UPSC News ADDA (2024)

15/05/2022

A recent trend in the evolution of jurisprudence around the death penalty (capital punishment) in India may reset judicial thinking around sentencing and have long-term ramifications in the awarding of capital punishment. Recently while dealing with appeals against confirmation of the death sentence, the Supreme Court (SC) of India has examined sentencing methodology from the perspective of mitigating circumstances more closely. The SC has also initiated a suo motu writ petition (criminal) to delve deep into these issues on key aspects surrounding our understanding of death penalty sentencing. This present trajectory of judicial thinking will reaffirm the fundamentals of the rarest of rare principle and lead a new wave of thinking in the jurisprudence around capital punishment.

What is a Death Penalty?

A capital punishment, also called the death penalty, is the ex*****on of an offender sentenced to death after conviction by a court of law of a criminal offence. It is the highest penalty awardable to an accused.
Capital punishment in India has been limited to the rarest of rare cases- like Section 121 (taking up arms against the state) and Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code 1860. The death penalty is seen as the most suitable punishment and effective deterrent for the worst crimes.

What is the Status of Death Penalty in the Indian Context?

Prior to the Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Act (Cr PC) of 1955, the death penalty was the rule and life imprisonment an exception in India. After the amendment of 1955 courts were at liberty to grant either death or life imprisonment. As per Section 354 (3) of the CrPC, 1973 the courts are required to state reasons in writing for awarding the maximum penalty. The situation has been reversed and a life sentence is the rule and death penalty an exception in capital offences. Capital punishment once delivered by the court of sessions (“sentencing court”) is required under law (CrPC) to be confirmed by the jurisdictional High Court (“confirming court”). No death sentence imposed by a trial court can be executed unless the punishment is confirmed by the High Court too.

What are Rarest of the Rare Cases?When the murder is committed in an extremely brutal, ridiculous, diabolical, revolting, or reprehensible manner so as to awaken intense and extreme indignation of the community.When total depravity and cruelty are the motives behind a murder.

Where does the Judiciary Stand in terms of Awarding Death Penalty?

What has the SC Held Regarding the Death Penalty?

In the Bachan Singh vs State of Punjab (1980) the SC called for mitigating and aggravating circumstances to be balanced against each other and laid down the principle that the death penalty ought not to be awarded unless the alternative of life imprisonment is “unquestionably foreclosed”. In the case Mofil Khan vs State of Jharkhand (2021), SC held that the “the State is under a duty to procure evidence to establish that there is no possibility of reformation and rehabilitation of the accused”.

What are the Other Views?

A report by the National Law University, Delhi’s Project 39A (earlier known as the “Centre on the Death Penalty”) titled National Law University Delhi’s Project 39A found that there is no judicial uniformity or consistency when it comes to awarding the death sentence.
In the report titled ‘Death Penalty Sentencing in Trial Courts’ (authored by Project 39A), findings reported from a study of cases involving death sentencing between 2000 and 2015 in Delhi, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh have showed that courts have been lax in assessing the aspect of reformation while undertaking the sentencing exercise. In Ravji vs State of Rajasthan (1995), the Supreme Court said that it is the nature of the crime and not the criminal which is germane for deciding the punishment. This is diametrically opposite to what was laid down in the Bachan Singh case. In Machhi Singh vs State of Punjab (1983), the Court indicated that inadequacy of other punishments could justify the death penalty.

What Arguments have been Given in Favour of Death Penalty?

Retribution: One of the key principles of retribution is that people should get what they deserve in proportion to the severity of their crime.This argument states that real justice requires people to suffer for their wrong doing and to suffer in a way appropriate for the crime.
Deterrence: Capital punishment is often justified with the argument that by executing convicted murderers, we will deter would-be murderers from killing people.
Closure: It is often argued that the death penalty provides closure for victims' families.

Why is there a Need to Avert Death Penalty?

