India’s WTO Challenge on MSP Programs for Food Grain

India has received criticism from other WTO members for failing to adequately respond to their inquiries about its Minimum Support Price (MSP) programmes for food grains, especially rice.

Origin of the conflict According to WTO members like the US, Australia, Canada, the EU, and Thailand, India did not offer enough answers during consultations.

According to these nations, the MSP programmes violated the WTO’s established subsidy boundaries and are currently under investigation.

With this, India became the first nation to use the Bali “peace clause” to defend going over its 10% cap on rice assistance in the fiscal years 2018–2019 and 2019–2020.

What is ‘Bali Peace Clause’?

India’s minimum support price (MSP) falls under the amber box subsidies category.

India has exceeded its limits for amber box subsidies for rice for two consecutive years, which is why it has been challenged at the WTO.

The Bali ‘peace clause’ allows developing countries to exceed their 10% ceiling without facing legal action by other members.

However, it is subject to numerous conditions, such as not distorting global trade and not affecting food security of other members.

India’s MSP programs are subject to the ‘peace clause’, but some WTO members have accused India of habitually not including all required information in its notifications.

Allegations of Inadequate Reporting by India

WTO members have been accusing India of not reporting all public stockholding programs under the ‘peace clause’.

Some members have pointed out that India also lacks an adequate monitoring mechanism to ensure that no stocks are exported.

India, on the other hand, argues that it is not obligated to notify any public stockholding programs other than for the crop where the subsidy limits were breached.

Impact on India’s MSP Programs

The criticism from WTO members could have an impact on India’s MSP programs for food grain, particularly rice.

The conditions set under the ‘peace clause’ could limit India’s ability to exceed the subsidy limits and support its farmers.

India may have to provide more detailed notifications and monitoring mechanisms to address the concerns of other members and ensure compliance with WTO regulations.

Why is India defending its stance on MSPs?

India faces several challenges in the agricultural sector, including climate change, soil degradation, and water scarcity.

The country also has to deal with farmers’ distress due to low prices for their produce, which is why the MSP program was introduced in the first place.

The challenge posed by the WTO to the MSP program could further exacerbate the problems faced by Indian farmers

DPDP Bill 2022: Need for Sector-Specific Safeguards

The digital industry in India is expanding quickly and producing enormous amounts of personal data. Understanding how this data is handled and secured has become essential as citizens embrace convenience. The Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Bill 2022 seeks to protect citizens’ data from misuse and unauthorised access, but some provisions, like the interaction with sectoral data protection regulations, lack specificity.

Bill 2022: Digital Personal Data Privacy (DPDP)

A proposed law called the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Bill 2022 aims to protect Indian citizens’ confidential information from abuse and unauthorised access.

The bill seeks to control how personal data is handled in India’s rapidly expanding digital economy.

Seven principles of DPDP Bill, 2022

According to an explanatory note for the bill, it is based on seven principles-

Lawful use: The first is that usage of personal data by organisations must be done in a manner that is lawful, fair to the individuals concerned and transparent to individuals.

Purposeful dissemination: The second principle states that personal data must only be used for the purposes for which it was collected.

Data minimisation: Bare minimum and only necessary data should be collected to fulfill a purpose.

Data accuracy: At the point of collection. There should not be any duplication.

Duration of storage: The fifth principle talks of how personal data that is collected cannot be stored perpetually by default, and storage should be limited to a fixed duration.

Authorized collection and processing: There should be reasonable safeguards to ensure there is no unauthorised collection or processing of personal data.

Accountability of users: The person who decides the purpose and means of the processing of personal data should be accountable for such processing

Challenges regarding conflicting sectoral regulations in India

The DPDP Bill 2022 lacks specificity in certain clauses regarding the interaction with sectoral data protection regulations.

While the Bill allows for filling regulatory gaps, conflicting sectoral regulations may create confusion.

India already has sectoral regulations regarding data protection, such as the Reserve Bank of India’s directive on storage of payment data and the National Health Authority’s Health Data Management Policy. Any deviation from existing regulations will further require the industry to readjust their operations again at considerable cost.

Approach to regulate privacy and protect data

The two major approaches to regulating privacy and protecting data is comprehensive legislation and sector-specific regulations

The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as an example of comprehensive legislation with sector-specific provisions

The American sectoral approach as a patchwork of regulations tailored to specific industries, with flaws in inconsistent protection, enforcement, and lack of federal regulation

Way ahead: Finding the right balance for India

There is a need for greater clarity and specificity in the interaction between the DPDP Bill and sectoral regulations in India

It is important to build on existing sectoral regulations to avoid undermining their efforts and require further costly adjustments

The role of sectoral experts in ensuring a safer, more secure, and dynamic digital landscape for Indian citizens in the future is important.

Gravity-Operated Electricity Generation from Defunct Mines

An innovative method of producing electricity has been created by Australian renewable energy company Green Gravity. According to the company’s plan, abandoned mines like the Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) in Karnataka, India, can be used to generate dependable and affordable green energy.

The innovation Weighted Blocks Controlled by Gravity

When available during the day, it employs a weighted block of up to 40 tonnes to travel to the top of a mine shaft.

When backup power is needed, the large block will naturally descend, allowing a connected shaft or rotor to drive a generator.

The amount of force generated can be controlled by a braking system, which also determines how far the block will fall.

