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The second wave of Covid-19 hit India’s school education with over 20,000 schools — just over 1 per cent of the total number — shutting down and close to 1.89 lakh teachers — almost two per cent of their total — exiting the work force. That’s not all. Reflecting economic distress, there was an almost two-fold rise in the transfer of students from private to government schools as compared to the first year of the pandemic, shows the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) data for the year 2021-22.
Schools were hit during the first wave of Covid-19 as well but the crisis exacerbated after the Delta variant, shows a comparative analysis of the latest UDISE+ report with the previous ones.
The drop in the number of schools, from 15.09 lakh in 2020-21 to 14.89 lakh in 2021-22, is significant given that this is the second dip in school count since UDISE counting came to be managed by the Department of School Education and Literacy in 2018-19.
Among schools that shut down, the share of private schools was 24% and government schools were 48%, with government-aided schools and “others” making up the rest.
The report shows that the trend of students shifting from private to government schools also deepened during the last financial year, showing the economic cost of the pandemic marked by job losses and pay cuts. The period saw enrollment in govt schools increase by 83.35 lakh while in private schools it dipped by 68.85 lakh.
“The decline in total schools is mainly due to closure of schools under private and other management,” the ministry of education said in a statement, also identifying “grouping/clustering of schools by various states” as another factor behind the decline.
The report, however, did not go into the possible factors behind the fall in the number of teachers and the worsening of other indicators such as drop-out rates.
Separate data on merged schools was not immediately available. Also, Madhya Pradesh alone accounts for a drop of 6,457 government schools (66.82% of the total drop in government schools) and 1,167 private schools, almost 24% of the total private schools shut. These are the highest for any state or UT.
Past UDISE reports show that the last drop was between 2018-19 and 2019-20, when it came down by 43,292 (2.79 per cent). But that drop was driven primarily by the merger of government schools as the number of private schools had risen by 11,271 during the same period.
Across UTs and states, except Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Telangana and Goa, there were less teachers in 2021-22 than 2020-21. Between 2019-20 and 202–21, the category of teachers recorded a rise of 8848, while the number of schools had increased by 1428.
Govt & Politics
Supreme Court takes up plea against GM mustard; its release on hold (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)
The environmental release of genetically modified (GM) mustard will remain on hold for now with the Supreme Court taking up a plea challenging the release.
The Centre Thursday assured a Bench of Justices Dinesh Maheswhari and Sudhanshu Dhulia — which fixed November 10 to hear the application by activist Aruna Rodrigues — that it will not take any precipitative action in the meantime.
With Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati giving the assurance, the top court Bench did not mention the status quo in its order.
Rodrigues’ application has challenged the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee’s October 18 decision granting approval for commercial cultivation of GM Mustard and the October 25 decision of the Ministry of Environment and Forests to allow environmental release of Genetically Modified Mustard/ HT Mustard /DMH 11 in five states.
Appearing for the applicant, Advocate Prashant Bhushan pointed out that in 2012, the court had constituted a technical expert committee to examine the question of GM crops in India.
That committee, he added, called HT (herbicide tolerant) crops unsustainable and unsuitable for India; noted that the herbicide sprayed on HT crops caused cancer; had recommended that non-GMO alternatives were available in the country; and recommended a total ban on all HT crops on precautionary principle as no long term safety studies were done on impact of edible GM crops.
Bhushan told the bench that the Centre had on multiple occasions in 2016 and 2017 assured the court that no decision had been taken to release GM Mustard in the environment and that any such decision, if taken, would be placed before it.
The Bench sought to know the exact status of the decision on the GM mustard.
Bhati said the mustard will be sown inside the facilities of The Indian Council of Agricultural Research under the strict vigilance of scientists. She also agreed to produce documents regarding approval before the court.
Following the submission, the Bench allowed the government time to produce the documents and fixed the matter for hearing on November 10.