Against the ‘Theory of Punishment’: In the system of criminal justice worldwide, underpinning the element of sentencing is the ‘Theory of Punishment’.
It stipulates that there should be four elements of a systematic punishment imposed by the state:

👉The protection of society
👉The deterrence of criminality
👉The rehabilitation and reform of the criminal
👉The retributive effect for the victims and society.
Capital punishment, in its very essence, goes against the spirit of the ‘Theory of Punishment’, and by extension, natural justice. People who oppose Capital punishment are of the view that retribution is immoral, and it is just a sanitised form of vengeance. Capital punishment doesn't rehabilitate the prisoner and return them to society. Some of those executed may not have been capable of being deterred because of mental illness or defect.
Preservation of Human Life: Though capital punishment serves as a response to the society’s call for appropriate punishment in appropriate cases, the principles of penology have evolved to balance the other obligations of the society, i.e., of preserving the human life, be it of accused, unless termination thereof is inevitable and is to serve the other societal causes and collective conscience of society.

Social Factors Against Capital Punishment: An analysis of the possible reasons to avert the death penalty is reflected in a series of recent verdicts such as Lochan Shrivas vs State of Chhattisgarh (2021) and Bhagchandra vs State of Madhya Pradesh (2021).These reasons might include socio-economic backwardness, mental health, heredity, parenting, socialisation, education, etc.

Discriminatory towards One Section: The poor, rather than the rich, are often the ones sent to the gallows.👉The numbers of the uneducated and the illiterate sentenced to death outweigh those who are educated and literate.
👉Also, the failure of the defence lawyer in highlighting the mitigating factors that could lead to avoidance of capital punishment makes the legal assistance ineffective.👉In India, the legal assistance received by the poor facing serious charges is far from satisfactory.

What can be the Way Forward?

Psycho-Social Analysis of the Accused: It wouldn’t be wrong to consider the domain of death sentencing underexplored in India.The intervention of the Supreme Court in framing guidelines around incorporation of a mitigation analysis and consideration of psycho-social reports of the prisoner at the time of sentencing is timely and necessary.The Indian Judiciary, in this context, also needs to evolve a legal device for procurement of a comprehensive report dealing with the socio-economic and hereditary backgrounds of the accused from experts in the fields of social work, psychiatry, psychology, anthropology, etc.

Strengthen the Doctrine of the Rarest of Rare: It is important to strengthen the doctrine of the rarest of rare, as laid down in the Bachan Singh case and reinstate fairness in the death penalty sentencing exercise. The Court, in Bachan Singh case abundantly implied that no person is indubitably ‘irreformable’.

Ensuring Deterrence in its True Sense: Deterrence is most effective when the punishment happens soon after the crime. The more the legal process distances the punishment from the crime - either in time, or certainty - the less effective a deterrent the punishment will probably be.In this context, there is a need to expedite investigations at the hands of a well trained and equipped police system ably supported by fast track trials to reinforce the faith of the public in our legal system.

Bringing Social Reforms: Instead of merely enhancing punishment, tackling crimes against women and children requires broader social reforms, sustained governance efforts and strengthening investigative and reporting mechanisms.

http://newsmailinternationalusa.blogspot.com/2022/05/preventing-death-penalty.html

15/05/2022

Currency depreciation is a fall in the value of a currency in a floating exchange rate system. Rupee depreciation means that the rupee has become less valuable with respect to the dollar. It means that the rupee is now weaker than what it used to be earlier. For example: USD 1 used to equal to Rs. 70, now USD 1 is equal to Rs. 77, implying that the rupee has depreciated relative to the dollar i.e. it takes more rupees to purchase a dollar.
Impact of Depreciation of Indian Rupee:Depreciation in rupee is a double-edged sword for the Reserve Bank of India.Positive:Weaker rupee should theoretically give a boost to India’s exports, but in an environment of uncertainty and weak global demand, a fall in the external value of rupee may not translate into higher exports.
Negative:

It poses risk of imported inflation, and may make it difficult for the central bank to maintain interest rates at a record low for longer.
India meets more than two-thirds of its domestic oil requirements through imports. India is also one of the top importers of edible oils. A weaker currency will further escalate imported edible oil prices and lead to a higher food inflation.

Appreciation Vs DepreciationIn a floating exchange rate system, market forces (based on demand and supply of a currency) determine the value of a currency.Currency Appreciation: It is an increase in the value of one currency in relation to another currency. Currencies appreciate against each other for a variety of reasons, including government policy, interest rates, trade balances and business cycles. Currency appreciation discourages a country's export activity as its products and services become costlier to buy.Depreciation Vs Devaluation: If the value of the Indian Rupee is weakened through administrative action, it is devaluation. While the process is different for depreciation and devaluation, there is no difference in terms of impact. India used to follow the administered or fixed rate of exchange until 1993, when it moved to a market-determined process or floating exchange rate. China still adheres to the former.

