Cabinet Approves Subsidy scheme for Merchant Shipping

Cabinet has recently approved a scheme for the promotion of merchant ships in India by providing subsidy support to Indian shipping companies in global tenders floated by Ministries and CPSEs.

Challenges with the Indian Shipping industry at present:

• Despite having a policy of 100% FDI in shipping since 1997, the Indian shipping industry and India’s national fleet are proportionately small when compared with their global counterparts.
• Currently, the Indian fleet comprises a meager 1.2% of the world fleet in terms of capacity. The share of Indian ships in the carriage of India’s EXIM trade has drastically declined from 40.7% in 1987-88 to about 7.8% in 2018-19. This has led to an increase in foreign exchange outgo on account of freight bill payments to foreign shipping companies.
• Since Indian ships are less competitive while compared to their foreign peers, therefore, the Right of First Refusal (ROFR) policy has not been able to fuel the growth of Indian tonnage. Data collected from the Indian National Shipowners Association (INSA) reflects that it issued NOCs in 95% of the cases processed under the ROFR mechanism.
• So, a policy to promote the growth of the Indian shipping industry is also necessary because having a bigger national fleet would provide economic, commercial, and strategic advantages to India.

The expected outcome of the scheme:

• The scheme has immense potential to generate employment.
• An increase in the Indian fleet will provide direct employment to Indian seafarers, since Indian ships are required to employ only Indian seafarers.
• It also increases indirect employment in the development of ancillary industries such as shipbuilding, ship repair, recruitment, banking, etc. and contributes to the Indian GDP.
• A strong and diverse indigenous shipping fleet will not only lead to foreign exchange savings, but would also reduce excessive dependence on foreign ships for transporting India’s critical cargoes.

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Sugarcane Cultivation in India

• Sugarcane belongs to the Poaceae family of true grasses. It is a tropical and perennial grass which attains a length of 10 to 20 feet. A single plant of sugarcane has ‘many stems’ in a tuft.
• Since ancient times, Sugar has been produced in the local units in India using traditional Khandsari process.
• Modern Sugar making was introduced in India probably by Dutch.
• The first Sugar Mill was started in India in Bihar in 1903; followed by another unit in 1904 in Uttar Pradesh.
• By mid of the 20th century Sugar Industry expanded and before India’s independence there were 138 sugar mills in India.

Geographical Conditions of Growth:

• It is a tropical as well as sub-tropical crop.
• Sugarcane in North India is of the sub-tropical variety and has low sugar content. Also, sugar factories have to remain shut in the winter seasons in North India. Also, sugarcane juice begins to dry up because of the long dry season in north India.
• Sugarcane in South India is of the tropical variety and has high sugar content and high yield.
• It grows well in hot and humid climates with a temperature of 21°C to 27°C and an annual rainfall of 75-100cm.
• Medium and heavy soils where irrigation facilities are available are ideal for its cultivation.
• It can be grown on a variety of soils and needs manual labour from the time of sowing to harvesting.
• It is a long maturing crop planted between February and April. Harvesting begins in October and November.
• It is a soil-exhausting crop and thus needs regular application of manure or fertilisers.

Important Producing Areas:

• India is considered the original homeland of sugarcane and has the largest area under sugarcane in the world.
• India is the second largest producer of sugarcane only after Brazil.
• The major sugarcane-producing states are Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab and Haryana.

North-South Divide in India’s sugar industry

• Three distinct belts of sugarcane cultivation can be identified.
• The Sutlej-Ganga plain from Punjab to Bihar contains 51 per cent of the total area and 60 per cent of the country’s total production.
• The black soil belt from Maharashtra to Tamil Nadu along the eastern slopes of the Western Ghats.
• Coastal Andhra and the Krishna Valley.

