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Feb 21, 2022
‘RUBBER BILL 2022 MAKES RUBBER BOARD REDUNDANT, DOESN’T ENSURE FAIR PRICE’
The Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry has proposed to repeal the Rubber Act, 1947 and replace it with the Rubber (Promotion and Development) Bill, 2022.
Need for a new act?
Study Highlights
Statistics related to domestic violence
GM Crops?
What is Big Tech?
Who are De-notified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes?
Kasanka National Park
Highlights
Why are oil prices so volatile?
Genesis
Need for a new act?
- Changes in India’s industrial and economic scenario, commitment towards ease of doing business, and need for the rationalization of the functions of the Rubber Board.
- It is imperative to remove the archaic provisions that no longer meet the requirements of the present scenario and create a conducive environment for the development and growth of the industry.
- Functions of Rubber Board need to be expanded in a holistic manner so that areas/services already being provided are taken care of.
- Under the new bill, the Board shall be responsible for the promotion and development of the Indian rubber industry.
- The Bill brings natural rubber, its cultivation, rubber plantations, rubber wood and all associated agricultural activities under the ambit of the rubber industry.
- This is a major change from the Act which did not define rubber cultivation as an industrial activity.
- Rubber plantations will be under the Union or Concurrent List by default once the Bill is passed.
- The Act had a provision that mandated the central government to consult the Rubber Board on important matters. This provision has been dropped, eroding the board’s functional relevance and authority.
- The Bill gives the central government authority to supersede the Rubber Board. The central government can take its own decisions without consulting the Rubber Board and implement them through any person(s) (industry) it wants.
- The central government can exempt any industry from having to register with the Rubber Board and seeking a trade certificate. The exempted industry doesn't have to file returns with the board.
- This will create anarchy as the board will have no clue of the vital statistics. Possibly this route will also be used for importing rubber.
- While reconstituting a fresh board (at the end of the superseding period), the Bill says the Centre can pick and choose members from the previous board. It states that members of the previous board will be eligible to become members.
- But the government can conveniently avoid inconvenient members. The Bill gives unbridled power to the Centre.
- The Rubber Board will become a mere rubber stamp. No more free and fair debates of new ideas. Board will have to toe the “official” line. No functional autonomy. This defeats the whole purpose of having a Board.
- To promote the overall sustainability of the Rubber Industry with respect to economic, social, and environmental dimensions.
- To provide the required focus towards the development of the entire Rubber Industry value chain from upstream production to downstream manufacturing activities.
- To strategize towards the increase in areas under Natural Rubber by new planting without causing any adverse impact on forests/natural ecosystems and food security.
- To facilitate the increase in average national rubber productivity through appropriate agro management practices including systematic replanting and ensuring better income for the growers.
- To strategize towards the meeting of the raw material requirement of domestic industry through domestic production as far as possible.
- To promote activities for ensuring the quality of processed forms of NR at par with international standards.
- To promote the development of the rubber product manufacturing sector and facilitate the export of quality rubber products.
- The new Bill is highly lopsided, favouring the industry and harming growers’ interests.
- Though the Bill defines a ‘grower’ as one who owns the estate, it is not the case.
- The mean size of a rubber holding is hardly 0.5 hectare. Rubber growers are small and marginal farmers, and safeguarding their interests is crucial to sustaining rubber production in the country. Natural rubber cultivation gives livelihood to more than 1.3 million households.
- There are several provisions that will hurt growers.
- The Bill provides for fixing minimum / maximum price for rubber. The grower does not need a minimum price, but a fair price. The Bill does not provide for fixing fair price.
- Also, if and when the domestic market falls below the fair price, the Act had a provision enabling the Rubber Board to procure rubber and export, but this provision has been removed from the Bill. Fixing the maximum price will only help the industry, not the grower.
- For the next 25 years, Rubber Board has set a goal to quadruple India’s export of rubber goods from the current earnings of 25,000 crores. In 2020, India was the world’s sixth-largest producer of natural rubber. and the fourth-largest in south Asia, behind Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam. The land area available for natural rubber cultivation has increased over the past years.
- In 2020, just over 822 thousand hectares were used for rubber plantations across the country. A 2019 government report states that the production capacity in India is around 900,000 tonnes, of which around 75% is tapped.