What are the Reasons for Current Depreciation of Indian Rupee?

Sell-off of the Equity:A sell-off in the global equity markets which was triggered by the hike in interest rates by the U.S. Federal Reserve (central bank), the war in Europe and growth concerns in China due to the Covid-19 surge, led to the rupee depreciation.
Outflow of Dollar:The outflow of dollars is a result of high crude prices and the correction in equity markets is also causing adverse flow of dollars.
Tightening of Monetary Policy:Steps taken by RBI to tighten the monetary policy to counter rising inflation has also led to depreciation.

How the Depreciation of Rupee Impact the Overall Economy?

The current account deficit is bound to widen, depleting foreign exchange reserves and weakening the rupee. With higher landed prices of crude oil and other crucial imports, the economy is definitely inching towards cost-push inflation. Cost-push inflation (also known as wage-push inflation) occurs when overall prices increase (inflation) due to increases in the cost of wages and raw materials. Companies may not be allowed to fully pass on the burden of high costs to consumers, which, in turn, affects government dividend earnings, raising questions about budgeted fiscal deficits.

http://newsmailinternationalusa.blogspot.com/2022/05/depreciation-of-indian-rupee-indian.html

15/05/2022

India has been in the grip of what seems like an eternity of heat waves. The temperatures over north-west and central India in April 2022 were the highest in 122 years.

India is no stranger to heatwaves but what stands out about the heatwaves this year is the remarkably earlier timing, and the large spatial extent, extending from the northwestern to the southeastern parts of the country.

It is time now that concrete plans are put in place to deal with heat waves and closely linked extreme weather events. Early warning systems, heat-proof shelters and major afforestation are of vital need to reduce heat wave fatalities.

What are Heat Waves and Causes of its Occurrence?

A heatwave is a period of abnormally high temperatures that occurs during the summer season in the North-Western and South Central parts of India. It is a condition of air temperature which becomes fatal to the human body when exposed. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) requires that temperatures should reach at least 40℃ in the plains and at least 30℃ in the hilly regions, and should reflect an increase of at least 5℃-6℃ above the normal temperature to be classified as a heatwave. The proximate causes for the searing heat are an absence of rain-bearing Western Disturbances or tropical storms that bring rain from the Mediterranean over north India.The combination of global warming and population growth in already-warm cities in India is the primary driver of increased heat exposure. The Urban Heat Island (UHI) also elevates temperatures within cities, which will be amplified during the heatwaves. It occurs when cities replace natural land cover with dense concentrations of pavement, buildings, and other surfaces that absorb and retain heat.

How Intense the Heat Waves have Become in India?

Heatwaves are a common phenomenon in India during the months of May-June, however, heatwaves in the year 2022 began early due to the gradually increasing maximum temperatures in many parts of India.
As per IMD, the number of heatwave days in India has increased from 413 over 1981-1990 to 600 over 2011-2020.This sharp rise in the number of heatwave days has resulted due to the increasing impact of climate change. The number of people killed due to heat waves has also increased from 5,457 over 1981-1990 to 11,555 over 2011-2020. Since 1967, 39,815 people have been killed due to heat waves across India.

What is the State-Specific Scenario of Heat Waves’ intensity?

Based on the geo-climatic and socio-economic conditions, the highest number of people have been killed in Uttar Pradesh (6,745), followed by Andhra Pradesh (5,088), Bihar (3,364), Maharashtra (2,974), Punjab (2,720), Madhya Pradesh (2,607), West Bengal (2,570), Odisha (2,406), Gujarat (2,049), Rajasthan (1,951), Tamil Nadu (1,443), Haryana (1,116), Telangana (1,067), Delhi (996), Jharkhand (855), Karnataka (560), Assam (348), and 954 people were killed across the remaining 12 States.
According to the Maharashtra Health Department, this year’s heat waves have claimed 25 lives in the State.

How Harmful are these Heat Waves?

