electronics products | Make in India

In order to give push to ‘Make in India’ campaign, recently the government asked all government departments to give preference to domestically manufactured electronics products in their procurement. Is this a right step? Critically examine.


To give the edge to it's ambitious "Make In India " program government recently asked the all departments to give their preference to the domestic manufactured electronic items in their procurement's. But it is essential to analyse the move in the lime light of both it's pros and cons.
Pros-
They biggest advantage of this move that it will help in the development of indigenous market. Such procurement's also enhance the share of manufacturing in the economy, which give the competitive edge to the manufacturing sector. Furthermore giving emphasis to the indigenous manufacturer helps India to fix it's infrastructural bottleneck and it will also generate additional employment opportunity in nation. Here it should to be also noted that the government is investing large share of it's revenue in importation such electronic items and if the same amount will pump in the domestic market it will be admire both social and economical obligations of government.

cons-
The main concern in this regard is the lack of proper infrastructure. Despite of tremendous 6 % growth the manufacturing sector failed to give the competitive edge to the sector. This will hinder the domestic procurement's. Furthermore it has been also observe that the indigenous electronic items is not of so high quality and internationally they did not enjoy the eminent position as Chinese, Japanese or Korean enjoys. In this regard it is worth to mention that the such step to government also revoke their reformist zeal , as now the government is their buyer.Furthermore giving too much emphasis on the domestic market can create a unhealthy working environment for the foreign entities, which is not a good signal for any economy as a whole. Furthermore it also deteriorate the bargaining power and have great probability to create a monopolistic market. 
So while analysing all these arguments it is very clear that although the need of the hour is to promote indigenous market but it does not mean that eventually India should be turn in closed economy. Rather than a proper equilibrium between the indigenous and foreign players can adore the larger public interest.

A year of man-made health crises

Over the past year, several significant public health crises have unfolded in India and globally. As this year hurtles to an end, it becomes important to examine these events, if only momentarily, to understand the lessons they hold.

On closer examination, it becomes apparent that many of these crises were man-made — either because of continued neglect, a lack of focus on prevention and insufficient investment in health, or a focus on addressing diseases but not their root causes, i.e., the social determinants of health.

Early in the year, the war in Gaza and the blockade exacerbated a health crisis caused by continued international neglect of the people of Gaza. At the last count, the four-week conflict left 10,000 homes annihilated and displaced 4,50,000 people. The real public health crisis was the lack of electricity, clean drinking water and safe homes. Overcrowding and the lack of water and sanitation facilities led to a rise in the incidence of water-related diseases. As time passes, this destruction will expectedly result in multiple health crises that will affect the physical and mental well-being of hundreds of thousands of people.

Yet nothing made more news than the Ebola crisis in West Africa, where over 7,000 people have died. In the poorest and perhaps most politically unstable part of the continent where this crisis unfolded, the biggest areas of neglect were health systems, infrastructure, funding, trained human resources and little community education. Ebola has been endemic to the West Africa region for almost two decades. Yet, the ability of this region to address this disease, or any other, remains severely limited. Ebola wasn’t a global priority either, because it was centred in a poor region. International agencies bickered and took their time to respond while people died. When the first case emerged in the U.S., Ebola finally qualified as an important disease, and new experimental drugs, vaccines and preparedness soon followed. As always, it seemed too little, too late.

Health care in India

Let’s turn homeward. As India marched towards acche din , it also marched towards global leadership in many diseases. This year witnessed repetitive crises in malaria and dengue. Diabetes and heart disease continued to confound us. Earlier this year, we had a shocking stock-out of HIV testing kits and later of HIV drugs that, ironically, we produce and supply globally. Even as thousands were deprived of drugs in the public health sector, the government defended itself saying the situation was not “too bad.” India’s drug-resistant TB crisis too came out of the closet with over a 1,00,000 cases. We also finally admitted on national television that TB is the country’s time bomb.

However, the highlight was the sterilisation tragedy in Chhattisgarh. Over 10 of the 83 women who underwent sterilisation surgeries in the State died, while many others were hospitalised in a critical condition. The incident revealed the patriarchal mindset of successive governments who focus on female surgical sterilisation as a cornerstone of family planning. It also revealed the ongoing nexus between government officials and petty manufacturers, as the antibiotics given to patients were suspected of containing rat poison. Unfortunately, no politician or government official has been tried for culpable homicide. These deaths remain unpunished.