At UNSC, India abstains on Russian motion on Ukraine bio weapons (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
India has abstained on yet another resolution involving Ukraine, this time a motion sponsored by Russia at the UNSC that sought to establish a commission to investigate claims by Moscow that the US and Ukraine are carrying out “military biological activities” in laboratories in Ukraine in violation of the biological weapons convention.
The resolution failed to get adopted Wednesday as only two Council members – Russia and China – voted in its favour, while the US, the UK and France voted against it and the other Council members, including India, abstained.
In the explanation of the vote, Counsellor A. Amarnath from India’s Permanent Mission to the UN said India attaches high importance to the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), which is the first non-discriminatory disarmament treaty banning a complete category of weapons of mass destruction.
“We remain committed to enhancing the effectiveness of the BWC and strengthening its implementation in letter and spirit,” he said.
Amarnath said that India also reiterates the need to negotiate a comprehensive legally binding protocol providing for an effective, universal and non-discriminatory verification mechanism to strengthen the implementation of the Convention.
“This is necessary to strengthen the BWC and its implementation by the State Parties and we hope the current situation will provide an impetus for early consideration, negotiation and finalization of such a protocol by the State Parties. Factoring in all these aspects, India has decided to abstain from the resolution.
US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, in her statement on the UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution proposed by Russia on alleged bioweapons in Ukraine, said Washington “voted against this resolution because it is based on disinformation, dishonesty, bad faith, and a total lack of respect for this body.”
She said Russia has failed to provide any credible evidence to support these false allegations. “And as you can see from the vote today, no one is buying it except China.
I will not devote any more time, energy, or resources to these lies from Russia. Nor should the rest of the Security Council. Not while troops still occupy Ukrainian territory.
And not while Russian forces continue to attack Ukrainian civilians and commit war crimes. Instead of letting Russia waste our time, we should focus on the truth and the horrors Russia has inflicted upon the Ukrainian people.”
Russian First Deputy Permanent Representative Dmitry Polyanskiy, speaking before the UNSC vote, said the vote “will mark an important milestone for the Security Council.”
India to stress action on climate finance by developed countries (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Maintaining that the 27th edition of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change should be the “COP of action”, Union Environment, Forests and Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav on Thursday said that India will “stress on action in climate finance, technology transfer and capacity building” at the upcoming event.
COP 27 will be held between November 6 and 11 at Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh.
Yadav said one of the key issues India will raise is that participating countries should clarify what constitutes climate finance, and how this should be disseminated.
We will also demand that adaptation finance and mitigation finance should be equal. While there has been movement on mitigation at COP 26, there needs to be emphasis on adaptation as well,” said Yadav, who will leave for Egypt on Saturday to attend the summit.COP 26 was held in Glasgow, the UK, from October 31 to November 12 last year.
Over the last couple of COPs, India has been raising the issue of commitment by developed countries to transfer $100 billion annually to assist developing countries meet their climate targets.
India’s position as representative of the developing world has been that the developed countries have historically been responsible for high greenhouse gas emissions. So, it is their responsibility to assist developing countries with climate finance and transfer of technology, India maintains.
On Thursday, Yadav said: “Climate finance has not been defined. In the absence of a definition, there is no clarity on what it entails, its quantity, and its scope.
Will climate finance be in the form of loans, grants or subsidies? Will it be private or public financing? All of this should be clearly defined.”
Environment Secretary Leena Nandan said: “The issue that we have said very clearly, in which we are joined by several developing countries, is that $100 billion that has been talked about since Copenhagen (2009 climate change conference) is yet to be seen.
How is anyone claiming that climate finance is flowing to countries when what comprises climate finance is yet to be established? Everything India has achieved so far has been on the basis of our own resources.”
The expectation from COP 27 is that there is an acknowledgment of the importance of adaptation finance and the crucial role it plays in lives and livelihoods which are being affected by climate change.
Eye on global investments, UP govt gives nod to new industrial policy (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Ahead of the UP Global Investors Summit, the Uttar Pradesh Cabinet gave its nod to the state’s new industrial policy aimed at attracting investments.