- Traditional rubber-growing states comprising Kerala and Tamil Nadu account for 81% of production. Major non-traditional rubber growing regions are the North-Eastern states of Tripura, Assam, Meghalaya, Odisha, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and West Bengal. India is the 2nd largest consumer of NR globally with current consumption of around 1.1 million tonnes.
Study Highlights
- Combining the data sets also helped them understand how the trees responded to climate variables, such as variation in rainfall and temperature yearly, as well as ecological characteristics such as competition with other trees, soil quality and tree diameter.
- A strong negative effect of fall–spring maximum temperature and a positive effect of water-year precipitation on tree growth was found.
- Tree growth will decline 22-117 per cent under future climatic conditions, the researchers forecast. The combined effect of climate and size-related trends can result in a 56-91 per cent decline.
- The growth declines we’re forecasting will mean less uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide in the future by Arizona's forests.
- Fewer ponderosa pines grew in Arizona as temperature increased, the researchers wrote. This was especially true for the largest trees. Taller trees were found to be more vulnerable to droughts driven by high temperatures, according to the report.
- The smaller trees were more vulnerable to drought driven by lack of water, it added. Their smaller roots, which covered a smaller area than the roots of larger trees, struggled to extract moisture from the soil, the scientists noted.
- As summers become hotter, vegetation must adapt its growth patterns for survival. They grow taller to cool themselves off. As they grow upward, their stalks become longer, their leaves shrink, and they grow farther away from other plants.
- As the amount of these human-induced air pollutants rises, the growth of vegetation increases. Air composition alterations may stimulate the development of allergens and poisonous plant species.
- Poison ivy grows at high rates in warmer, carbon dioxide-rich environments. Around 80% of civilians are allergic to this plant, so overgrowth may negatively affect human health.
- Climate change causes warmer summer temperatures and inconsistent precipitation patterns. These environmental alterations affect the flowering periods of plants globally.
- As the global temperature increases, plants will flower earlier in the season. Earlier bloom times reduce the plant’s ability to withstand the entire season.
- As precipitation decreases, flowers may bloom later in the season. This affects the species which rely on this bloom for food, shade, and more.
- Actions taken to slow global warming and limit the impact on plants
- Utilizing alternate forms of transportation
- Reducing meat consumption
- Limiting energy use
- Community awareness about adopting sustainable practices
- Deforestation must be reduced
- Global warming is the major issue among all climate change challenges; it is well known fact that to completely address global warming, we have to reduce the quantity of heat-trapping harmful emission emissions from the atmosphere. Fortunately, awareness and technology in terms of practical solutions is now available. Individual to Individuals, action is required to reduce carbon emissions.
- The cheetah translocation project aims to bring African cheetahs to India, where the Indian cheetah was declared extinct in 1952.
- Cheetahs face a variety of pressures to their existence in the wild, including habitat loss, hunting of their prey base for bush-meat, illegal international trade and conflict with livestock owners.
- Since the trade in wild animals and plants crosses borders between countries, the effort to regulate it requires international cooperation to safeguard certain species from over-exploitation.
- According to NTCA, reintroduction of cheetah would be a matter of great conservation significance, as it would be the only large animal that peninsular India has lost in its historical times and bringing focus on country's most productive yet neglected grassland ecosystem.
- After an extensive study, Kuno was selected as the ideal location and adequate prey base for shifting cheetahs.
- They keep prey species healthy by killing the weak and old individuals.
- They also act as a population check which helps plant-life by preventing overgrazing.
- Without predators like the cheetah, the savanna ecosystem in Namibia would be very different and the current ecological trend toward desertification would be accelerated.
- Currently, cheetahs are listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.
- The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) lists them as an Appendix 1 species.
- The reasons for the cheetah’s endangerment
- human-wildlife conflict,
- loss of habitat and loss of prey,
- poaching and illegal wildlife trafficking, with cubs being taken from the Horn of Africa and smuggled into the exotic pet trade, primarily in the Gulf States.
- The animal is charismatic and has a very special significance for the national conservation ethic and ethos.
