23 December 2022

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYSIS

 1 – Cervical Cancer: GS II – TopicHealth-related issues

Context:

• Girls between the ages of 9 and 14 would receive vaccinations for the prevention of cervical cancer through their schools, according to the government.
• The decision was justified by the National Technical Advisory Group for Immunization, which suggested that the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccine be included in the Universal Immunization Program (NTAGI).

Regarding the cutting-edge vaccine:

• The Serum Institute of India in Pune, along with the Indian Government’s Department of Biotechnology, developed Cervavac (DBT).
• The antibodies that form after each dose of the HPV vaccine must be given twice, and they can remain in the body for up to six or seven years.
• The cervical cancer vaccination may not require booster shots, in contrast to Covid immunisations.
• A dose of the HPV vaccine, which was formerly sold in India, cost between Rs 2,000 and Rs 3,500.
• Cervavac is anticipated to cost between Rs. 200 and 400, which is a significant decrease in price.
• It has also shown a strong antibody response against all targeted HPV strains that is more than 1,000 times stronger than the baseline in all dose and age groups.

In India, how prevalent is cervical cancer?

• Cervical cancer is the fourth most frequent cancer in women overall, according to the WHO, despite being largely avoidable.
• According to contemporary estimates, over 25 lakh Indian women receive a cervical cancer diagnosis each year, and more than 75,000 of them die as a result of the illness. HPVs 16 or 18 are responsible for 70% of cases worldwide and 83% of invasive cervical cancer cases in India.
• India accounts for approximately a fifth of all cervical cancer incidences worldwide, with 1.23 lakh cases and more than 67,000 fatalities per year.
• Human papillomavirus (HPV), a widespread virus that is spread through sexual contact, is linked to almost all cases of cervical cancer.
• While the immune system of the body often cures the HPV infection on its own within two years, the virus can persist over time and cause some normal cells to develop into cancerous cells in a tiny percentage of people.

Source The Hindu

 2 – Greenwashing: GS III – Topic Environmental Conservation related issues

Context:

• On Thursday, M. Rajeshwar Rao, the deputy governor of the Reserve Bank, advocated for a taxonomy on green financing to prevent the risk of “greenwashing.”

About:

• American researcher and environmentalist Jay Westerveld coined the phrase “greenwashing” in 1986.
• Companies and governments who engage in “greenwashing” represent a variety of actions as being environmentally benign or as preventing or reducing emissions.
• Many of these assertions are unfounded, incorrect, or questionable.
• They don’t stop climate change, but they do help to improve the organization’s reputation.
• Numerous multinational companies have been charged with greenwashing, including Coca-Cola and oil tycoons Shell and BP.
• The practise of “greenwashing” is pervasive across a wide spectrum of environmental operations.
• By emphasising the cash flows’ positive effects on the environment, sometimes with no evidence to back them up, developed countries are frequently accused of “greenwashing” their usual economic contributions in poor nations.
• Resulting from greenwashing Greenwashing makes the world more vulnerable to disaster, encourages irresponsible behaviour, and creates the impression that the fight against climate change is progressing.

Managing difficulties:

• It is nearly impossible to monitor and validate all feasible methods and goods that could reduce emissions.
• For measuring, reporting, defining standards, evaluating claims, and awarding credentials, institutions, methods, and techniques are continually being established.
• Many new businesses present themselves as experts in various fields and demand payment for their services. Businesses continue to work with many of these organisations despite the fact that they are weak and unethical because it makes them appear good.

 How do “greenwashing” practises affect carbon credits?

 Concerning Allowance for carbon:

• A “carbon credit” is a credit for greenhouse gas emissions that have been reduced or totally eliminated as a result of an emission reduction effort (also known as a “carbon offset”). Businesses, governments, and private individuals can utilise carbon credits to make up for emissions created elsewhere.
• Those who find it difficult to cut emissions can continue operate, but it will cost more.
• The “cap-and-trade” theory, which was applied to lower sulphur emissions in the 1990s, is the foundation of carbon credits.
• One metric tonne of carbon dioxide, or one carbon dioxide equivalent gas in some markets, is equal to one carbon credit (CO2-eq).

Greenwashing’s effect on carbon credit:

• Credits are being offered for a variety of actions, including the growth of trees, the planting of particular crops, and the installation of energy-efficient machinery in commercial buildings.
• Unauthorized third-party firms frequently accredit and sell others credits for such efforts.
• Due to their double counting and lack of integrity, these transactions have drawn attention.
• Credibility: Brazil and India, two nations who bought a sizable number of carbon credits under the Kyoto Protocol, intended to sell those credits on the new market that the Paris Agreement was creating.
• Several industrialised nations claimed that the certifications lacked credibility and did not adequately reflect emission reductions.
• One of the most contentious sources of carbon offsets is forests.

How to Continue:

• Businesses working toward net zero goals shouldn’t permit additional investments in fossil fuels.
• To reach net zero, they must also be required to provide evidence of short-term carbon reduction targets.
• In order to start along the path to net-zero status, corporations should adopt offset strategies.
• Priority should be given to developing standards and legal frameworks for spotting greenwashing.

Source The Hindu

 3 – MSP: GS III – Topic Indian Agriculture

Context:

• The Center has stated that it is “monitoring” the situation involving cotton production and will take the necessary action even if cotton growers in various States are seeking for an increase in the crop’s minimum support price (MSP).
• A senior member of the Union Textile Ministry claims that domestic cotton prices are currently higher than the MSP. If prices fall, MSP will start running. At this time, it is not required. If the market is unable to supply cotton at MSP, Cotton Corporation of India will begin purchasing, the official said. “We are fully prepared to enter MSP.”