On a broader level, the quality of health services in urban and rural India, in both the public and private sectors, continued to be abysmal, as millions of patients travelled to access health services elsewhere. Over 60 per cent of all Indians continued to access healthcare in the private sector (many from quacks) at exorbitant costs and were often exploited with inappropriate tests and treatment. India’s epidemic of micro bacterial resistance also continued unabated as pharmacies sold antibiotics over the counter without sufficient control from the government. The biggest blow came at the end of the year as news leaked that the new government would cut health spending by around 20 per cent. For a country whose spending on health is among the lowest in the world, this was a terrible way to wrap up the year.

Lessons for the next year

What can we learn for 2015? Governments in India and elsewhere that promise development, growth and human well-being must recognise this: all this is not possible without investments in health and health systems. We need to invest in improving preventive and primary health care, sanitation, waste management and health education. Finally, if our long history of continuing disease and recent crises teach us anything, it is that the fundamentals of health remain critically important in disease control — sufficient nutrition, safe habitation, better air quality, sanitation, health-seeking behaviours, safety, and reduced conflict. All of these are deeply linked, not just to health but social and economic policy. Reducing spending on health will make things worse, not better, in India and elsewhere. Acche din will not arrive either next year or the decade after unless India integrates these lessons with its public policy.

‘Pro-farmer’ amendments: Modi

“Proposed amendments meet twin objectives of farmer welfare; along with expeditiously meeting strategic and developmental needs of the country,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted on Monday night on the ordinance to amend the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) Act, 2013.

While the National Alliance of People's Movements, a network of social activists, described the step as “anti-poor” and pushing a corporate agenda, Mr Modi described the ordinance as including a “pro-farmer step” of bringing compensation and rehabilitation under 13 exempt central laws at par with the norms of LARR 2013. “Certain amendments have been made in the Act to further strengthen the provisions to protect the interests of the ‘affected families’,” he noted.

Under Section 105 of LARR Act, 13 central laws, including the National Highways Act 1956, the Railways Act 1989, Coal Bearing Areas Acquisition and Development Act 1957, are exempt from the provisions of the Land Act. The Land Act, however, required that within a year from the commencement of the Act the government may allow LARR’s provisions of rehabilitation to apply even in acquisition under the 13 laws that are currently exempt, subject to Parliament’s approval.

“The Act mandated that within a year, the notification including these 13 exempt laws be laid before Parliament while it is in session, for a total period of 30 days in one session or in two or more successive sessions, which was not possible this session. That is why the government found the ordinance route necessary,” said a senior Ministry of Rural Development. However, Jairam Ramesh, Minister of Rural Development with the UPA government said this was not true. “The one-year deadline for including the exempt laws already got over in September 2014.” Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said the government was taking to the ordinance route as it was afraid of public accountability. “Criticism of the opposition against the ordinance betrays its frustration, after failing to derail the government's reform agenda”, said Shrikant Sharma, BJP national secretary. The Confederation of Indian Industry welcomed the ordinance describing it as a sign of the government's “serious commitment to economic reforms.”

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/profarmer-amendments-modi/article6736869.ece

LARR Act

The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill (LARR Act) was enacted by UPA Government in 2013 which replaced decade old Land Acquisition Act of 1894. The enacted law brought many provision which was favorable to land holders such as increased compensation which would be four times and two times of the market value if the land is acquired in rural and urban areas respectively. Indeed, the law was laudable but there was having certain provisions which were contentious such as that there should be 80 percent consent of the family affected, if the land is acquired for PPP project.
Current regime has has brought certain amendment in the said bill through ordinance route to do away contentious part. Some of the amendments are-
-There should be no consent requirement and environmental impact assessment for the PPP projects. 
-Modification of the clause which stipulates the annulment of land acquisition if compensation is not paid within a time frame of 5 years, this time frame has been increased to 10 years
-Earlier compensation clause was not applicable to 13 Central Acts but now compensation requirement will be applicable for 12 central acts.
Removal of EIA decrease the time for the acquisition of land but this may compromise the environmental healthand removal of consent clause may affect families as they will have no say in the acquisition process.
The said amendment is necessary for the development as said by the current government but there should be some safeguards which may protect the interest of affected families. It would have been better if the amendments was to be brought after consulting with various stake holders rather in haste.