Human Mortality: Mortality due to heat waves occurs because of rising temperature, lack of public awareness programmes, and inadequate long-term mitigation measures.According to a 2019 report of the Tata Centre for Development and the University of Chicago, by 2100, annually, more than 1.5 million people will be likely to die due to extreme heat caused by climate change.
The increased heat will lead to an increase in diseases like diabetes, circulatory and respiratory conditions, as well as mental health challenges.

Impact on Economy: The frequent occurrence of heat waves also adversely affects different sectors of the economy. For instance, the livelihood of poor and marginal farmers is negatively impacted due to the loss of working days. Heatwaves have an adverse impact on these workers’ productivity, impacting the economy. According to an ILO report of 2019, India lost around 4.3% of working hours due to heat stress in 1995 and is expected to lose 5.8% of working hours in 2030. It also shows that 9.04% of working hours are expected to be lost in each agriculture and construction sectors, respectively, due to heat stress in 2030.

Crop Damage and Food Insecurity: The concurrence of heat and drought events are causing crop production losses and tree mortality.The risks to health and food production will be made more severe from the sudden food production losses exacerbated by heat-induced labour productivity losses. These interacting impacts will increase food prices, reduce household incomes, and lead to malnutrition and climate-related deaths, especially in tropical regions.

Impact on Workers: Workers in sectors like agriculture and construction will be severely impacted in 2030 because India’s large population depends on these sectors for their livelihoods.What should be of interest to India is that countries and regions with precarious labour market conditions are likely to suffer higher productivity losses with such extreme heatwaves.In absolute terms, India is likely to lose around 34 million full-time jobs in 2030 due to heat stress.

Weaker Sections to be Specifically Impacted: The climate science community has reported overwhelming evidence that extreme events such as heatwaves are likely to become more intense, more frequent and of longer duration in future unless emissions of greenhouse gases and aerosols are significantly cut globally.It is important to remember that heatwaves in India, such as the current event, have the potential to influence thousands of vulnerable and poor people who contributed very little to the climate crisis.

Where does India Stand in terms of a Heat Wave Impact Mitigation Strategy?

Before 2015, no national-level heatwave action plan was available to fight against such calamities. At the regional-level, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) prepared the first Heat Action Plan in 2013, followed by the devastating heatwave-related deaths in 2010.
In 2016, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) issued comprehensive guidelines to prepare national level key strategies for mitigating the impact of heatwaves.
Although some preventive measures have been undertaken to mitigate and adapt to extreme weather-related shocks, such initiatives are insufficient to prevent human fatalities from heatwaves as implementing preventive measures, mitigation, and preparedness actions remains difficult.

What Long-Term Strategies does India need to Adopt to Mitigate the Impacts of Heat Waves?

A Heat Waves Action Plan: The adverse impacts of heat waves indicate that effective disaster adaptation strategies and more robust disaster management policies are required in heatwave zones to lessen the impact of heatwaves.As deaths due to heatwaves are preventable, the government must prioritise preparing a long-term action plan to safeguard human lives, livestock, and wildlife. Effective implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-30 with the State playing a leading role and sharing responsibility with other stakeholders is now the need of the hour.

Early Warning Systems: Death from heat waves can be prevented by installing improved early warning systems that communicate heatwave threats, recommend different preventative measures, and constrain disaster impacts. Disseminating public awareness through print, electronic and social media, providing heat-proof shelter facilities during summer, easing access to public drinking water, and huge afforestation in urban and rural areas would help mitigate heatwave fatalities.

Declaration of Heat Waves as a Natural Disaster: Recognising heat waves as a major disaster is long due. India still has a long way to go in building public awareness, particularly on how individuals and local communities can take care of themselves. Also, there needs to be clear guidelines regarding when to shut schools or about the optimal ranges of temperatures that a household AC should be kept at or how long one should stay outdoors if that’s unavoidable.

Local Level Preparedness: Heatwave is India’s second most lethal disaster after the flood. Declaring heat waves as a natural disaster would help the state and district administration prepare a heatwave action plan at the regional level.This will help build resilience infrastructure, develop early warning infrastructure, and create public awareness. It is also crucial to prepare a database at the district level involving the age, gender, and occupation of people who have died due to heatwaves.

