need for india to get industrial policy right, so as to take on China.

India’s developmental approach post 1991 .

Development has been service sector-led and has undermined manufacturing 

At the same time, China has made rapid strides in manufacturing that has resulted in an uneven balance between the two countries.

 

Consequences 
The share of manufacturing in GDP and employment has stagnated since economic reforms began in 1991 and manufacturing employment actually fell after 2014. 

China has developed capacities across a wide spectrum in applied engineering and chemical processes and has attempted to capture global markets. 

India on the other hand is stuck with various low-end services, the scope for which is rapidly declining. 

The annual trade-deficit between the two countries, of over $50 billion 

Why the present India-China trade balance is unsustainable? 

Most Indian exports are raw materials or in that genre (low-tech and low employment, like ores, rare earths, chemicals), while the imports are in manufacturing (high-tech) 

Such a trade pattern inevitably results in unequal terms of trade in time  

Even in areas where India has some competence, critical inputs are imported from China. For instance 

Pharmaceuticals (68% dependence on China, for active ingredients)  

Auto-industry (15-20% dependence on China for electricals, electronics and fuel injection) 

A sustained current account deficit has led India to multilaterals for loans even for undertaking earthworks, and then use the foreign exchange to balance the current account.  

High imports from China also leads exporting meaningful jobs to China. 

What should India do to rectify the trade balance with China? 

India’s approach to development has to change in favour of manufacturing if a total surrender is to be forestalled. 
Also, there has to be a near ban on imports of low-end products and consumer goods from China. Up to 3,000 imported (Chinese) items (toys, watches, plastic products) could be substituted by local supplies. 

There would be short-term financial losses to consumers, traders and domestic manufacturers for up to 2-3 years by not being able to import inexpensive goods from China, but this will gradually reduce 

Lower imports from China would also imply better overall terms of trade and therefore, stabilisation of the rupee, resulting in lower rupee value of petroleum products 

Isn’t the above approach equivalent to import-substitution model of yesteryears? 

There is a clear difference between strengthening local companies to become globally competitive (proposed) and companies producing under license for captive markets (earlier) 

Earlier, local industries could not grow in size due to controls, now they can 

Earlier, they were psychologically not prepared to face international markets, now they are. 

Also, the approach proposed here is not to fully substitute imports but to reduce unnecessary imports for saving foreign exchange and jobs, along with weaving the Indian industry into the international division of labour. 

Way Ahead 

Government and industry need to work closely and create mutual trust for promoting industries through tariffs, subsidies, land and labour law easing, infrastructure, etc.  

Approaches to gain economies of scale need to be put in place to overcome India’s shortcoming of having 66 million MSMEs. A “one-state/district-one product approach” can bring together SMEs to form a single giant unit. 

Need to invest heavily in targeted R&D, for which private-public sector partnership is essential. Expenditure on R&D should rise 3-4 times from 0.7% of GDP at present. 

Investment in education, training, and human capital formation should rise from the current 3% to 6% of GDP, with greater industry-based training, focus on quality, and emphasis on STEM. 

Contain brain-drain out of India (from top engineering and medical colleges) to foreign shores. Partnerships with the best universities in the West is one approach to provide quality education here.