- The word, 'Cheetah', originates from Sanskrit, meaning 'the spotted one', and Neolithic cave paintings in India have been found to depict the animal.
- The animal was found in the entire country, except the high mountains, coasts and the northeast region, according to different accounts.
- The large-scale capture of animals from the wild for coursing, bounty, and sport hunting, and extensive habitat conservation along with consequent decline in prey base were the main reasons behind the decline of cheetah in India.
- The number of cheetahs in India had decreased significantly by 1900.
- The last cheetahs in the wild were recorded in 1948 where three of them were shot in the Sal (Shorea robusta) forests of Koriya District (in present-day Chhattisgarh), and a few sporadic reports from Central and Deccan regions till the mid-1970s.
- Kuno-Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary, which was upgraded to a National Park in 2018, has been designated the new habitat of the cheetah.
- It is located in the Chambal Region of Madhya Pradesh and is spread over an area of 750 sq. km.
- It currently has leopards, jackals, spotted deer, sambhar, nilgai, chinkara, wild-boar and four-horned antelope, a prey based ideal for Cheetah.
- It will have all four major cat species- lion, tiger, cheetah and leopard after the Cheetah re-introduction.
Statistics related to domestic violence
- Women aged 15-49 years living in the least developed countries have a 37% lifetime prevalence of domestic violence.
- Among younger women (15-24), the risk is even higher, with one of every four women who have ever been in a relationship facing some form of violence.
- In England, the 2020 Crime Survey reported a 9% increase from 2019 in domestic-abuse related crimes.
- In the United States (US), the number of women who have ever reported experiencing domestic violence increased by 42% from 2016.
- In India, 30% of women have experienced domestic violence at least once from when they were aged and around 4% of ever-pregnant women have experienced spousal violence during a pregnancy.
- When one talks about domestic violence, it is a systematic method to instill fear and subservience in an individual in a domestic setting like a household.
- The intent behind this violence can range from the compulsion to maintain the power structure of an individual over the other or to instill/coerce another individual for self-gratification purposes.
- Domestic Violence in India typically means violence suffered by an individual at the hands of their biological relatives but specifically covers the violence suffered by women from the male members or relatives in her family.
- According to the domestic violence Act, Domestic Violence means harming or injuring a woman in a domestic relationship. It includes physical, sexual, verbal, emotional, and economic abuse within its ambit. The abuse under the Domestic Violence Act includes not only actual abuse but also the threat of abuse.
- The sociological, behavioural and cultural factors include factors like anger issues/aggressive attitude, poverty/economic hardship, difference in status, controlling/dominating nature, drug addiction, upbringing and psychological instability among others.
- Historical factors can be traced back to the inherent evil of patriarchy and superiority complex that has prevailed for centuries among men.
- A subtle form of domination on women, if not direct and glaring, reflects in the religious sanctifications. This also contributes to perpetration of domestic violence against women.
- Cultural Factors leading to domestic violence include the desire for a male child. This obsession resulting from the lack of awareness and inherent male superiority leads to perpetration of domestic violence against women.
- Dowry is a form of socio-cultural factor. But it becomes important to separately mention it because of the rampant domestic violence cases resulting from illegal demand of dowry. This was realized by Parliament also because dowry- related domestic violence has been made a separate head in the scope of abuse resulting in domestic violence under the Domestic Violence Act.
- The short-term physical effects of violence can include minor injuries or serious conditions.
- They can include bruises, cuts, broken bones, or injuries to organs and other parts of the body.
- Some physical injuries are difficult or impossible to see without scans, x-rays, or other tests done by a doctor or nurse.
- The long-emotional and verbal abuse might affect the woman’s mood and children’s mood in their day-to-day activities & might also reduce the efficiency.
- Violence against women, including sexual or physical violence, is linked to many long-term health problems.
- Long-term mental health effects of violence against women can include Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Depression or Anxiety.
- This can further lead to the problem of substance abuse and drug addiction.
- Sexual violence can result in irreparable injury to sexual violence and a loss of self-worth.
- Equality before law (Art. 14)
- Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth (Article 15)
- Equality of opportunity in matters of public employment (Article 16)
- Protection of life and personal liberty (Art.21)
- Equal justice and free legal aid (Art. 39)
- that the citizens, men and women equally, have the right to an adequate means to livelihood;
- that the health and strength of workers, men and women, and the tender age of children are not abused and that citizens are not forced by economic necessity to enter avocations unsuited to their age or strength.