Healthcare in India

 “The quality of health services in urban and rural India, in both the public and private sectors, continues to be abysmal, as millions of patients travel to access health services elsewhere.” Critically comment.

Healthcare in India is a major issue as basic health is not reaching rural areas and villages and 60% of Indians are depend on private sector which is too costly for common man. The quality of health is an issue in India as rural areas are filled with jholachhap doctors, AYUSH doctors practising  allopathic medicines and in cities everyday we are receive several complains over mis-conducts of private hospitals.

Recently the deaths in Chhattisgarh, Multidrug resistance TB cases and shortage of AIDS test kits are few examples of failure quality of health services in country.

For the major deceases, there is few centres in the country and we are unable to provide facilities to every part. Even specialised private hospitals are limited.

Although medical tourism is increasing in the country and 100% FDI is lucrative, on ground level the quality of health services in urban and rural India, in both the public and private sectors, continues to be abysmal and we need better plans more efforts, awareness and dedicated people to improve the healthcare facilities in India.

CRPF Act

CRPF(Central Armed police force) is doing a great service for our nation by guarding our borders,

fighting with maoists and mainitaning law and order in times of emergency but Our Nation has not reciprocated the same

to these forces . We have not given them their rights , dues and respect that they deserve.

The central Reserve Police Act(1949), an act that provides for the constituition and regulation of an armed CRPF has many problems:
1) This act is inherited from Crown’s Representative Police Force Law, 1939 which are not in sync with current times.
2) Our Constitution guarantees Fundamental rights to the citizens of India but there many provisions in the act which violate their fundamental rights-
the right to equality, equal protection in public employment, and the right to protection of life and personal liberty.
3) Legislative changes are not done in accordance with the Modern India and which follow Constitution.
These changes are done for Army, navy, BSF but not for CRPF.
4) CRPF Act is further compounded by the fact that the Commandant, after conducting a judicial trial for convicting and sentencing a member of the force, is also further authorized to punish the same member of the force departmentally dispensing with a formal inquiry on the ground of conviction on a criminal charge. To be given the opportunity of a hearing, a departmental inquiry, or the right of departmental defence, has been dispensed with, without giving any reasons as provided by the CRPF Rules, 1955. 
Government and CRPF higher officials needs to act immediately to revise this act in accordance with the Constitution and Modern India. We need to give respect to the people who are working day and night just to safeguard this country and these changes can be done in line with BSF, Indian Air force and other forces.

institutions and their problems

Our pre independent institutions like the Executive, Judiciary and the Legislature have failed to adapt. Collusion between the private sector and all three of these institutions is well known. Swindling of resources runs an parallel and almost equal black economy.

The Judiciary: The pending cases are creating great hardship and the economic burden is crippling to most.

The legislature is but a cacophony. It is used either too stall bills or to guillotine them, but never to discuss.

Post independent institutions, like regulatory agencies, are themselves co-opeted to serve the individual purpose instead common good. 
Panchayat raj institutions are struggling for funds, functions and functionaries.
State owned banks are require frequent bail outs and ever falling standards.
State owned schools are the highest paid per student, with one of the lowest educational outcomes.

Reforms:

Transparency and accountability in all aspects is a must. The fact that the Right to Information Act has brought to light several discrepancies shows that is the way to go.

The legislature must be used for discussion crucial matters. To hammer out contentious points, other fora like the Inter State Council, can be used. Guillotining bills should be avoided.

Judiciary needs a massive overhaul in quality, quantity and technology. Appointment and removal procedures must be streamlined in lines with the reports of various committees and international best practices. Innovative methods like fast track courts, lok adalats should be expanded.

The executive too needs a overhaul in terms of quantity. There is a serious need to fix accountability for their actions, and for this, they should be protected from undue influence.

Once these bedrock institutions begin to work as envisaged, the change will emanate in other institutions.