The government said the “umbrella policy” – UP Investment & Employment Promotion Policy, 2022 – “aims at creating a progressive, innovative, and competitive industrial ecosystem generating employment in the state while mobilising investments from across the world”.
According to the government, the new policy “will offer one of the most attractive and optimal incentive packages for investments in the country”.
Minister of Industry Nand Gopal ‘Nandi’ said: “Ensuring a continuity of the successes of the Industrial Investment & Employment Promotion Policy 2017, the new umbrella industrial policy of the State reflects the voice of industries of the state and the country.”
The new policy categorises investments into four major categories – Large, Mega, Super Mega and Ultra Mega. “Investments under these categories will be provided three mutually exclusive options of investment promotion subsidy, capital subsidy and net state GST reimbursement,” said a government spokesperson.
The capital subsidy option is graded by regions of the state — the highest in Bundelkhand and Poorvanchal, followed by Madhyanchal &Paschimanchal (minus Gautam Buddh Nagar and Ghaziabad districts), and Gautam Buddh Nagar and Ghaziabad districts, it said.
With an aim to enhance the available land bank in the state, the new policy will provide attractive incentives for the development of private industrial parks.
“A 25 per cent capital subsidy up to Rs 45 crore, depending upon the region of investment, is available for developers of private industrial parks of 20 acres or more in Bundelkhand and Poorvanchal; and 30 acres or more in Madhyanchal and Paschimanchal,” an official said.
The ceiling is extended to Rs 50 crore in case of parks over 100 acres. To ensure quality of life of those employed in such parks, 25 per cent capital subsidy up to Rs 25 crore are provisioned for developing hostel/dormitory housing in the park.
The new industrial policy also proposes fast-track land allotment to Super Mega and above investment projects, prestigious mega projects as well as Industrial PSU projects of any state or central government.
The policy will enable creation of a land bank by promoting pooling of non-agricultural, barren and uncultivable land for industrial use.
Gujarat, Rajasthan, Andhra enter club of best performing states in school education index (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Education)
Kerala, Punjab, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh have emerged as the best performers in school education across indicators such as learning outcomes, equity and infrastructure in the 2020-21 Performance Grade Index (PGI) of the Ministry of Education.
These six states and the UT of Chandigarh have been placed at level-II of the index, which was launched by the Centre in 2017-18.
The index measures the performances of states and UTs on a uniform scale and helps them in prioritising areas for intervention. Since its launch, no state or UT has attained level-I.
Last year, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and the UTs of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Chandigarh were on level-II, for which states/UTs need to score 901 or above out of 1,000.Gujarat, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh are the new entrants to level-II.
“The maximum and minimum scores obtained by the states in 2020-21 are 928 (Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab) and 669 (Arunachal Pradesh), respectively,” the index report noted.
The deviation between the maximum and minimum scores obtained by states is 259 or 39 %, of the minimum points, indicating that Arunachal Pradesh has to put more efforts to reach the top slot.
The index is drawn up based on 70 indicators covering the areas of learning outcomes, access, infrastructure and facilities, equity, and governance process. It sourced data from NAS 2017 and UDISE 2020-21.
The states and UTs on level-III (851-900) are Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Puducherry, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal, Lakshadweep, Delhi, and Odisha.
The report stated, “The PGI evaluation classifies States and UTs into grade/levels, as opposed to ranking. Grading allows several States and UTs to be considered at the same level, eliminating the phenomenon of one improving only at the cost of others…”
The Editorial Page
Who polluted Delhi’s air? (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Every year, around Diwali, I have come to expect a piece of advice from friends. “Why don’t you go out of the city for a few days.” I hardly ever heed their suggestion.
How can I head out when virtually every corner of the city I call home is shimmering and sparkling with festivity? I am not given to loud celebrations. But the joy in the air is infectious and who can resist the temptation of the sweets and savouries lavished by neighbours and friends?
Disregarding the concern of my friends comes with a price – being accused of being an incorrigible hedonist by my asthmatic lungs. Almost every year after Diwali — for about a decade or so — an invasion of particulate matter makes the city unhealthy for people whose air passages are vulnerable to irritants.