Comparison to Pumped Hydropower Storage

Green Gravity’s approach is similar to the well-established approach of “pumped hydropower” storage.

In this approach, water is pumped upstream electrically into a reservoir and released downhill to move a turbine and produce electricity when needed.

Need for such technology

Renewable energy, such as solar and wind power, often faces the challenge of being unreliable during nights or windless days.

Charging a battery for backup power is very expensive and inefficient.

Advantages of Weighted Blocks over Water

Using weighted blocks instead of water means that decommissioned mines can be put to use, and the environmental costs and challenges of moving water up can be avoided.

This approach can also mean less reliance on coal-produced power and access to reliable power.

Potential Use in KGF

The Kolar Gold Fields in Karnataka, India, is an iconic but defunct gold mine that has the potential to be used for renewable energy production.

The weighted block apparatus could produce up to thousands of megawatt-hours of power from the mine’s deep shafts, some of which run nearly 3,000 metres.

Prices of Essential Medicines set to hike

Due to a significant increase in the Wholesale Price Index, the costs of 384 critical medications and more than 1,000 formulations are expected to increase by more than 11%. (WPI).

Consequences for clients

The National List of Essential Medicines’ (NLEM) annual price increases are dependent on the WPI.

Consumers will now have to spend more for common and necessary medications, such as antibiotics, painkillers, and anti-infection medications.

What exactly are essential medications?

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines essential medicines as those that meet the population’s top healthcare requirements.

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare hence prepared and released the first National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) of India in 1996 consisting of 279 medicines.

The list is made with consideration to disease prevalence, efficacy, safety and comparative cost-effectiveness of the medicines.

Such medicines are intended to be available in adequate amounts, in appropriate dosage forms and strengths with assured quality.

They should be available in such a way that an individual or community can afford.

NLEM in India

Drugs listed under NLEM — also known as scheduled drugs — will be cheaper because the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) caps medicine prices and changes only based on wholesale price index-based inflation.

The list includes anti-infectives medicines to treat diabetes such as insulin — HIV, tuberculosis, cancer, contraceptives, hormonal medicines and anaesthetics.

They account for 17-18 per cent of the estimated Rs 1.6-trillion domestic pharmaceutical market.

Companies selling non-scheduled drugs can hike prices by up to 10 per cent every year.

Typically, once NLEM is released, the department of pharmaceuticals under the ministry of chemicals and fertilisers adds them in the Drug Price Control Order, after which NPPA fixes the price.

Who regulates Drugs prices?

The NPPA was set up in 1997 to fix/revise prices of controlled bulk drugs and formulations and to enforce price and availability of the medicines in the country, under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 1995-2013.

Its mandate is:

To implement and enforce the provisions of the DPCO in accordance with the powers delegated to it

To deal with all legal matters arising out of the decisions of the NPPA

To monitor the availability of drugs, identify shortages and to take remedial steps

The NPPA is also mandated to collect/maintain data on production, exports and imports, market share of individual companies, profitability of companies etc., for bulk drugs and formulations and undertake and/ or sponsor relevant studies in respect of pricing of drugs/ pharmaceuticals.

How does the pricing mechanism work?

Prices of Scheduled Drugs are allowed an increase each year by the drug regulator in line with the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) and the annual change is controlled and rarely crosses 5%.

But the pharmaceutical players pointed out that over the past few years, input costs have flared up.

The hike has been a long-standing demand by the pharma industry lobby.

Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes among Children

In a letter to the Education Boards of all States and UTs, the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) mandated that schools provide adequate treatment and facilities for students with Type 1 diabetes (T1D).

Describe Diabetes.

Diabetes is a persistent illness that develops when the body is unable to control blood sugar levels.

The primary fuel for the body’s cells is blood sugar, also referred to as blood glucose.

The pancreas secretes the hormone insulin, which aids the body in using and storing glucose obtained from meals.

High blood sugar levels are a side effect of diabetes, which is caused by either insufficient or ineffective insulin production by the body.

Over time, high blood sugar levels can cause serious health problems, such as damage to the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys, and nerves.

Types of Diabetes

There are two main types of diabetes: Type 1 and Type 2.

Type 1 diabetes: It is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks and destroys insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, resulting in a lack of insulin. This type of diabetes is typically diagnosed in children and young adults, although it can occur at any age. It requires insulin injections or pump therapy for survival.

Type 2 diabetes: It is a metabolic disorder in which the body becomes resistant to the effects of insulin or doesn’t produce enough insulin to maintain normal glucose levels. This type of diabetes is often associated with lifestyle factors such as obesity, physical inactivity, and poor diet. It is typically diagnosed in adults, but it is becoming increasingly common in children and adolescents as well. Treatment for Type 2 diabetes may include lifestyle changes, oral medications, or insulin therapy.

Menace of diabetes in India

According to data from the International Diabetes Federation Atlas 2021, India has the world’s highest number of children and adolescents living with Type I Diabetes Mellitus (TIDM).

There are over 2.4 lakh TID patients in the Southeast Asia region.

Measures to mitigate TID impact on students

CBSE circular in 2017 allowed students with T1D in Classes X and XII to carry certain eatables to board exam hall to avoid low sugar episodes.

They are permitted to carry medicines, snacks, water, a glucometer, and testing strips.

NCPCR suggests states allow students to use smartphones to monitor sugar levels.

Tamil Nadu has been providing free insulin to children with T1D since 1988.