- Fundamental duties (Art. 51A) to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities; to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women.
- Programs that teach young people healthy relationship skills such as communication, effectively managing feelings, and problem-solving can prevent violence.
- Awareness generation should be encouraged.
- Stringent implementation of existing laws.
- Laws should be updated with a dynamic nature of the time.
- Self- defence training should be provided to women.
- Domestic violence has hindered the development of the women as a class of individuals in all aspects of life. Many survivors undergo multiple counselling sessions to return to normal lives.
- Despite having a legal framework in place to curb domestic violence, women continue to suffer. Women should be sensitized about the importance of financial independence and the legal framework that is readily available to help them.
GM Crops?
- GM is a technology that involves inserting DNA into the genome of an organism. To produce a GM plant, new DNA is transferred into plant cells. Usually, the cells are then grown in tissue culture where they develop into plants. The seeds produced by these plants will inherit the new DNA.
- The characteristics of all living organisms are determined by their genetic makeup and its interaction with the environment. The genetic makeup of an organism is its genome, which in all plants and animals is made of DNA.
- The genome contains genes, regions of DNA that usually carry the instructions for making proteins. It is these proteins that give the plant its characteristics. For example, the colour of flowers is determined by genes that carry the instructions for making proteins involved in producing the pigments that colour petals.
- Genetic modification of plants involves adding a specific stretch of DNA into the plant’s genome, giving it new or different characteristics. This could include changing the way the plant grows, or making it resistant to a particular disease. The new DNA becomes part of the GM plant’s genome which the seeds produced by these plants will contain.
- Bt Crops are transgenic crops that produce the same toxin as the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis in the plant cell, thereby, protecting the crops from pests. The bacterium secretes specific proteins known as “cry proteins” that are toxic to insects. A few of the Bt crops include cotton, brinjal, corn, etc.
- When an insect feeds on the transgenic plants, the toxic cry protein present in the plants crystallizes the digestive system of insects, eventually leading to its death. However, it has no harmful effects on the human digestive system.
- Bacillus thuringiensis is a gram-positive, spore-forming bacteria which is mainly found in the soil. As stated above, it produces proteins that are toxic to insects. Organic farmers use this bacterium as a solution and spray it on the plants to protect them from pests.
- It helps in improving the crop yield, thereby raising the farmer’s income. This results in increased farm production.
- They help in controlling soil pollution as the use of synthetic pesticides is reduced.
- Bt crops help in protecting beneficial insects.
- It can easily feed an increasing population due to increased yields in a short time.
- It leads to the production of disease-free crops owing to the reduction of pesticides.
- It leads to more productivity in a small area of land.
- Bt crops are costlier than naturally grown crops.
- It can disrupt the natural process of gene flow.
- The pests might become resistant to the toxins produced by these crops and the crop production might decline.
- Lack of clarity on its impact on human health and environment.
- Many important crops like rice, brinjal and mustard introducing genetically modified versions could be a major threat to the vast number of domestic and wild varieties of these crops.
- Nutritional enhancement: Higher vitamin content; more healthful fatty acid profiles;
- Stress tolerance: Tolerance to high and low temperatures, salinity, and drought;
- Disease resistance: For example, orange trees resistant to citrus greening disease or American chestnut trees resistant to fungal blight;
- Biofuels: Plants with altered cell wall composition for more efficient conversion to ethanol;
- Phytoremediation: Plants that extract and concentrate contaminants like heavy metals from polluted sites.
- GMOs benefit mankind when used for purposes such as increasing the availability and quality of food and medical care, and contributing to a cleaner environment. If used wisely, they could result in an improved economy without doing more harm than good.
- They could also make the most of their potential to alleviate hunger and disease worldwide. However, the full potential of GMOs cannot be realized without due diligence and thorough attention to the risks associated with each new GMO on a case-by-case basis.
- As such, much of the democratic world is at risk of being caught in the vice-like grip of big tech and red tech. It is, therefore, time for democratic societies to discover and examine means to secure an open and free global technological ecosystem that serves all shades of democracy.
