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Delivering on a promise made four years ago, the government approved a proposal to set up a National Research Foundation (NRF) as an apex body to promote, fund and mentor scientific research in higher education institutions across the country, with the focus on cultivating the culture of research in universities and colleges.
The Union Cabinet cleared the introduction of a Bill in Parliament to enable the setting-up of the NRF, which is modelled on the lines of the hugely successful National Science Foundation of the United States.
The NRF is estimated to have an initial budget of Rs 50,000 crore over a five-year period between 2023 and 2028.
India barely spends 0.7 per cent of its GDP on research and development, which is extremely low compared to many other countries. In fact, the gross expenditure on R&D declined from 0.84 per cent in 2008 to about 0.69 per cent in 2018, the last year for which confirmed figures are available.
In comparison, the US spent 2.83 per cent, China spent 2.14 per cent, and Israel spent 4.9 per cent. Even Brazil, Malaysia and Egypt spend more of their GDP on research.
After 12 yrs, UN drops India from its report on children & Conflict (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 2, International Organisation)
The United Nations Secretary-General has taken India off a list of countries mentioned in a report on children and armed conflict over the alleged recruitment and use of boys by armed groups in J&K and their detention, killing and maiming by security forces.
This is the first time since 2010 that India has not been named in the report alongside countries like Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Lake Chad basin, Nigeria, Pakistan and the Philippines.
The report of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on ‘Children and Armed Conflict’ said India has been “removed from the report in 2023” in view of measures taken by the government to “better protect children”.
Officials of the Ministry of Women and Child Development said Wednesday that this became possible due to the introduction of various policies and institutional changes since 2019.
An official statement said a road map for cooperation and collaboration on child protection issues was developed by the Ministry under the guidance and leadership of Smriti Irani, Union Minister of Women and Child Development.
Express Network
Chandrayaan-3 to take off on July 13 landing moves in August (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
India’s third lunar mission Chandrayaan-3 will be launched from the country’s only spaceport Sriharikota. The spacecraft will travel just over a month and likely land on the surface of the moon around August 23.
The landing site for the integrated Vikram lander and Pragyan rover will remain the same as the previous mission: near the south pole of the moon at 70 degrees latitude. If successful, Chandrayaan-3 will become the first mission to soft land near the southern pole of the moon.
The site was selected as it has several craters that remain permanently in shadows, increasing the chances of examining water ice. Chandrayaan 1, which also carried NASA payloads, was instrumental in confirming the presence of water and hydroxyl (OH) molecules on the moon.
The mission will also make India the fourth country in the world to achieve soft landing on the moon after the US, Russia and China.
The position remains open for India as the lander missions by Israel and Japan that were launched since the previous Chandrayaan mission also failed.
The current mission will follow a similar trajectory to what was planned for the previous mission, with the orbit of the spacecraft being raised several times till it slingshots out of Earth’s gravity.
Once the spacecraft reaches the moon and is captured in its gravity, the orbit will be lowered to a 100×100 km circular orbit before making the descent.
Govt & Politics
Gujarat, Micron sign agreement on plant for semiconductor (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
US-based Micron Technology Inc signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Gujarat government to set up a Rs 22,500-crore semiconductor unit at Sanand near Ahmedabad.
Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw termed the project a “huge step” towards India becoming self-reliant in manufacturing memory-chips.
The Assembly, Test, Marking and Packaging (ATMP) facility, to be set up on 93 acres in Sanand GIDC -II industrial estate, looks to create 5,000 direct jobs and is expected to be commissioned within 18 months.
The facility will focus on transforming wafers into Ball Grid Array (BGA)-integrated circuit packages, memory modules and solid-state drives.
The MoU was signed at a formal ceremony organised at the chief minister’s office in the presence of Vaishnaw, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Micron Technology senior vice-president Gursharan Singh.
This is the second MoU being signed by the Gujarat government with a semiconductor manufacturer. In September 2022, the state government had inked a similar MoU with the Foxconn-Vedanta joint venture for setting up a Rs 1.54-lakh crore unit in Gujarat.
Though the company had selected Dholera SIR for the unit, the project is yet to take off as a formal approval is pending from the Central government.
Economy
SEBI halves IPO listing time to 3 days; tightens disclosure norms for FPIs (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) slashed the time period for listing of shares in public issue from existing six (T+6) days to three (T+3) days, from the date of closure of the issue.
The regulator also tightened the disclosure norms for foreign portfolio investors (FPIs). The decisions were taken in a board meeting held on Wednesday.
It said the revised IPO listing timeline of T+3 days will be made applicable in two phases – voluntary for all public issues opening on or after September 1, 2023 and mandatory on or after December 1, 2023.
SEBI said the reduction in listing timeline is likely to benefit the issuers to receive their funds and allottees to receive their securities in a shorter time period.
It will help the subscribers who were not alloted shares in an initial public offering (IPO) to receive their money back quickly.
Resources of all stakeholders like stock exchanges, banks, depositories, brokers in public issue process will be deployed for a shorter period.
The tighter disclosure norms for FPIs are aimed at guarding against possible circumvention of regulations such as Minimum Public Shareholding (MPS) or disclosures under Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers Regulations.
India's growth rate likely to be 6.7% till FY27 on domestic consumption: S&P (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Indian economy is expected to clock an average growth rate of 6.7 per cent till 2026-27 fiscal driven by domestic consumption, S&P Global Ratings Senior Economist (Asia Pacific) Vishrut Rana said.