Passive Cooling to Reduce UHIs: Passive cooling technology, a widely-used strategy to create naturally ventilated buildings, can be a vital alternative to address the urban heat island for residential and commercial buildings.The IPCC’s AR6 report cites ancient Indian building designs that have used this technology, which could be adapted to modern facilities in the context of global warming.

Replacing Dark Roofs: A big reason that cities are so much hotter than rural areas is that they are covered by dark roofs, roads and parking lots that absorb and retain heat.One of the long term solutions can be replacing the dark surfaces with lighter and more reflective materials; it will result in a comparatively cooler environment.

http://newsmailinternationalusa.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-long-term-strategy-to-tackle-heat.html

15/05/2022

Council of Scientific & Industrial Research- Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB) has announced the success of 'proof of principle' of the first indigenous Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine technology.

This is different from the mRNA vaccine being developed by Gennova Bio based on self-replicating RNA.
According to the researcher, the technology is ready to be transferred to any interested company to take it to the next step of performing human trials and bringing the vaccine to market with regulatory approval.

Proof of Principle

Proof of Principle, also called Proof of concept, is a realization of a certain method or idea in order to demonstrate its feasibility, or a demonstration in principle with the aim of verifying that some concept or theory has practical potential.

What is mRNA Vaccine Technology?

About:mRNA vaccines use mRNA to teach our cells how to make a protein or a protein that triggers an immune response inside our bodies. That immune response, which produces antibodies, is what protects us from getting infected if the real virus enters our bodies. The researchers developed indigenous potential mRNA vaccine candidate against SARS-CoV-2. It is based on the Moderna model, but has been built with the information available in the open and indigenous technology and materials.
Efficacy: “Robust immune response” has been observed against the Covid-19 spike protein in mice upon administration of two doses of the mRNA. The anti-spike antibodies generated were found to be more than 90% efficient in preventing the human ACE2 receptor binding to the coronavirus Angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2), known as ACEH (ACE homolog), is an integral membrane protein. ACE-2 serves as the receptor for the SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 viruses. It provides the entry point for the coronavirus to hook into and infect a wide range of human cells.

Significance:The indigenous grown mRNA vaccine platform holds promise to deal with other infectious diseases such as Tuberculosis, Dengue fever, Malaria, Chickungunya, Rare Genetic diseases and others. The vaccines can be used for covering a pan-Covid-19 vaccine with different variants.
With that, vaccines can be developed for other diseases.

What are Different Types of vaccines?

Indigenously Developed Vaccines:👉ZyCoV-D: Designed and developed by Zydus (a pharmaceutical company) with support from the DBT.
👉Covaxin: Developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the ICMR.
Globally Developed Vaccines:👉Covishield: Name given to an Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine candidate which is technically referred to as AZD1222 or ChAdOx 1 nCoV-19.
👉Sputnik V: The first vaccine to be officially registered and has been developed by Moscow’s Gamaleya Institute in collaboration with Russia’s defence ministry.

How are mRNA Vaccines Different From Traditional Vaccines?

Vaccines work by training the body to recognise and respond to the proteins produced by disease-causing organisms, such as a virus or bacteria. Traditional vaccines are made up of small or inactivated doses of the whole disease-causing organism, or the proteins that it produces, which are introduced into the body to provoke the immune system into mounting a response. mRNA vaccines tricks the body into producing some of the viral proteins itself. They work by using mRNA, or messenger RNA, which is the molecule that essentially puts DNA instructions into action. Inside a cell, mRNA is used as a template to build a protein.

What are the Advantages of Using mRNA Based Vaccines?

mRNA vaccines are considered safe as mRNA is non-infectious, non-integrating in nature, and degraded by standard cellular mechanisms.
They are highly efficacious because of their inherent capability of being translatable into the protein structure inside the cell cytoplasm.
Additionally, mRNA vaccines are fully synthetic and do not require a host for growth, e.g., eggs or bacteria. Therefore, they can be quickly manufactured inexpensively to ensure their "availability" and "accessibility" for mass vaccination on a sustainable basis.

http://newsmailinternationalusa.blogspot.com/2022/05/first-indigenous-messenger-rna-mrna.html

15/05/2022

Recent carbon dating of excavated finds in Tamil Nadu pushes evidence of iron being used in India back to 4,200 years ago.

