Daily News Simplified - DNS

05 06 19
Notes
SL. THE HINDU
TOPICS
NO. PAGE NO.

1 The immediate neighbourhood 12

1 India at 95 on Gender Index 24

3 An experiment Ebola cure may also protect against Nipah Virus 24

4 For more inclusive private schools 23

5 Patients turn litigants as new rules stall therapy 01

6 Global growth slows in 2019 says WB 17

Dated: 05. June 2019 DNS Notes

Title The immediate neighbourhood (The Hindu Page 12)

Syllabus Mains GS paper II: International relations

Theme SAARC and BIMSTEC

Highlights Context: PM Narendra Modi invited the SAARC nations to his 1st swearing in ceremony in
2014, however now PM Modi has invited the BIMSTEC nations to his 2nd swearing in
ceremony in 2019.

This showcases the decreased importance of SAARC and increased emphasis on BIMSTEC and
within that context the author is making the argument that SAARC still has the potential to
become a platform for South Asian interests and shared growth

Importance of SAARC:

➢ According to the author, PM Modi is not attempting to replace SAARC with BIMSTEC,
since both organisations are based on different foundations. SAARC, as an
organisation reflects the South Asian identity of the countries based on shared
history, language, religion, cuisines, etc. BIMSTEC on the other hand is not based
upon shared identity but rather a shared geographical region of Bay of Bengal. The
founding principles of BIMSTEC states that it will be an addition to and not be a
substitute for bilateral, regional or multilateral cooperation involving the Member
States and will act as a platform for intra-regional cooperation between SAARC and
ASEAN.

➢ SAARC has developed common platforms in several fields such as agriculture,

education, health, climate change, science and technology, transport and
environment. An important example would be the South Asian University in
Delhi. BIMSTEC is beginning to form platform, with secretariat being formed in 2014
itself.

➢ SAARC mainly suffers from India - Pakistan conflict, whereby India is unwilling to
engage with Pakistan till it ends or makes serious attempts cross-border terrorism.

➢ However, according to the author, India is willing to engage in Shanghai Cooperation

Organisation which also has Pakistan as a member. BIMSTEC in 2018 also suffered
from regional rivalry, whereby Nepal refused to participate in a BIMSTEC military
exercise which was being led by India.

➢ A common complaint is that SAARC is becoming defunct because of Pakistan’s

opposition to connectivity projects such as the Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA),
energy sharing proposals and others such as the South Asia Satellite. However, such
agreements have not made progress in other groupings either whereby the
Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal (BBIN) grouping has failed to implement the MVA
due to opposition from Bhutan.

➢ Similarly, Pakistan is responsible for ineffective implementation of the South Asia Free
Trade Area agreement. However, such problems occur in other groupings whereby
India too accused of withholding the ASEAN-led Regional Comprehensive Economic
Partnership. However it needs to be understood that India's concerns with RCEP is
based mainly on economic reasons while Pakistan is not implementing SAFTA due to
its political opposition to India.
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Future Steps that can be undertaken to improve SAARC:

➢ SAARC could adopt the “ASEAN minus X” formula — members who are unwilling to
join a project or initiative can be allowed to join at a future date, while members who
wish to go ahead with the cooperation agreement can do so.
➢ SAARC could be a common platform to demand more sustainable alternatives for
development, or to oppose trade tariffs together, or to demand better terms for
South Asian labour around the world.

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Dated: 05. June 2019 DNS Notes

Title India at 95 on Gender Index (The Hindu -Page.24)

Syllabus Prelims: socio- economic development

Theme SDG Gender Index

Highlights About SDG Gender Index

➢ It has been developed by Equal Measures 2030 – an independent civil society and
private sector-led partnership.

➢ The partnership is a joint effort of leading regional and global organizations including:
Asia-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (Arrow),
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,
The African Women’s Development and Communication Network
The International Women’s Health Coalition

➢ The index accounts for 14 out of 17 SDGs

➢ India ranked 95 th out of a total 129 countries.

➢ It measures the state of gender equality aligned to 14 of the 17 Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) in 129 countries and 51 issues ranging from health,
gender-based violence, climate change, decent work and others.

➢ It provides a snapshot of where the world stands, right now, linked to the vision of
gender equality set forth by the 2030 Agenda.

➢ A score of 100 indicates the achievement of gender equality in relation to the

underlying indicators. A score of 50 would indicate that a country is about halfway to
meeting its goal. India’s score of 56.2 means that it is among 43 countries in the ‘very
poor’ category.

➢ India scores the highest in health (79.9), followed by hunger (76.2) and energy (71.8).
Among the SDGs, on which the country performs poorly are partnerships (18.3),
industry, infrastructure and innovation (38.1) and climate (43.4).
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Title An experiment Ebola cure may also protect against Nipah Virus (The Hindu -Page. 24)

Syllabus Prelims: Science and technology

Theme Nipah Virus

Highlights Context: Scientists have claimed Drug Designed to Beat Ebola Also Fights off Nipah

Background
➢ Ebola virus derived its name from the Ebola River (Congo) where in 1976 it was first
identified. The Nipah virus gets its name from the first place it was detected,
Kampung Sungai Nipah in Malaysia, in 1998.