What is Big Tech?
- Big Tech refers to the five major technology companies of influence. This group of tech giants includes Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft.
- The big tech companies each dominate their respective categories.
- Amazon commands the e-commerce sector, Facebook maintains dominance in the social media space, Google leads the search engine market, and Apple has control of communication hardware.
- Big tech companies maintain market capitalization, operate in several verticals, and influence users across platforms. Each of the big tech companies is an epicenter for other online services and activities.
- Red Technology is a leading ecommerce solutions provider, combining e-commerce agency services and authoring a sophisticated ecommerce platform.
- We design and build responsive, multichannel B2B, D2C & Retail ecommerce solutions for mid-to-large sized retailers, manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors leveraging our ecommerce platform, tradeit.
- The tradeit ecommerce platform provides our customers with tremendous competitive advantage due to its combination of powerful promotions engine, flexible content management system, comprehensive order management system and omni-channel integration capabilities.
- The threat that big tech poses to democracy is multifaceted. Major social media platforms — Twitter, Facebook, Google and others — curate, promote and curtail information received by and, indeed, even the opinions of citizens in democratic societies.
- Operating outside rules and regulations prescribed by sovereign constitutions, social media platforms now exercise a worrying level of influence without accountability.
- Platforms are free to decide whether they function as private hosting platforms or providers of a vital public utility; they cannot be both.
- Left unregulated, our digital commons may become a noxious space that suffocates democracy, rather than being the promised breath of fresh air.
- Red tech is clearly an extension of the CCP’s global ambitions. For example, global standards bodies and multilateral organizations have been flooded with standards proposals by Chinese tech firms that would enshrine CCP values into the fundamental architecture of the internet.
- Part of the reluctance to commit to a more political vision of regulation stems from overdependence on a China that dominates major global economies and the tech innovation ecosystem.
- Government interference and politicization in regulatory matters could result in the fracturing of the global tech innovation ecosystem altogether
- Both big tech’s subversion of regular constitutional processes and democratic debate as well as red tech’s brazen advancement of the CCP’s agenda demand regulation to recognize and return to its political roots.
- Technology possesses the power to fundamentally remake, disrupt and destabilize societies. AI-enabled machines threaten to put millions out of work and social media platforms.
- States, civil societies and general publics will have to take back control of the conversation over technology from tech companies.
- Domestic polities need to debate and hammer out a national consensus on some key issues, including on whether to enshrine privacy as a fundamental right.
- Assuming privacy is guaranteed, robust data protection and privacy laws have been framed.
- Australia and India have adopted more stringent social media rules aimed at forcing big tech to comply with national-level regulations and directives on content.
- Key digital powers come together to form a multilateral body, the Digital Stability Board (DSB), which would enact digital policy in much the same way that the Financial Stability Board helps design and monitor the implementation of key financial policies while assessing risks and vulnerabilities in the global financial system.
- A DSB would lead discussion on regulating data value chains, countering misinformation and the development of cutting-edge technologies such as AI.
- Ultimately, the introduction of the D10 to digital policy debates would signify a shared political vision, born out of democratic values, toward building the digital economy and regulating malcontents in the system.
- Good, old-fashioned democratic politics remains a primary driver even in the digital age. Wolves and wolf warriors hunt in packs; open societies need to respond with similar unity of purpose.
Who are De-notified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes?
- The De-notified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes are the most neglected, marginalized and economically and socially deprived communities.
- Most of them have been living a life of destitution for generations and still continue to do so with an uncertain and gloomy future.
- De-notified, Nomadic and Semi- nomadic Tribes somehow escaped the attention of our developmental framework and thus are deprived of the support unlike Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
- Historically, these communities never had access to private land or home ownership.
- These tribes used forests and grazing lands for their livelihood and residential use and had "strong ecological connections. Many of them are dependent upon various types of natural resources and carve out intricate ecological niches for their survival.
- The changes in ecology and environment seriously affect their livelihood options.
- Based on the National Commission’s recommendations, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has constituted the Development and Welfare Board for De-notified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Communities (DWBDNCs).
- To provide coaching of good quality for DNT/NT/SNT candidates to enable them to appear in competitive examinations.