Appointment procedures in regulatory agencies must be transparent and based on a clear criteria. And in case of regulatory absence, immediate step should be taken to rectify the situation.

Post liberalization has brought in the private sector, but instead of using them to increase competition and quality, their collusion with public agencies for nefarious purposes has created vested interests who will stubbornly resist change. 
There is a need to overhaul the entire structure.

Uranium Import | Nuclear Energy

There has been increase in the demand for electricity due to
various factors including rising demand from manufacturing and domestic sector,
and increased rural connectivity. Nuclear energy is gaining importance over the
years as the supply of fossil fuels is not only limited but they also cause environmental
pollution.

Country’s uranium reserves are small and thus have to depend
on imports. Besides, the quality of uranium ore is low which is resulting in
escalation of costs. This has resulted in the demand-supply mismatch. Country is
trying to overcome this mismatch by importing uranium fuel.

As India is not a
signatory to Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, India was kept out of trade in
nuclear materials till 2008, when Indo-US civil nuclear deal was signed which
removed restrictions on the sale of nuclear equipments to India. Since then
many countries have come forward to sell nuclear fuel to India and India has
signed nuclear cooperation agreements with countries such as Canada, France,
South Korea, the UK, and recently with Australia.

Nuclear energy is cheap and clean source of energy. With advancements
in technology, the fuel has become safe. India which has sufficient expertise
in the operation of nuclear reactors has
to take measures to promote the energy with sufficient care.

A law that failed to keep pace with time | CRPF Act

From fighting insurgents in Kashmir, the Maoists in Chhattisgarh, and terrorists in strife-stricken areas to acting as troubleshooters in sensitive areas, guarding the borders of Punjab and maintaining law and order during times of emergency, the 230 battalions of India’s largest Central Armed Police Force, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), are staunch sentinels. But despite the valiant services that they perform for the nation, they get a raw deal. Gallant soldiers must get their due and the first step towards this is to examine their rights and the laws that govern them.

The Central Reserve Police Force Act, 1949 (CRPF Act), an Act that provides for the constitution and regulation of an armed CRPF, is a colonial inheritance of the Crown’s Representative Police Force Law, 1939. Despite 67 years of independence and the framing of our own Constitution, we have retained certain provisions in the CRPF Act which are violative of fundamental freedoms — the right to equality, equal protection in public employment, and the right to protection of life and personal liberty. These ought to be granted to members of the CRPF in course of their duties and service to the nation. Fundamental rights provided by the Constitution, which have evolved over a period of time, need to find recognition in the CRPF Act.

According to the Act, the extent of heinous offences are to be judged by the Commandant of a Battalion by exercising powers of a judicial magistrate conferred by the Central Government. All trials are to be held in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (CrPC). Even though CrPC 1973 repeals CrPc 1898, legislative changes have not followed in the CRPF Act. This leaves no option but to read down the CRPF Act by assuming applicability of CrPC 1973 to confer a presumption of constitutionality on the pre-constitutional CRPF Act. However, this does not make palatable the exercise of judicial powers by the Commandant of Battalion, as CrPC 1973 clearly separates the judiciary from the executive in line with Article 50 that mandates this separation.

However, the CRPF Act follows CrPC 1898. The provisions of this code invested executive officers with judicial powers to try as a magistrate all offences not punishable with death. The 41st Report of the Law Commission of India, which was submitted in September 1969, recommended the separation of the judiciary from the executive on an all-India basis to ensure improvements in the quality of justice by having judicial magistrates, who were appointed by the High Courts. Dispensing with the arbitrary exercise of discretionary powers and acting in a manner consistent with known principles of law was desired. After being discussed by a joint select committee and being approved by both Houses of Parliament and the President, CrPC 1973 came into force. Consequently, all functions relating to appreciation of evidence, imposition of punishment, detention in custody, inquiry or trial, came to be exercised by a judicial magistrate under the CrPC 1973, and all ministerial functions were left to the executive magistrates. Since then, all judicial magistrates are appointed by the High Courts and special judicial magistrates can be notified by the High Courts, if they possess such qualification or experience in relation to legal affairs as the High Courts’ rules may specify. However, executive magistrates can be appointed by the State governments to perform executive functions.