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‘National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive’ (PRASHAD)

• The ‘National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive’ (PRASHAD) is a Central Sector Scheme fully financed by the Government of India launched by the Ministry of Tourism in the year 2014-15 with the objective of integrated development of identified pilgrimage and heritage destinations.
• The scheme aimed at infrastructure development such as entry points (Road, Rail and Water Transport), last mile connectivity, basic tourism facilities like Information/ Interpretation Centers, ATM/ Money exchange, eco-friendly modes of transport, area Lighting and illumination with renewable sources of energy, parking, drinking water, toilets, cloakroom, waiting rooms, first aid centres, craft bazars /haats/ souvenir shops/ cafeteria, rain shelters, Telecom facilities, internet connectivity etc. The project “Development of Varanasi Under PRASHAD Scheme – Phase II” was approved by the Ministry of Tourism with the cost of Rs. 44.69 crores in Feb. 2018.
• The components viz. ‘Panchkoshi Path’, ‘Pilgrim Facilitation Center’, ‘Rameshwar’, ‘Road Development’ and ‘Signages’ have been successfully completed and dedicated to the nation.
• The project “Development of River Cruise in Varanasi under PRASHAD Scheme” was approved by the Ministry of Tourism with the cost of Rs. 10.72 crores in Feb. 2018.
• The components viz. ‘Passenger Cum Cruise Vehicle’, ‘Modular Jetty’, ‘Audio Visual Interventions’, and ‘CCTV Surveillane’ have been successfully completed and dedicated to the nation.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered grievance management application

• Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh launched an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered grievance management application in New Delhi on July 15, 2021, developed by the Ministry of Defence with the help of IIT-Kanpur.
• This is the first AI-based system developed to improve grievance redressal in the Government.
• The AI tool developed as part of the initiative has the capability to understand the content of the complaint based on the contents therein. As a result, it can identify repeat complaints or spam automatically.
• Based on the meaning of the complaint, it can categorise complaints into different categories even when keywords normally used for such search are not present in the complaint.
• It enables geographical analysis of complaints in a category including analysis of whether the complaint was adequately addressed or not by the concerned office.
• Easy user-friendly search enables users to formulate their own queries/categories depending on management requirements and seek performance results based on the query.
• Given that lakhs of complaints are received on the CPGRAMS portal of DARPG, this application will have great use in understanding the nature of complaints, geographies from where they emanate and policy changes which can be introduced to create systemic improvements to address these grievances.

A tripartite MoU for the project was signed by the Department of Defence, MoD, DARPG and IIT, Kanpur on August 04, 2020.

• The release of this application marks the introduction of AI-based innovations into governance and administration.
• This project is the first of its kind initiative of the Government for using AI, data science and Machine Learning techniques in grievance redressal.
• The success of this project in MoD will pave the way for the extension of this application across other Ministries.
• The MoD and IIT, Kanpur intend to drive their collaboration forward in the coming years, seeking to better leverage the use of AI for the disposal of citizens' complaints.
• The web-based application has been jointly developed by the Department of Defence, MoD; DARPG and a team of IIT Kanpur comprising Professors Shalabh, Nisheeth Srivastava and Piyush Rai.

Rising Neurological & Non-Communicable Diseases in India

First comprehensive estimates of disease burden due to neurological disorders and their trends were published in The Lancet Global Health.

About the Report-

• The findings have been published under the title of ‘The burden of neurological disorders across states of India: the Global Burden of Disease Study 1990–2019’.
• The study aimed at increasing awareness about these disorders, early identification, cost-effective treatment, and rehabilitation.
• It provides policy-relevant insights into the trends of neurological disorders across the States.
• It presented a comprehensive perspective of the burden of neurological disorders over the last 30 years and systematically highlights the variations between the States.
• It has been released and published by the India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative.

Recommendations Suggested in the Report-

• Several government policies and initiatives are in place to address the burden of neurological disorders across India, however, more focused efforts are required for the planning of specific neurology services in each State.
• Prevention and early management which are key in reduction in neurological burden.
• There is a need to address the shortage of trained neurology workforce and strengthen early detection and cost-effective management of neurological disorders in the country to deal with their growing burden.