- To provide health insurance to DNT/NT/SNT Communities.
- To facilitate livelihoods initiative at community level to build and strengthen small clusters of DNT/NT/SNT Communities institutions.
- To provide financial assistance for construction of houses to members of the DNT/NT/SNT Communities.
- Considering the shortage of houses for DNTs, it has been proposed to earmark a separate outlay for PMAY to support specific importance in providing houses only for DNTs living in rural areas who have not taken benefits of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana as SC, ST, OBC and are living below poverty line.
- The Scheme will be implemented through a portal, developed by the Department of Social Justice & Empowerment.
- One module for registration of the applicant with details of his family, income, occupation, Aadhar and bank details, caste certificate, etc.
- With this UID, the applicant can apply one or other components of the scheme, subject to his eligibility.
- The portal will create a permanent database and can be retrieved whenever the applicant desires to enroll for a new component.
- The funds will be transferred directly to the beneficiaries in their account. The other implementing agencies are Ministry of Rural Development, National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) and National Health Authority (NHA).
Kasanka National Park
- Kasanka National Park is a park located in the Serenje District of Zambia’s Central Province.
- The Kasanka National Park is one of Zambia’s smallest (39,000 ha) but ecologically significant national parks.
- Kasanka was the first of Zambia’s national parks to be managed by a private-public partnership. The privately funded Kasanka Trust Ltd has been in operation since 1986 and undertakes all management responsibilities, in partnership with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW - previously ZAWA).
- There are five perennial rivers in the park i.e., Luwombwa, Mulembo, Kasanka, Mulaushi and the swampy Musola River, with the largest being the Luwombwa River.
- The Luwombwa is the only river that drains the NP, which flows out in the north-western corner. It is a tributary of the Luapula, which further upstream also drains the Bangweulu Swamp and forms the main source of the Congo River.
- Although Kasanka NP is part of the Greater Bangweulu Ecosystem, there is no direct hydrological connection between the park and the Bangweulu Wetlands.
- It is a reprieve for the area that is a stopover on the largest mammal migration in the world. Some 8-10 million African straw-coloured fruit bats (Eidolon helvum) migrate every year from October to December to the park, from the rainforests of the Congo and roost in an area of 25 hectares of evergreen swamp forest.
- The fruit bats act as pollinators and seed dispersers. The bat migration plays a leading role in the reforestation and regeneration of areas during the animals’ journey.
- Zambia is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa.
- Its neighbours are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique to the southeast, Zimbabwe and Botswana to the south, Namibia to the southwest, and Angola to the west.
- The capital city of Zambia is Lusaka, located in the south-central part of Zambia.
- The population is concentrated mainly around Lusaka in the south and the Copperbelt Province to the north, the core economic hubs of the country.
- The climate of Zambia is tropical, modified by elevation. In the Köppen climate classification, most of the country is classified as humid subtropical or tropical wet and dry, with small stretches of semi-arid steppe climate in the south-west and along the Zambezi valley.
- The population comprises approximately 73 ethnic groups, most of which are Bantu-speaking. Almost 90% of Zambians belong to the nine main ethnolinguistic groups: the Nyanja-Chewa, Bemba, Tonga, Tumbuka, Lunda, Luvale, Kaonde, Nkoya and Lozi.
Highlights
- The researchers found 39 per cent of children aged 1-14 years, or 166,000 children across seven African countries, to be living with undiagnosed HIV.
- They also found that only 55 per cent of the African children living with HIV (including those who were previously undiagnosed) were on antiretroviral therapy (ART) and 32.6 per cent had a suppressed viral load.
- In all countries except Tanzania and Zambia, HIV prevalence was higher among children aged 10–14 years than among children younger than 10 years.
- According to the study, two-thirds of undiagnosed children living with HIV across the seven countries had reportedly never been previously tested for HIV and many mothers of children living with HIV were newly identified as HIV-positive.
- According to UNAIDS, 46 per cent of the world’s 1.7 million children living with HIV were not on treatment in 2020. The majority of children living with HIV are infected via mother-to-child transmission, during pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding.
- HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is a virus that attacks cells that help the body fight infection, making a person more vulnerable to other infections and diseases. It is spread by contact with certain bodily fluids of a person with HIV, most commonly during unprotected sex, or through sharing injection drug equipment.
- If left untreated, HIV can lead to the disease AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome).
- AIDS is the late stage of HIV infection that occurs when the body’s immune system is badly damaged because of the virus.
- The human body can’t get rid of HIV and no effective HIV cure exists. So, once you have HIV, you have it for life.
- However, by taking HIV medicine (called antiretroviral therapy or ART), people with HIV can live long and healthy lives and prevent transmitting HIV to their sexual partners.
- In addition, there are effective methods to prevent getting HIV through sex or drug use, including pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP).
- First identified in 1981, HIV is the cause of one of humanity’s deadliest and most persistent epidemics.
- Then the disease is usually asymptomatic until it progresses to AIDS.
- Within a few weeks of HIV infection, flu-like symptoms such as fever, sore throat and fatigue can occur.
- Other symptoms include weight loss, fever or night sweats, fatigue and recurrent infections.
- HIV is called a retrovirus, and the combination of drugs used to treat it is called Antiretroviral Therapy (ART).
- According to the World Health Organization, standard ART consists of a combination of at least three antiretroviral drugs to suppress the HIV virus and stop the progression of the disease.
- Many antiretroviral therapy medications are approved to treat HIV. They work to prevent HIV from reproducing and destroying CD4 cells, which help the immune system generate a response to infection.
- This helps reduce the risk of developing complications related to HIV, as well as transmitting the virus to others.
- These antiretroviral medications are grouped into six classes:
- nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs)
- non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs)
- protease inhibitors
- fusion inhibitors
- CCR5 antagonists, also known as entry inhibitors
- integrase strand transfer inhibitors
- Oil prices have since risen sharply to nearly $100 per barrel following strong economic recovery post-lockdowns. As the economy grows so does the demand for oil. Moreover, rising geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine and in the Middle East are stoking supply fears. This is contributing to rising inflation and concerns about economic recovery.
Why are oil prices so volatile?
- Booming economic growth driving demand for oil. Surprising economic rebound, driving demand for oil and oil products post-lockdown.
- Limited oil supply due to long investment cycles and cautious capital allocations. OPEC has been scaling up oil production slowly, but it also has limited spare capacity and is probably cautious not to oversupply the market again. There is strong pressure on the industry not to develop new fields, to hold or decrease investment in maintaining and growing production and to divert the capital to green investments.
- Geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine and increased instability in the Middle East add to oil market nervousness.
- Oil is 3% of global GDP. So, if 3% of global GDP is twice as expensive tomorrow, clearly, this will have some impact on inflation.
- Oil prices will not be the biggest factor when it comes to inflation but it is still important because oil is basically in everything, so it's not a volumetric impact, but it impacts the price of almost everything.
- An increase in oil prices will not only be seen at the gas station, but it will be felt in virtually all the goods and services we use. Because oil is a feedstock, source of energy and is used in the transportation of many things.
- High oil prices are a challenge for importing countries while at the same time working to the advantage of exporting countries. It is really a zero-sum game. With price changes, there is a shift in profiting between oil production and oil consuming countries.
- High oil prices improve the economics of electric vehicles (EVs) and other alternatives like hydrogen and other potential solutions for mobility.
- It is very difficult to predict the level of prices or even direction of change.
- In the medium-term supply should catch up with demand growth while hopefully geopolitical tensions ease.
- The demand will plateau and maybe start decreasing at a certain point.
- If the energy transition is not a concerted effort between the demand side changes followed by supply side adjustments, temporary oil price spikes are very likely.
- Forcing supply curtailment without adjusting demand will create structural imbalances that will be difficult to address due to the very long investment cycles to produce oil.
- There is this pressure to stop investing in oil production as we transition but there is a need for an understanding that we also need this supply. So, we need to find this balance with the energy transition between now and 2050.
- The point is not to undermine the transition, but the transition needs to be led on the demand side by consumers, individual and industrial. It is a task for each and every one of us, not just for “Big Oil”. Otherwise, the risk is that it could be quite an erratic future.
