Ayush Prakash

Farm Reforms   In News: Three bills aimed at transforming agriculture in the country and raising farmers’ income were passed by Lok Sabha. These are: The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020 The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020   Understanding the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020 Current situation: The Essential Commodities Act, 1955 (ECA) has been a mechanism to protect consumers from price gouging by traders at times of scarcity. ECA was introduced in 1955 when India was not self-sufficient in food production, and there was food scarcity. Stock limits were enforced by the government to check hoarding and price rise of essential commodities. As a result, even as India has become surplus in most agri-commodities, farmers have been unable to get better prices due to lack of investment in cold storage, warehouses, ...

 In three ordinances, the provisions that are bothering farmers In News The government had in June  promulgated  three ordinances  towards the empowerment of farmers and opening up agriculture marketing. In the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament, the  government has introduced three Bills to replace these ordinances . The bills are: The Farmers’ Produce Trade And Commerce (Promotion And Facilitation) Bill; The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill; and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill. Meanwhile, some farmers in some states (mainly Punjab and Haryana) have been protesting against these laws.   Background: Ordinances promulgated for the farm sector The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020 (FPTCO) This ordinance intends to provide  barrier-free trade for farmers’ produce by allowing anyone to purchase and sell agricultural produce. In doing so, it...

 Engineering India’s growth Opportunities in the challenging times of Covid: There are a lot of challenges currently, both globally and locally. At the same time, new opportunities are being created—especially in India.    Five such mega engineering opportunities in India Among new opportunities in various sectors are five mega engineering opportunities in India that have the potential to generate $300 bn in the next five years. Apart from their direct contribution, these opportunities will help the extended ecosystem, including engineering service providers. Once adopted, these technologies will have the potential to solve many challenges faced by the country in various sectors. Electronics manufacturing: Current market share low: Currently, India’s domestic production in the sector stands at $70 billion, accounting for just 3.3 % of the global market. This gives the country lot of potential for future growth. Huge potential for growth: Electronics exports from the count...

 Boosting women’s entrepreneurship and economic leadership  Women’s representation in leadership positions low: Women’s representation in leadership positions has been on a rise in recent years, but not enough to close the economic opportunity gap. The World Economic Forum (WEF)’s Global Gender Gap Report 2020 reveals that  it will take almost a century to achieve full parity at the current pace . The disparity is particularly striking in India. Already high Gender Gap in India is becoming worse in Covid times: India ranks 112 out of 153 countries on the overall Global Gender Gap Index. The Covid-19 pandemic is making these disparities worse. Oxfam India has estimated the economic loss from women losing their jobs during this pandemic at nearly $216 billion.   Need to turn Covid challenge into opportunity for women empowerment: These trying times provide an opportunity to  accelerate the shift towards both greater inclusion of women in the workforce and wom...

 What will drive India’s next economic transformation? The covid pandemic has disrupted the global supply chains, and highlighted the issues with it, including dependencies on one or few countries for some links in the chain. Governments across the world are encouraging countries to shift their manufacturing out of China. India must position itself to benefit through export orientation: With the global supply chains being reforged, India must position itself as a vital link in this new order. A  strong export orientation ,  cost-competitive manufacturing  and  creation of domestic champions  is the need of the hour. An Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) will not be possible without growing exports to serve global markets. Therefore, global orientation is imperative.   India must also reduce imports in sectors where it can: Commodities: India imports a large number of commodities that are available in abundance within India itself. For example...

 At what stage are under-trial vaccine candidates in India? In News Various companies  across the world have signed agreements to make Covid-19 vaccines or  have started conducting human trials of their vaccines in India , over the last few months.   Following is the status of different vaccines in various stages of development. ‘Covishield’ by University of Oxford-AstraZeneca: Covishield works on a mechanism that  uses a weakened version of a common cold virus that infects chimpanzees . The body’s immune system is  expected to recognise this as a threat and develop antibodies , so that it will be ready in case the real virus tries to infect it. This vaccine,  is in late stage phase III tests, with over 10,000 human participants  across countries like the UK, Brazil and South Africa. It has  started phase II human trials in India . According to Clinical Trials Registry – India (CTRI),  phase II/III trials in India are expected to take ar...

 Next Driver Of Growth?  Many success in India healthcare: The Indian healthcare story has achieved notable successes, including: India becoming the pharmacy of the world Doctors and nurses from India excelling and distinguishing themselves across the US and Europe Private hospitals providing healthcare to almost 70% of India and becoming a key driver of medical tourism Yet, the Indian healthcare system suffers from major weaknesses: The  government (Centre and states together) spends a mere 1.13% of GDP on health . Almost 62% of healthcare spending is met through  out-of-pocket expenditure  by households. As much as 98% of healthcare facilities in India employ fewer than 10 people. This has led to a highly complex and  fragmented delivery of health services . Individual  health records are all manual  and with such a large number of individual transactions, there are huge challenges of market failures and governance.   Covid crisis prov...