Before this, the earliest evidence of iron use was from 1900-2000 BCE for the country, and from 1500 BCE for Tamil Nadu.
The latest evidence dates the findings from Tamil Nadu to 2172 BCE.

What are the Findings?

The excavations are from Mayiladumparai near Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu.
Mayiladumparai is an important site with cultural material dating back between the Microlithic (30,000 BCE) and Early Historic (600 BCE) ages.
Among the other important findings is evidence that the late Neolithic phase in Tamil Nadu has been identified to have begun before 2200 BCE, based on a cultural deposit of 25 cm below the dated level.Archaeologists also found that black and red ware pottery was introduced in the late Neolithic phase itself, rather than the widely held belief that this occurred in the Iron Age.

What is the Historical Significance?

Production of Agricultural Tools:Invention of iron technology led to the production of agricultural tools and weapons, leading to production required for a civilisation ahead of economic and cultural progress.There is no known record of iron being used in the Indus Valley, where copper was first utilized by Indians (1500 BCE).
Useful in Deforestation:Deforestation occurred only after humans began using iron tools to clear dense forests and bring land into agriculture, because copper tools would have been difficult to use to clear dense forests and bring land into agriculture.
Socio-economic Changes:With the latest evidence tracing our Iron Age to 2000 BCE from 1500 BC, it can be assumed that the cultural seeds were laid in 2000 BCE.
Around 600 BCE, iron technology led to massive production triggered by socio-economic changes - the Tamil Brahmi script.The Tamil Brahmi scripts were once believed to have originated around 300 BCE, until a landmark finding in 2019 pushed the date back to 600 BCE.
This dating narrowed the gap between the Indus Valley civilisation and Tamilagam/South India’s Sangam Age.

Stone Ages

Palaeolithic (Old Stone) Age: Basically a hunting and food gathering culture. Palaeolithic tools include sharpened stone, chopper, hand axe, scraper, spear, bow and arrow, etc. and were generally made up of hard rock quartzite. Rock paintings and carvings found at Bhimbetka, Madhya Pradesh reflect upon hunting as the main subsistence activity. Palaeolithic age in India is divided into three phases: Early or Lower Palaeolithic (50,0000 – 100,000 BC), Middle Palaeolithic(100,000 – 40,000 BC) and Upper Palaeolithic (40,000 – 10,000 BC). Homo sapiens mark their presence in upper palaeolithic age.

Mesolithic (Middle Stone) Age: The age is marked by transition from Pleistocene period to Holocene period and favorable changes in the climate.
The early period of Mesolithic age marks the hunting, fishing and food gathering.
Domestication of the animals began in this age.
The tools called Microliths were smaller and had improved geometry than the Palaeolithic age.

Neolithic (New Stone) Age: Referred to as the concluding phase of the Stone Age, the age heralded the beginning of food production.
Sedentism (living in one place for a long time) use of pottery, and invention of crafts are characteristics feature of neolithic age.
The neolithic tools composed of heavy ground tools like pestles, grinders, pounders and also axes and sickles.

Megalithic culture: Megaliths refer to large stone structures that were constructed either as burial sites or as commemorative sites.
In India, archaeologists trace the majority of the megaliths to the Iron Age (1500 BC to 500 BC), though some sites precede the Iron Age, extending up to 2000 BC.
Megaliths are spread across the Indian subcontinent. Majority of them are found in peninsular India, concentrated in the states of Maharashtra (mainly in Vidarbha), Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

http://newsmailinternationalusa.blogspot.com/2022/05/carbon-dating-of-excavated-finds-in.html

15/05/2022

India is facing the challenge of meeting its requirement of fertilizer supply which has been disrupted ahead of kharif sowing in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

How much fertilizer does India consume?

About: India consumed about 500 LMT of fertilizer per year in the last 10 years. The Centre's fertiliser subsidy bill is set to soar by 62% over the budgeted amount to Rs 1.3 lakh crore in FY21.Since non-urea (MoP, DAP, complex) varieties cost higher, many farmers prefer to use more urea than actually needed. The government has taken a number of measures to reduce urea consumption. It introduced neem-coated urea to reduce illegal diversion of urea for non-agricultural uses. It also stepped up the promotion of organic and zero-budget farming. Between 2018-19 and 2020-21, India’s fertiliser imports increased almost 8% to 20.33 million tonnes from 18.84 million tonnes. In FY21, more than a fourth of the urea requirement was imported. India, the top importer of urea, is a major buyer of Diammonium Phosphate (DAP) needed to feed its huge agriculture sector which employs about 60% of the country’s workforce and accounts for 15% of USD2.7 trillion economy.