- Thousands of Crimson Rose butterflies swarmed all available flowering plants along the beach. It was their stopover for nectaring, before the butterflies undertook their ultimate flight towards Sri Lanka, which is around 25 km away from the tip of Dhanushkodi.
- Crimson Rose, which belongs to the Swallowtails (Papilionidae) family, is known to migrate along the coast, inland and crosses the sea often.
- Crimson Rose, a large butterfly with a mix of black, white and crimson colours on its wings and body, is known for crossing the sea to migrate to Sri Lanka.
- It is recorded as a species of "Least Concern (LC)" by IUCN.
- It is found in India, Sri Lanka, Maldives and possibly the coast of western Myanmar.
- In India, it is found in the Western Ghats, southern India (Tamil Nadu, Kerala), eastern India (West Bengal and Odisha). It is a straggler in the Andaman Islands.
- Crimson Roses were spotted on Ipomea flowers and Half leaf flowers on the beach. The grandest gathering was on a Calotropis gigantea plant, which was the sole plant in the vicinity. Each butterfly spent about 30 seconds on nectaring and then continued its journey towards Sri Lanka.
- The most interesting and visually stunning aspect of the migration was that the butterflies made small pit stops on flowering plants on the beach to fuel their journey.
- This gathering just shows the importance of native beach vegetation in the journey of a butterfly and the importance of protecting the beaches in their original pristine form.
Genesis
- Australia turned from being a close partner of China to an adversary, all within the space of four years. In 2014, the two countries agreed to a ‘comprehensive strategic partnership’. Four years later, the relationship hit an iceberg.
- Though New Delhi never quite warmed up to Beijing as Canberra did. But the Wuhan and Chennai summits of 2018 and 2019 seemed to suggest that everything was going great, despite issues like Doklam.
- It all was the outcome of China’s changed behaviour — its assertiveness along its maritime edge with Japan and the South China Sea and on the landward side with India. This was accompanied by crackdowns in Xinjiang and then Hong Kong and the launch of its ‘wolf warrior’ diplomacy.
- The signs of trouble were evident in Beijing when Canberra banned Huawei from its 5G network in 2018.
- By the end of 2020, China had systematically blocked a range of Australian exports — coal, barley, beef, copper ore, sugar, wine and timber. But for their part the Aussies participating in the enhanced Quad meetings, tearing up the Victoria state’s BRI deals, and at the end of 2021, supporting the diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics.
- All of this began to nudge both India and Australia closer to the United States.
- India is Australia's seventh-largest trading partner and our fifth-largest export market. Major exports to India include coal, copper and gold; major imports from India include refined petroleum, pearls and gems, and medicaments.
- Both are strong, vibrant, secular and multicultural democracies. They both have a free press and an independent judicial system; the English language is an important link.
- The relationship has grown in strength and importance since India’s economic reforms in the nineties and has made rapid strides in all areas - trade, energy and mining, science & technology, information technology, education and defence.
- People-to-people ties between India and Australia have been growing since the beginning of this millennium. Some 6,19,000 people said in the last census that they were of ethnic Indian background.
- Indians are migrating to Australia in large numbers and 1,15,000 students were studying there in 2020 before the Covid disruption.
- Both are members of the Commonwealth of Nations. They also share political, economic, security, lingual and sporting ties.
- The Quad leadership widened the remit of their organization towards shared partnerships in areas like vaccine manufacture and distribution, climate change, critical and emerging technologies. India and Australia are now on track to build durable relations. While one part of the security equation has been taken care of by AUKUS, the two can perhaps shape defence ties based on their common interests in the Indian Ocean Region.
- India-Australia annual two-way trade in goods and services is just about $18 billion, whereas Australia’s trade with China is in excess of $150 billion. Efforts are on to finally work out an FTA. With its resources like coal, iron ore, other minerals, agricultural products, education and skills training and healthcare, it could become a major partner in India’s growth story.
- But a lot of that presupposes India being able to get its act together, not only in terms of reviving its economic growth and revitalising its trade policies, but also ensuring social peace in an increasingly divided country.
POSTED ON 21-02-2022 BY ADMIN
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General Studies
Political Science and International Relations
Some Reference Essays
List of previous year essay topics (1997-2019)
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