SLOW PATH TO PEACE IN J & K #GS 03 Internal Security Present circumstances: According to a recent report, the Union government is apparently discussing a “strategy to withdraw the Indian Army completely from the Valley region.” Only with permission will the Army be allowed […]
CYBER ATTACKS ARE RISING, BUT THERE IS AN IDEAL PATCH: #GS 03 Cyber Security The delicate underbelly of our fast expanding digital networks has been exposed over the past few weeks. The All India Institute of Medical Sciences, India’s premier institution, was the target of […]
Heat Waves #GS 01 Geography, #GS 03 Science and Technology For Prelims Heat Waves As per Indian Meteorological Department, a region can be said to experience heat wave if its ambient temperature deviates by at least 4.5-6.4°C from the long-term average. Climate change is expected […]
WHAT’S FEEDING INFLATION IN INDIA Present circumstances: ∙Globally, the rate of product inflation is decreasing as demand and input costs go down. Yet, India is experiencing rising prices. ∙Despite the fact that demand for high-touch services is increasing more slowly than anticipated, services inflation is nevertheless significant globally. In India, the cost of living is decreasing. Urban demand growth as a source of inflation: ∙The decrease in rural consumer spending in the second half of 2021 marked the beginning of everything. ∙The inconsistent monsoon rains, increased inflation, and the spread of the March heatwave during 2022 led to a mediocre harvest and a significant decline in rural income. ∙Around this time, demand rose in urban areas. Lockdowns ceased, and employment in cities resumed. During the epidemic era, workers who had fled for their homes returned to the big cities. ∙Every time an Indian worker moved from a rural to an urban region, their earnings climbed. Rising salaries correlated with high expenditure. This made the demand shortfall in rural areas even more obvious. ∙The latter few months of 2022 saw an upsurge in winter agricultural sowing. Since more labour were needed on the ground, agricultural pay rose. ∙In fact, after accounting for inflation, they went above pre-pandemic levels. Other rural indicators, such as the manufacturing of consumer non-durables, which grew swiftly from October levels, also pointed to stronger revenues. ∙By the end of 2022, the shift in labourers moving back to urban areas and the ensuing growth stimulus had essentially come to an end. Following that, indices of urban demand, such as the manufacturing of consumer durables, began to fall. Fair enough, demand in rural areas is only slightly rising while it is somewhat decreasing in metropolitan areas. Neither is […]
INDIA’S R & D ESTIMATES ARE AN INCOMPLETE PICTURE: Context: ∙When compared to other major countries, India’s research and development (R&D) expenditure-to– GDP ratio of 0.7% is extraordinarily low and significantly lower than the global average of 1.8%. Issues with the present framework: ∙The corporate sector’s underinvestment in R&D is the key contributing cause. Around two-thirds of gross domestic expenditures (GERD) are made up by the business sector in wealthy countries, compared to only 37% in India. Nonetheless, there is proof that India’s GERD statistics are exaggerated. ∙American multinational corporations (MNCs) invested $9.5 billion in R&D in India in 2018 and $9.8 billion the next year, according to a 2022 infobrief published by the National Science Foundation (NSF) of the United States. ∙MNCs from other developed nations make investments in R&D in India. An estimate of foreign MNC R&D investment in 2017–18 has been supplied by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), and it is less than 10% of what American corporations have acknowledged spending in India. ∙India’s GERD statistics are compiled by the National Science and Technology Management Information System (NSTMIS) of the DST. For the public sector, academic institutions, and government organisations, information about R&D is easy to access. Getting statistics from the private sector is challenging. There are two key reasons why the reported R&D projections are sorely insufficient. ∙All of the R&D performing companies are not included in the approach used to identify them. The NSTIMS does this by using both the Prowess database of the Centre For Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) Pvt. Ltd. and the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) list of recognised R&D entities. There may not be many true R&D performers on the DSIR list for two reasons: ∙Businesses may not feel pressured to join the DSIR if they don’t think the government’s incentives to be strong enough or if they are reluctant to provide the DSIR access to private information. ∙It may be challenging for R&D companies that provide software and other services to have separate R&D infrastructure from their main business. Several businesses engaged in cutting-edge technical R&D might be categorised as services. Going forward […]
INS Sindhukesari #GS 03 Science and Technology For Prelims INS Sindhukesari INS Sindhukesari is a 3,000-tonne diesel-electric submarine of the Indian Navy belonging to the Sindhughosh-class. INS Sindhukesari has become the first Indian Submarine to dock in Indonesia after travelling through the Sunda Strait. It […]
Gaganyaan #GS 03 Science and Technology For Prelims Gaganyaan The Gaganyaan Programme of ISRO is aimed to conduct the demonstration of human spaceflight to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) in the short-term which will in turn lay the foundation for a sustained Indian human space exploration […]
Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP) #GS 03 Infrastructure For Prelims Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP) ERCP aims to create a network of water channels covering 23.67 % area of Rajasthan along with 41.13 % population of the state. This will be done through the help […]
Kaziranga National Park #GS 03 Biodiversity Conservation For Prelims Kaziranga National Park Kaziranga National Park lies along the river Brahmaputra on the North and the Karbi Anglong hills on the South. It is home to around 2600 Indian one-horned rhinoceros, approximately 2/3rd of their total […]
National Socialist Council of Nagaland Isak-Muivah (NSCN(I-M)) #GS 03 Internal Security For Prelims National Socialist Council of Nagaland The Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland is a Naga nationalist paramilitary group aiming to create an independent Naga state separate from India. It was formed on January […]