On several such days, even the healthy are at a risk — the Air Quality Index (AQI) on such days plunges to severe, at times hazardous.
A blame game inevitably ensues. The Centre blames the Delhi government for being tardy in implementing pollution control measures.
The latter returns the compliment and accuses governments of the neighbouring states of doing nothing to stop farmers from setting the paddy straws, left after harvesting, to fire.
Agriculturists from Punjab and other neighbouring states are often held responsible for the sore throats and wheezing lungs of people in the National Capital Region (NCR). As emergency measures and bans come into force, and the gloom in the air overwhelms the festive spirit, the usual refrain of policymakers is that the problem requires a long-term solution.
A combination of geographical factors — the city’s location, wind speeds — industrial activities and the results of the lifestyle choices of its residents, including particulate matter from the large fleet of the city’s private vehicles, renders Delhi’s air unhealthy for the most part of the year.
That the capital experienced its first good air day this year in September says a lot about the pollution levels that have been taken as par for the course by its residents. The movement of pollutants and smoke from neighbouring states adds to the noxious concoction.
A history of pollution control measures worldwide shows that it can often be a daunting task. London’s tryst with smog is well-known. In the 1950s and ’60s, the air in Los Angeles became so unhealthy that “parents kept their kids out of school; athletes trained indoors; citrus growers and sugar-beet producers watched in dismay as their crops withered; the elderly and young crowded into doctors’ offices and hospital emergency rooms with throbbing heads and shortness of breath.”
The city fought its way out of the malaise through a combination of environmental legislation that gave autonomy to regulatory institutions and citizen activism that kept the government on its toes.
In contrast — all noise about long-term solutions to the smog notwithstanding — Delhi’s air gets attention when people have to reach out for cough syrups, inhalers and nebulisers, when the AQI turns from “poor” to “very poor” or “severe”.
The Idea Page
Poverty is down, period (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 2, Issues relating poverty and hunger)
The recent release of the NFHS data for 2019-21 allows for a detailed analysis of the progress in the reduction of absolute poverty and related determinants like nutrition.
Very few, if any, are disputing the trend of poverty decline in India; some residual debate is on the subject of whether there was a larger rate of decline in the UPA Sonia Gandhi-Manmohan Singh period between 2004-2013 or the NDA Narendra Modi period 2014-2021.
Both argued that India’s economic growth had been the most inclusive between 2014 and 2019. This assertion was backed by strong empirical evidence, yet it was strongly contested by some.
The presentation at NCAER in February 2020 of an early draft of our IMF working paper with Arvind Virmani, ‘Pandemic, Poverty and Inequality — Evidence from India’ (April 2022), was viewed with much scepticism as many argued that extreme poverty had not only not declined, but increased between 2014 and 2019.
The latter out-of-the-box interpretation has now also been contested by several authors at the World Bank. The accepted conclusion now is: Poverty did decline between 2011-12 and 2017-18 or 2019-20 (recall that the 2017-18 unpublished NSS survey of consumption expenditures had indicated an 8 per cent decline in rural consumption and a corresponding increase in extreme poverty).
Policy-makers and academics have given a higher priority to the poverty-reducing properties of inclusive growth rather than growth per se.
The two time periods under examination – 2005 to 2011 (P-1) and 2011 to 2021 (P-2) – are separated by per capita income growth declining in the world (2.8 to 2.2 per cent) and in India (from 6.3 to 4.4 per cent). A priori, we would expect poverty to have declined at a faster pace during 2005-11. Did it? It did not.
The detailed NFHS data for 2005-6, 2015-16 and 2019-21 (supplemented by NCAER 2011/12 NCAER IHDS survey) allow us to close this debate — indeed, the data suggests that there is no debate.
The NFHS surveys are part of a multinational attempt to provide estimates of a multidimensional poverty index. Its computation rests on estimates of poverty according to 10 different indicators (see table).