Further authorisations

The dilemma in the CRPF Act is further compounded by the fact that the Commandant, after conducting a judicial trial for convicting and sentencing a member of the force, is also further authorised to punish the same member of the force departmentally dispensing with a formal inquiry on the ground of conviction on a criminal charge. To be given the opportunity of a hearing, a departmental inquiry, or the right of departmental defence, has been dispensed with, without giving any reasons as provided by the CRPF Rules, 1955. In a hypothetical situation, a Commandant may be framing the charge as a prosecutor, convicting and sentencing as a judicial magistrate and then punishing summarily as departmental head, without any separate inquiry to complete the process in closed quarters, in one or two weeks.

In the light of the 1973 code, providing for criminal trials by judicial magistrates or duly notified special judicial magistrates — besides constitutionally mandating a departmental inquiry except in certain situations — the CRPF Act is a pre-constitutional law caught in a time warp. Members of an emergency force may require a high degree of discipline, but they do not deserve such a straitjacket procedure which not only circumvents the law but also defies all canons of the process of natural justice. The government cannot remain oblivious to laws requiring equality in matters of public employment and at the same time ignore the mandate of basic criminal laws of the land. CRPF soldiers need to be treated fairly and with a spirit of natural justice.

Revisiting the Act

The CRPF could consider revisiting the CRPF Act and CRPF Rules to amend them in line with the existing provisions of the CrPC 1973 and the Constitution. Changes can be made by creating a rank and file of judicially trained officers lettered in law. They could constitute a separate cadre in the force to exercise special functions. Alternatively, a special court, such as the Security Force Court of the Border Security Force (BSF), could be constituted. Amendments can be made in the CRPF Act in tandem with the provisions of CrPC 1973 for the exercise of judicial functions to suit the requirements of this special force. Legal practices adopted by the BSF, the Indian Army, the Navy and the Air Force, which all meet the test of time and are in consonance with the prevailing provisions of law, can be emulated without compromising on the need for an independent disciplinary procedure. A separate judicial forum can be legislatively made in the CRPF. Leaving the current state of affairs to the outmoded colonial position of the CRPF Act makes it an unjust, arbitrary, unfair and discretionary process subject to bias and misuse. Members of the force who sacrifice their lives for the nation deserve to be treated better. It would be unfair to leave them to their fate while they serve us well.

-- Anil Malhotra | Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/a-law-that-failed-to-keep-pace-with-time/article6733871.ece

Huge population at fluorosis risk / SMRITI KAK RAMACHANDRAN

With drinking water in 14,132 habitations in 19 States still containing fluoride above the permissible levels, the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry fears that a huge population is at risk of serious health conditions such as skeletal fluorosis.

The Ministry has now urged the Drinking Water and Sanitation Ministry to ensure the supply of safe drinking water in these habitations.

Data collated by the latter say Rajasthan has the highest number of such habitations (7,670), affecting 48,84,613 people. Telangana has 1,174 such districts with 19,22,783 affected people. Karnataka has 1,122 such districts and Madhya Pradesh 1,055. Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chattisgarh, Maharashtra, Odisha, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh too face the problem.

The World Health Organization guideline value for fluoride is 1.5 mg per litre, with a target of between 0.8 and 1.2 mg per litre to maximise benefits and minimise harmful effects. Fluoride levels in the body depend on climate and intake of the chemical from drinking water and other sources, the WHO says.

Fluoride contamination affects the teeth and bones and long-term excessive exposure causes abdominal pain, excessive saliva, nausea, vomiting, seizures and muscle spasms.

The WHO says fluroide levels above 1.5 mg per litre causes pitting of tooth enamel and deposits in bones. Levels above 10 mg per litre cause the crippling skeletal fluorosis.

The government has started the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Fluorosis in 2008-09. In 2013-14, the programme was brought under the National Rural Health Mission, which has so far covered 111 districts.

The programme includes surveillance of fluorosis in the community, training and manpower support, establishment of diagnostic facilities, treatment and health education. The Indian Council of Medical Research has formed a task force on fluorosis to address issues related to prevention and control.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/huge-population-at-fluorosis-risk/article6733905.ece