He said the economic growth in the current fiscal is expected to come in around 6 per cent, lower than 7.2 per cent clocked in 2022-23.
We are seeing some headwinds from the trade side which is affecting activity and that is one of the factors that is affecting growth this year.
The factors that are driving the slowdown from 7.2 per cent growth last fiscal are weaker external environment, moderation in pent-up demand, and softening private consumption activity, Rana said, adding, with tighter monetary policy there is expected to be some impact on consumer demand.
We expect 6.7 per cent growth on average over the course of our forecast horizon which extends to FY26-27. This fiscal (2023-24) we expect growth to be 6 per cent, adding that consumer activity would be the lead driver of growth. Reserve Bank of India has projected GDP growth in the current fiscal to be 6.5 per cent.
Further, Rana said there is a “strong tailwind” coming from the investment side and the investment outlook is looking significantly stronger.
Editorial
The new give and take (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s evocative mention of, “the dark clouds of coercion and confrontation… casting their shadow on the Indo-Pacific,” in his recent address to a joint-sitting of the US Congress, reminded one of Mark Twain’s aphorism that, “history does not repeat itself, but it rhymes”.
A similar situation prevailed in early April 1942, as imperial Japan, seeking a “greater Asia co-prosperity sphere,” overran Malaya, Singapore and Burma, and devastated the British Eastern Fleet, sinking the aircraft carrier HMS Hermes off Ceylon. As Japanese bombs fell on the east coast ports of Visakhapatnam and Kakinada, India steeled itself for an invasion.
An alarmed US President, Franklin Roosevelt, fearful of losing India’s massive contribution to the Allied war effort made earnest but futile appeals to Churchill to accord dominion status to India.
He also extended to India the “lend-lease” programme, under which it received munitions for the army and industrial materials for its ordnance factories, railways and ports.
As payment, India provided $280 million worth of rations, goods, services and real estate to American and Kuomintang Chinese forces camping in Bihar.
Eight decades later, as we see another rising Asian hegemon, China, seeking to expand its sphere of influence across the Indo-Pacific and beyond, will the US and India join hands in the spirit of “lend-lease” and agree to mutual use of logistics, repair and maintenance facilities, thus re-writing a “historic rhyme”?
World
Nepal SC orders govt to temporarily register same sex marriage (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 1, Social Issues)
Nepal’s Supreme Court issued an interim order to the government to temporarily register same-sex marriage, a notice by the apex court said.
A single bench of Justice Til Prasad Shrestha issued the order to the government to make necessary arrangements for registering the marriage of sexual and gender minority couples if they demand so.
Seven people, including activist Pinky Gurung on behalf of Blue Diamond Society (BDS), an LGBTI rights organisation, filed a writ to the Prime Minister and the Office of the Council of Ministers to legalise same-sex marriage.
In the order, the apex court has also asked the opponents to furnish a written reply on the issue within 15 days.
The petitioners said that they filed the writ as the Nepalese law has obstructed same-sex marriage despite a Supreme Court decision, which allowed such marriages 15 years ago.
Debate surrounds recently-discovered wall-painting in Pompeii (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 1, Culture)
A still-life fresco discovered recently in the Pompeii archaeological site looks like a pizza, but it’s not, experts at the archaeological site have said.
They noted on Tuesday that key ingredients needed to make Italy’s iconic dish — tomatoes and mozzarella — were not available when the fresco was painted some 2,000 years ago.
Tomatoes were only introduced to Europe from the Americas a few centuries ago, and some histories have it that the discovery of mozzarella led directly to the invention of pizza in nearby Naples in the 1700s.
The image is instead believed to be a focaccia covered with fruit, including pomegranate and possibly dates, finished with spices or a type of pesto, experts said. In the fresco, it is served on a silver plate and a wine chalice stands next to it.
The contrast of the frugal meal served in a luxurious setting, denoted by the silver tray, is not unlike modern-day pizza, born as a poor-man’s dish in southern Italy, which has won over the world and is served even in starred restaurants.
Explained
Understanding greedflation (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Inflation (or the inflation rate) is the rate at which the general price level rises. When it is reported that the inflation rate was 5% in June it implies that the general price level of the economy (as measured by a representative basket of goods and services) was 5% more than what it was in June 2022. There are two other key terms: disinflation and deflation.
Only five cases of malaria but the US CDC issues an alert: here’s why (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
The United States has identified five cases of malaria in people without any history of international travel in Florida and Texas over the last two months.
This has led to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issuing an alert asking clinicians to consider malaria as a diagnosis in persons with fever of unknown origin, laboratories and public health experts to aid clinicians in identifying and diagnosing malaria cases, and people to take precautions to prevent mosquito bite.
The five cases have raised alert because this is the first time in 20 years that there has been local transmission of malaria in the United States.
The last time the infection was transmitted by a mosquito locally in the country was in 2003 when eight people in Florida were infected.
While there hasn’t been local transmission in years, United States has been reporting around 2,000 cases of malaria every year mostly among international travellers from regions where the disease is still in transmission.
Around 300 of these persons end up developing severe disease and between five and ten persons die of the infection each year in the United States, according to the CDC.
The alert raised by the organisation also said that there could be an uptick in the number of imported malaria cases with summer travel increasing to the pre-pandemic levels in 2023.