Treatment
➢ The only current treatment for Nipah virus infection is a monoclonal antibody that is
still experimental. Remdesivir is an experimental antiviral drug designed to treat
Ebola virus disease.
Discovery
➢ During trials, scientists gave a lethal dose of Nipah virus to eight African green
monkeys. Four of them were given intravenous remdesivir, and survived. The other
four monkeys that did not get the drug died within eight days.
➢ Though Ebola and Nipah belong to different viral families, but Remdesivir — made
by Gilead Sciences— appears effective against both.

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Dated: 05. June 2019 DNS Notes

Title For more inclusive private schools (The Hindu -Page.13)

Syllabus Mains : GS Paper II: issues related to Education

Theme Right to education Act

Highlights Context: The 86th (Constitutional Amendment) Act, 2002 added Article 21A to the
Constitution which it mandatory for the State to provide free and compulsory education to all
children from the age of six to 14 years (fundamental right). The Parliament enacted the
Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 to give effect to this
amendment.

Provisions of the Act

➢ The Act provides that children between the ages of six and 14 years have the right to
free and compulsory education in a neighbourhood school. It also lays down the
minimum norms that each school has to follow in order to get legal recognition.
➢ All children aged 6-14 shall have the right to free and compulsory education at a
neighborhood school.
➢ No direct school fees or indirect cost on uniforms, textbooks, mid-day meals,
transportation etc needs to be borne by the child or parents to obtain elementary
education.
➢ The Government will provide schooling free of cost until the child’s elementary
education is completed.
➢ All schools must comply with certain infrastructure and teacher norms. Two trained
teachers will be provided for every 60 students at the primary level.
➢ The Act required government schools to provide free and compulsory education to
all admitted children. Similarly, aided schools have to provide free and compulsory
education proportionate to the funding received, subject to a minimum of 25%.
➢ The Act stated that these schools shall be reimbursed for either their tuition charge
or the per-student expenditure in government schools, whichever is lower.
➢ The RTE Act bears many similarities to the U.S.’s No Child Left Behind Act,
including school accountability, assessment standards and teacher training. Like the
U.S., in India too States have been given major leeway in deciding the course of
implementation.

Issue with the 25% Quota obligation of Private Schools

➢ Section 12 (1) (c) of the Act mandates all private schools (except for minority schools)
to allocate 25% of their seats to economically weaker sections, i.e. those families with
an income of less than Rs.2 lakh a year, and other disadvantaged groups like
Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and the physically challenged
➢ The State government will then reimburse these schools for students admitted under
this provision, at an amount per month that is determined by the State rules.

A. Issue related to vacancies

➢ Even because of the presence of provision, vacancies are present. For instance, on the
last day of admissions under the RTE Act, under the first lottery there were 20,835
vacancies in Maharashtra.
➢ Over 80% of Delhi’s private schools are not heeding the right to education (RTE) law
on reserving 25% of seats for children coming from economically weaker sections
(EWS).

B. Issue in administration machinery

➢ Tamil Nadu, which has always been at the forefront of educational progress in India,
has made certain strides in the implementation of Section 12 (1) (c). It has widened
Dated: 05. June 2019 DNS Notes

the ambit of “disadvantaged sections” to include HIV positive children and

transgenders.
➢ A centralised database has been created by the State where people can access all the
matriculation (State board) schools in the State which lie within 1 km of their
residence.
➢ One of the main concerns is the absence of several CBSE schools on the school
database set up by the State. Despite the use of GIS tagging, several parents
complain that the system is faulty in identifying nearby schools.
➢ The management committee as per the RTE Act has not been notified. RTE rules also
state that unfilled seats can be filled again in September but governments have no
conspicuous public announcements regarding this.

C. Issue of Finance
➢ Financial problems continue to mar the system — many schools collect money for
textbooks and uniform though this is part of the State-stipulated fees. This is a chain
reaction: the Centre is supposed to release up to 70% of the funds for this
programme which is often delayed.
➢ The Tamil Nadu government has allocated a sum of Rs.368.49 crore, while the Central
government has allocated only Rs. 27.8 crore under the RTE in the same period. This
leads to a financial crunch for the State and, by extension, the schools.

D. Issue in ‘1km’ criteria

➢ There have also been several grievances regarding the ‘1 km radius’ criterion,
especially for rural residents who may not have any private schools in their vicinity.
This criterion will eventually widen the rural-urban divide in educational outcomes.
➢ The Kerala Rules are more progressive as they acknowledge terrain limitations and
the State has made provisions for adequate arrangements for providing elementary
education.