About:

• The price at which the government buys crops from farmers is known as the MSP, which is determined to be at least 1.5 times the farmers’ production costs.
• For each crop the government determines to be advantageous to farmers and hence deserving of “assistance,” a “minimum price” (MSP) is established.

Among the crops covered by MSP are:

• In addition to MSPs for 22 required crops, the Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices (CACP) also suggests the fair and remunerative price (FRP) for sugarcane.
• The abbreviation CACP refers to a division of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
• The list of vital crops includes 14 crops for the kharif season, 6 crops for the rabi season, and 2 extra commercial crops.
• The MSPs for de-husked coconut and toria are also computed using the MSPs for copra and, separately, rapeseed/mustard.

Arguments in Favor of the MSP:

• The CACP considers a number of factors, including the cost of cultivation, before determining the MSP for a commodity.
• Trade agreements between the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors are also taken into account, as well as the dynamics of supply and demand for the commodity, price trends on both domestic and international markets, parity with other crops, consumer effects (inflation), environmental effects (soil and water consumption), and consumer effects (inflation).

There are three different types of production costs:

• The CACP projects three different types of production costs for each crop in India, both on a state- and country-level average.
• The “A2” rate pays for all of the farmer’s direct expenses, including fuel, irrigation, hired labour, rented land, pesticides, fertiliser, and seeds.
• “A2+FL” refers to A2 plus an imputed value for unpaid family labour.
• “C2”: This cost is more specific and includes fixed capital assets, interest repaid on owned land, and rentals in addition to A2+FL.
• CACP considers both A2+FL and C2 costs when advising MSP.
• The return cost is simply determined by CACP as A2+FL.
• However, CACP mainly employs C2 costs as a benchmark reference cost (opportunity cost) to assess whether the MSPs they recommend at least cover these costs in some of the important producing States.
• It is up to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) of the Union government to make the final decision on the MSP level and other CACP recommendations.

Why is MSP necessary?

• Due to the twin droughts in 2014 and 2015, farmers have had to deal with declining commodity prices since 2014.
• Demonetization and the implementation of the GST had an immediate impact on the rural economy, especially the non-farm sector but also agriculture.
• Due to the epidemic, the collapse of the economy after 2016–17, and other issues, the majority of farmers still live in precarious conditions.
• The price increases for fuel, energy, and fertiliser have only gotten worse.

Which issues are related to India’s MSP Regime?

• Despite the official announcement of MSPs for 23 different crops, only two of them—rice and wheat—are actually purchased because they are supplied by the NFSA (National Food Security Act). The remaining material is largely unimportant and trivial.
• Ineffectively Implemented: According to a 2015 Shanta Kumar Committee study, only 6% of the MSP could be received by farmers, indicating that 94% of farmers nationwide did not benefit from it.
• A higher acquisition cost The current MSP policy has little impact on prices in the domestic market. It serves as a procurement price rather than an MSP because complying with NFSA regulations is its primary objective.
• Paddy and Wheat’s outcome the dominant industry is agriculture Farmers are prevented from raising other crops and horticulture items, which could increase farmers’ income, due to the overproduction of rice and wheat brought on by the unbalanced MSP system.
• Communication with the middlemen, commission agents, and APMC representatives necessary for the MSP-based procurement system may be challenging for smaller farmers.

How to Keep Going:

• True MSPs require the government to step in if market prices fall below a predetermined level, generally in situations where there is an excess of production and supply or when external factors have contributed to a price collapse.
• MSP can also be a motivating price for many of the items that are desirable for nutritional security, such as coarse grains, as well as for pulses and edible oils for which India is dependent on imports.
• Spending more money on nutrient-dense foods like fruits and vegetables, together with fisheries and animal husbandry, is the way to knowledge.
• The best way to invest is to provide companies with financial incentives to build valuable value chains based on cluster approaches.
• A transitional strategy for agricultural pricing must be developed by the government, in which certain agricultural prices are subsidised by the government and some are set by the market.
• One method to do this would be to implement a shortfall payment plan modelled after the Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana (BBY) in Madhya Pradesh.

Source The Hindu

 4 – Sahitya Akademi Awards: Prelims Specific Topic:

Context:

• Among the 23 authors honoured the Sahitya Akademi Awards for 2022 were the Sanskrit poet “Mani,” the Telugu author Madhuranthakam Narendra, and the Tamil author M. Rajendran. Udaya Nath Jha received the Bhasha Samman in recognition of his significant contribution to the study of classical and mediaeval literature in the eastern area.

Info on the Sahitya Akademi Awards:

• Established in 1954, it is a literary award.
• In 1955, the inaugural Awards were presented.
• The Sahitya Akademi, India’s National Academy of Letters, bestows it.
• The Sahitya Akademi Award honours the best recent literary works published in any of the important Indian languages that the Akademi recognises.
• The prize money was first set at Rs. 5,000, but it has since increased to Rs. 10,000 in 1983, Rs. 25,000 in 1988, Rs. 40,000 in 2001, Rs. 50,000 in 2003, and now Rs. 1,000,000 in 2009.

The Sahitya Akademi:

• It is a separate organisation inside the Ministry of Culture that promotes and preserves languages, especially indigenous and tribal languages.
• One of India’s largest multilingual libraries, the Sahitya Akademi Library, houses a considerable collection of books on literature and related topics.
• Every two weeks, it releases Samkaleen Bharatiya Sahitya in Hindi and Indian Literature in English.

Source  The Hindu