The deprivation index for each indicator is the per cent poor (deprived) according to that indicator. The aggregation of the 10 indicators into one index involves legitimate issues of weighting, but individual components do not suffer from this drawback.
Explained
Fed hikes rates again: what it means for Indian markets, investors (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The US Federal Reserve announced its fourth consecutive 75 basis point interest rate hike, which brought the benchmark federal funds rate to the range of 3.75% to 4%.
The Fed also delivered a sharp tone in favour of over-tightening rather than under-tightening in a bid to contain inflation, triggering a fall of 1.55% in the benchmark Dow Jones Industrial.
Other global indices — Hang Seng (– 3.1%), Dax (– 0.95%), CAC 40 (– 0.56%) and FTSE 100 (– 0.7%) — also fell. Indian markets remained resilient, however — the Sensex at the BSE fell only 0.1 per cent on Thursday.
The US central bank has said supply-demand imbalances are causing inflation. However, it only has the tools to control the demand side — which it is using to bring inflation in line with its mandate of 2%.
The Fed seems inclined to hold these rates for several quarters while it watches job openings come in line with unemployment, and the movement of GDP and the rate of inflation.
It would rather err on the side of over-tightening, leaving itself room to loosen later if required, than under-tighten, in which situation it could end up fighting an entrenched inflation level for a long time.
The Fed has said the battle against inflation would require borrowing costs to rise further, pointing to the fact that it may be nearing an inflection point in what has become the swiftest tightening of US monetary policy in 40 years. The pace may, however, be tempered in December and beyond.
Akhil Mittal, senior fund manager, Tata Mutual Fund, said: “The market was expecting a slightly dovish tone from the Fed…but the tone was not hawkish either. It might not deliver 75 bps moves going forward — however, the pivot might shift to 5% instead of 4.5%-5%.”
It’s not necessary that the RBI will blindly follow the Fed and other central banks in raising rates. The RBI considers domestic factors, especially retail inflation, while reviewing the interest rates.
However, high imported inflation has added to the retail inflation in India, and RBI has already raised the repo rate by 190 bps over the last six months.
The RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee met on Thursday to discuss its report to the government on its failure to meet the inflation target (4% plus/minus 2%) for three quarters in a row. Retail inflation accelerated to 7.41 per cent in September.
Bankers expect more rate hikes this year. “We expect another 60 bps hikes in this fiscal, driven by the need for price stability, to anchor inflationary expectations, and backstop rate differentials to support the currency. Into FY24, the policy committee is expected to draw a pause,” Radhika Rao, senior economist, DBS Bank, said.
Fed’s continuous rate hikes does not augur well for emerging markets including India. An increase in US interest rates results in an outflow of funds to US markets, putting their stock markets and currencies under pressure. Equity markets are likely to see increased volatility in the next few months.
Mauna Loa,World largest active volcano, is rumbling ,could it erupt ? (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 1, Geography)
The ground is shaking and swelling at Mauna Loa, the largest active volcano in the world, indicating that it could erupt. Scientists say they don’t expect that to happen right away but officials on the Big Island of Hawaii are telling residents to be prepared in case it does erupt soon. Here are some things to know about the volcano.
Mauna Loa is one of five volcanoes that together make up the Big Island of Hawaii, which is the southernmost island in the Hawaiian archipelago.
It’s not the tallest (that title goes to Mauna Kea) but it’s the largest and makes up about half of the island’s land mass. It sits immediately north of Kilauea volcano, which is currently erupting from its summit crater.
Kilauea is well-known for a 2018 eruption that destroyed 700 homes and sent rivers of lava spreading across farms and into the ocean. Mauna Loa last erupted 38 years ago.
In written history, dating to 1843, it’s erupted 33 times. The Big Island is mostly rural and is home to cattle ranches, coffee farms and beach resorts. It’s about 200 miles (320 kilometers) south of Hawaii’s most populous island, Oahu, where the state capital Honolulu and beach resort Waikiki are both located.