Steps needed
➢ The window for the admission process for RTE Act vacancies in private schools is very
narrow. This causes many parents to miss the deadline, despite thousands of
vacancies.
➢ The procedure for admission should be made through a single-point window online
for all school boards, with computer kiosks to assist parents who may not be able to
fill the form online.
➢ A mobile application should be built with live information on the number of seats
available in each school under the 25% quota.
➢ An RTE compliance audit should be conducted for all schools every year by the State
Education Department.
➢ Any aid given to private schools must be tied to the levels of compliance achieved by
the school.
➢ Several schools do not adhere to the 25% quota. These schools should be penalised
and derecognised if continuous violations occur. Every school should declare
prominently that it is RTE compliant — and the admission procedure, including
deadlines, should be conspicuously displayed at the school premises.
➢ On the government side of things, funds need to be released in a timely manner, so
that it inspires confidence in schools to fill all the vacancies.

Conclusion
➢ Section 12 (1) (c) of the RTE Act recognises the need for inclusion, and explicitly
establishes responsibility on all stakeholders to contribute towards this goal.
Dated: 05. June 2019 DNS Notes

➢ This socialisation will benefit all classes of society as we rise above our social biases
to make our children not just better learners but better human beings.

Personal
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Dated: 05. June 2019 DNS Notes

Title Patients turn litigants as new rules stall therapy (The Hindu -Page.01)

Syllabus Mains GS Paper II: issues related to health

Theme New clinical trial rules

Highlights Context: The Union Health Ministry has notified the Drugs and Clinical Trials Rules, 2019 to
promote clinical research in the country. The rules will apply to all new drugs, investigational
new drugs for human use, clinical trials, bio-equivalence studies and ethics committees.

Salient provisions:
➢ It has reduced the time for approving applications to 30 days for drugs manufactured
in India and 90 days for those developed outside the country.
➢ The rules stated that in case of no communication from Drugs Controller General of
India, the application will be deemed to have been approved. It said the requirement
of a local clinical trial may be waived for approval of a new drug if it is approved and
marketed in any of the countries to be specified by the Drugs Controller General with
the approval of the government.
➢ The new rules will ensure patient safety, as they would be enlisted for trials with
informed consent.
➢ The ethics committee will monitor the trials and decide on the amount of
compensation in cases of adverse events.

Issue
➢ However, the issue has been arisen because the definition of new drugs include a
vaccine, recombinant Deoxyribonucleic Acid (r-DNA) derived product, living modified
organism, monoclonal anti-body, stem cell derived product, gene therapeutic
product or xenografts, intended to be used as drug.
➢ It also mandated that such formulations are approved by the Central Drugs Standard
Control Organisation. The new rules require clinics engaged in such ‘new drug’
therapy to acquire a marketing licence.
➢ But there is no provision for an interim arrangement for the period between an
application being made to the Drug Controller and a decision being taken on the
application. It may take months for the approval.
➢ Hence patients with different ailments, have moved the High Court as their
treatments has been discontinued. As an interim measure court has allowed them for
treatment.

What are stem cells?

➢ Stem cells are the body’s raw materials — cells from which all other cells with
specialized functions are generated. Under the right conditions in the body or a
laboratory, stem cells divide to form more cells called daughter cells.
➢ These daughter cells either become new stem cells (self-renewal) or become
specialized cells (differentiation) with a more specific function, such as blood cells,
brain cells, heart muscle cells or bone cells. No other cell in the body has the natural
ability to generate new cell types.
➢ Stem-cell therapy is the use of stem cells to treat or prevent a disease or condition

Benefits
➢ It may help in increasing understanding of how diseases occur.
➢ It helps in generating healthy cells to replace diseased cells (regenerative medicine).
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Title Global growth slows in 2019 says WB (The Hindu -Page.17)

Syllabus Prelims: Economy

Mains GS Paper III : economy

Theme Global Economic prospects report

Highlights Context: As per the Global Economic prospects report the world economic growth has
slowed down.

About Global Economic prospects report

➢ Published by World Bank
➢ This year’s theme is heightened tensions , subdued investment

Highlights of the report

➢ Slowdown in global economy as in 2019 the previous estimate was 2.9% which has
come down to 2.6% now
➢ And the projection for 2020 stands at 2.8%

Reasons for slowdown

➢ Decline in investment and trade – due to trade wars , export oriented countries’
exports fell due to which investment feel and that led to a slowdown
➢ Increase in government debt – after the financial crisis of 2008, governments went in
for low interest rates and fiscal stimulus through borrowing and this limited the
scope of borrowing money for investment
➢ Various economies are slowing down due to uncertainty over Brexit

Concerns and challenges

➢ Low income countries have failed to develop into middle income countries
➢ High levels of government debt
➢ No scope for reducing rates of interest
➢ Difficult to meet sustainable development goals
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