Need of Large Quantities of Fertilisers: The agricultural output of India has increased every year, and the country's need for fertilisers has also increased. Despite imports, gaps remain between requirements and availability after indigenous production targets haven't been met.

What is Fertilizer Subsidy?

About: The government pays a subsidy to fertiliser producers to make this critical ingredient in agriculture affordable to farmers. This allows farmers to buy fertilisers at below-market rates.The difference between the cost of production/import of a fertiliser and the actual amount paid by farmers is the subsidy portion borne by the government.
Subsidy on Urea: The Centre pays subsidy on urea to fertiliser manufacturers on the basis of cost of production at each plant and the units are required to sell the fertiliser at the government-set Maximum Retail Price (MRP). Subsidy on Non-Urea Fertilisers: The MRPs of non-urea fertilisers are decontrolled or fixed by the companies. The Centre, however, pays a flat per-tonne subsidy on these nutrients to ensure they are priced at “reasonable levels”.Examples of non-urea fertilisers: Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP), Muriate of Potash (MOP). All Non-Urea based fertilisers are regulated under Nutrient Based Subsidy Scheme.
What has been the Impact of Pandemic on Fertiliser Supply?The pandemic has impacted fertiliser production, import and transportation across the world during the last two years. China, who is the major fertiliser exporter, has gradually reduced their exports in view of a dip in production. This has impacted countries such as India, which sources 40–45% of its phosphatic imports from China. Besides, there has been a surge in demand in regions like Europe, America, Brazil and Southeast Asia. Demand has increased, but supply has been constrained.

What are the Related Government Initiatives and Schemes?

Neem Coating of Urea: The Department of Fertilizers (DoF) has made it mandatory for all the domestic producers to produce 100% urea as Neem Coated Urea (NCU). The benefits of use of NCU are as under:-Improvement in soil health.
👉Reduction in usage of plant protection chemicals.
👉Reduction in pest and disease attack.
👉An increase in yield of paddy, sugarcane, maize, soybean, Tur/Red Gram.
👉Negligible diversion towards non-agricultural purposes.
👉Due to slow release of Nitrogen, Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) of Neem Coated Urea increases resulting in reduced consumption of NCU as compared to normal urea.

New Urea Policy (NUP) 2015:Objectives of the policy are-👉To maximize indigenous urea production.
👉To promote energy efficiency in the urea units.
👉To rationalize the subsidy burden on the Government of India.

New Investment Policy- 2012:The Government announced New Investment Policy (NIP)-2012 in January, 2013 and made amendments in 2014 to facilitate fresh investment in the urea sector and to make India self-sufficient in the urea sector.
Policy on Promotion of City Compost:Approved a policy on promotion of City Compost, notified by the DoF in 2016 granting Market Development Assistance of Rs. 1500/- for scaling up production and consumption of city compost.
To increase sales volumes, compost manufacturers willing to market city compost were allowed to sell city compost in bulk directly to farmers.
Fertilizer companies marketing city compost are covered under the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) for Fertilizers.

Use of Space Technology in Fertilizer Sector:DoF commissioned a three year Pilot Study on “Resource Mapping of Rock Phosphate using Reflectance Spectroscopy and Earth Observations Data” by National Remote Sensing Centre under ISRO, in collaboration with Geological Survey of India (GSI) and the Atomic Mineral Directorate (AMD).

The Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) Scheme: It has been implemented from April 2010 by the DoF.
Under NBS, a fixed amount of subsidy decided on an annual basis, is provided on each grade of subsidized Phosphatic & Potassic (P&K) fertilizers depending on its nutrient content.
It aims at ensuring the balanced use of fertilizers, improving agricultural productivity, promoting the growth of the indigenous fertilizers industry and also reducing the burden of Subsidy.

http://newsmailinternationalusa.blogspot.com/2022/05/fertiliser-challenge-impact-of-pandemic.html

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