Mauna Loa’s eruptions differ from Kilauea’s in part because it is taller. Its greater height gives it steeper slopes, which allow lava to rush down its hillsides faster than Kilauea’s.
Its enormous size may allow it to store more magma, leading to larger lava flows when an eruption occurs. Frank Trusdell, research geologist at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, which is part of the U.S. Geological Survey, said data indicates that Mauna Loa has a much larger magma reservoir than Kilauea, which may allow it to hold more lava and rest longer between eruptions than Kilauea.
Scientists won’t know until the eruption begins. Each eruption since 1843 started at the summit. Half the time, the volcano later also began erupting from vents at lower elevations.
The other half of the time it only erupted in the summit caldera. Scientists can’t tell far in advance when and where Mauna Loa will open new vents and erupt. Vents generally form along the volcano’s rift zone.
That’s where the mountain is splitting apart, the rock is cracked and relatively weak and it’s easier for magma to emerge. An eruption from vents on the southwest rift zone could hit residential communities, coffee farms or coastal villages on the west side of the island. Lava could reach homes in just hours or days.
The west side’s most populous town would be protected from any Mauna Loa eruption by the presence of another active volcano.
Recalling top dog Laika, 65 years after path breaking space flight (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 3, Space)
On November 3, 1957, the Soviet Union launched ‘Sputnik 2’ and made history — for carrying the first-ever living creature to orbit the Earth, a dog named Laika. The flight, which was meant to test the safety of space travel for humans, ended up as a one-way trip for Laika.
Sixty-five years later, here’s a look-back at why Laika was chosen for the mission, why the Soviet Union sent an animal to space, and if there have been more incidents of animals being sent to space post the Sputnik 2 mission.
Laika was a stray dog picked up from the streets of Moscow just a week before the launch of Sputnik 2. According to NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), Laika was a female part-Samoyed terrier originally named Kudryavka (Little Curly). She was later renamed Laika, which is Russian for “Husky” or “Barker.” In the US, she was eventually dubbed “Muttnik.” She weighed about 6 kg.
According to a report by Associated Press, the dog was promoted to cosmonaut (a term referring to an astronaut in the Soviet or Russian space program) based on her ‘small’ size and ‘calm’ demeanor. The mission wanted female dogs as they were considered anatomically better suited for close confinement.
It was not just the Soviet Union that experimented with animals. Before humans actually went to space, one of the theories was that humans might not be able to survive long periods of weightlessness.
According to US space agency NASA, “American and Russian scientists utilised animals — mainly monkeys, chimps, and dogs — in order to test each country’s ability to launch a living organism into space and bring it back alive and unharmed.”
Soviet rocket scientists wanted to send dogs to space to understand microgravity and other aspects of what spaceflight might do to a human body. “The contenders also had to be female (easier to rig up) and brightly colored (so video footage of them would be clearer),” NASA reported.
According to Smithsonian Magazine, rocket engineers selected the animals most obedient and most tolerant of loud noises and air pressure changes for the experiment.
Interestingly, it was not, though it is often claimed to be. That distinction goes to some fruit flies that the US launched on a mission in February 1947.
Despite Laika’s fame, she also was not the first dog in space, as the Soviet Union had launched two dogs named Dezik and Tsygan in 1951 before that. However, the dogs before Laika were used only during sub-orbital launches.
The United States launched rhesus monkeys, mice, fruit flies, and rats during the second world war, with the Soviets keeping close tabs on what the rival was doing with their V-2 and Aerobee missile projects (which sent rhesus monkeys).
Soviet rocket scientist Sergei Korolev, along with his team, used research from the American Biomedical research to experiment on mice, rats, and rabbits as one-way passengers.
“They needed to gather data to design a cabin to carry a human being into space. Eventually they chose small dogs for this phase of testing. Dogs were chosen over monkeys because it was felt that they would be less fidgety in flight.
A test with two dogs would allow for more accurate results. They chose females because of the relative ease of controlling waste,” NASA’s research revealed.