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs)

• Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are medical conditions or diseases that are not caused by infectious agents.
• These are chronic diseases of long duration, and generally slow progression and are the result of a combination of genetic, physiological, environmental and behaviours factors.
• NCDs are one of the major challenges for public health in the 21^st century, not only in terms of human suffering but also the harm they inflict on the socioeconomic development of the country.
• NCDs kill approximately 41 million people (71% of global deaths) worldwide each year, including 14 million people who die too young between the ages of 30 and 70. The majority of premature NCD deaths are preventable.
• According to World Health Organization (WHO) projections, the total annual number of deaths from NCDs will increase to 55 million by 2030, if timely interventions are not done for prevention and control of NCDs.
• In India, nearly 5.8 million people (WHO report, 2015) die from NCDs (heart and lung diseases, stroke, cancer and diabetes) every year or in other words 1 in 4 Indians has a risk of dying from an NCD before they reach the age of 70.
• In a report “India: Health of the Nation’s States” by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), Government of India (GOI), it is found that there is increase in the contribution of NCDs from 30% of the total disease burden- ‘disability-adjusted life years’ (DALYs) in 1990 to 55% in 2016 and also an increase in proportion of deaths due to NCDs (among all deaths) from 37% in 1990 to 61% in 2016. This shows a rapid epidemiological transition with a shift in disease burden to NCDs.

Major NCDs and their risk factors

• The major NCDs are cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes.
• Physical inactivity, unhealthy diets (diets low in fruit, vegetables, and whole grains, but high in salt and fat), tobacco use (smoking, secondhand smoke, and smokeless tobacco), and the harmful use of alcohol are the main behavioural risk factors for NCDs.
• They contribute to raised blood pressure (hypertension); raised blood sugar (diabetes); raised and abnormal blood lipids (dyslipidaemia); and obesity.
• Air pollution is also leading risk factor for NCDs in terms of both outdoor air pollution and household air pollution that mainly results from burning solid fuels in the home for cooking and heat.
• Although morbidity and mortality from NCDs mainly occur in adulthood, exposure to risk factors begins in early life. Therefore, NCDs and its risk factors have great importance to young people as well.
• NCDs are rapidly increasing globally and reached epidemic proportions in many countries, largely due to globalization, industrialization, and rapid urbanization with demographic and lifestyle changes.

Actions to beat non-communicable diseases

• The epidemic of NCDs cannot be halted simply by treating the sick, healthy persons have to be protected by addressing the root causes.
• Reducing the major risk factors for NCDs is the key focus of MOHFW to prevent deaths from NCDs.
• Tackling the risk factors will therefore not only save lives; it will also provide a huge boost for the economic development of the country.
• MOHFW, GOI is already implementing “National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular disease and Stroke” (NPCDCS) with the objective to increase awareness on risk factors, to set up infrastructure (like NCD clinics, cardiac care units) and to carry out opportunistic screening at primary health care levels.
• In response to the “WHO Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of NCDs 2013-2020”, India was the first country to adopt the National Action Plan with specific national targets and indicators aimed at reducing the number of global premature deaths from NCDs by 25% by 2025.
• The global action suggested 9 targets for countries to set but India also set 10th target to address household air pollution.
• India’s National Monitoring Framework for Prevention and Control of NCDs has committed for a 50% relative reduction in household use of solid fuel and a 30% relative reduction in prevalence of current tobacco use by 2025.
• Integration of NPCDCS with the National Health Mission (NHM) resulted into augmented infrastructure and human resources particularly in the form of frontline workers- the ANM and the ASHA.
• With the active participation of these frontline workers the population-based periodic screening of hypertension, diabetes, and common cancers (oral, breast, cervical cancers) is initiated to facilitate the early detection of common NCDs.
• Prevention and management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and chronic Kidney disease (CKD); and better management of co-morbidities such as diabetes and tuberculosis are also considered under the programme.
• Integration of AYUSH with NPCDCS is a further step for promoting healthy life style changes among the population.
• Health promotion through social media is also being used to generate awareness about prevention and control of NCDs, such as use of mobile technology in applications called mDiabetes for diabetes control, mCessation to help for quit tobacco, and no more tension as a support for mental stress management.
• All people should join together to reduce premature deaths from NCDs by one third by 2030, the commitment made in 2015, as a part of Sustainable Development Goals.