India-China trade, GM mustard, First woman from India in ICAO, List of fungal infection, CCI

India’s trade with China

India’s trade equation with China has been improving in recent years with outbound shipments rising faster than imports.

What is the reason?

• This growth in this short period of time is driven by import of some of the key raw materials and to meet demand from high-growth sectors such as telecom and power.

Composition of the trade:

• More than a third of India’s imports from China are intermediate goods, and 19.3% are capital goods, with equipment for the power and telecom sectors being the main contributors.
• These imports helped India meet domestic demand in these quickly expanding sectors.
• Electronic components, computer hardware and peripherals, telecom equipment, telecom instruments, organic chemicals, industrial machinery for the dairy industry, residual chemicals and related goods, electronic instruments, bulk pharmaceuticals, and intermediates are the main imports from China.

What is the Value of the Bilateral Trade?

• With trade flows between the two nations increasing by 59% from roughly $72 billion in 2014–15 (FY15) to $115.4 billion in FY22, China is one of India’s major trading partners.
• Since India-China commerce has increased, export growth has outpaced import growth by a significant margin.
• India’s exports to China increased from $11.9 billion in FY15 to $21.25 billion last year, a 78.1% increase, while the country’s imports increased by $55.8% to $94.16 billion from $60.4 billion in FY15.
• In comparison, China’s imports climbed 192% between 2006–07 and 2013–14, reaching $51 billion.

Way Forward:

• Over time, the production-linked incentive programmes for various industries will help lessen reliance on such imports.
• The post pandemic world which has posed difficult economic challenges is also an opportunity for India to exploit the opportunity in the manufacturing sector given its demographic potential and ties with the west.

GEAC clears environmental release of GM mustard

The environment ministry’s Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) has recommended the environment release of genetically modified (GM) mustard hybrid DMH-11: the first crop to get such a tag since BT cotton years ago, according to some scientists. This paves the way for the commercial release of GM mustard, and it is now up to gene developers to grant permission for commercial release. States too have the power to deny final commercial approval.

• To generate scientific evidence in Indian agro-climatic situations and also as a precautionary mechanism, the field demonstration studies with respect to the effect of GE (genetically engineered) mustard on honey bees and other pollinators.
• Patents on GM mustard are jointly owned by India’ National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and the University of Delhi under Prof Deepak Pental.
• Between 2002 and now, the GEAC, had approved Bt Brinjal, but the commercial release was stayed by the then environment minister on the grounds of insufficient scientific evidence about safety.
• The recommendation to release GM mustard is for four years from the date of issue of the approval letter.
• Commercial use of DMH-11 hybrid shall be subject to Seed Act 1966 and related rules and regulations, its amendments and Gazette notifications from time to time as applicable.
• Mustard is cultivated in the country on around 6.5-7.0 million hectares of land by around 6 million farmers in Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh.

Flashback:

1. The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) functions in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).
2. As per Rules, 1989, it is responsible for appraisal of activities involving large scale use of hazardous microorganisms and recombinants in research and industrial production from the environmental angle.
3. The committee is also responsible for appraisal of proposals relating to release of genetically engineered (GE) organisms and products into the environment including experimental field trials.
4. GEAC is chaired by the Special Secretary/Additional Secretary of MoEF&CC and co-chaired by a representative from the Department of Biotechnology (DBT)

Pros and cons of GM Mustard

Pros:

1. A system of genes from soil bacterium that makes mustard have been used by the scientists. This is generally a self pollinating plant and is better suited to hybridization than current methods.
2. Local crop developers can more easily develop different varieties of hybrid mustard, like GM cotton, and confer traits like pest resistance and potentially improving yield.
3. India’s dependence on edible oil imports makes it necessary to harness GM-mustard. About $12 billion is spent by India annually on import of edible oil.
4. As the population will increase, India will have to increase its productivity of oilseed crops.
5. DMH-11 is claimed to be one of the promising technologies to improve mustard yield in India, which has been almost stagnant since the last two decades.

Cons:

1. India needs technological interventions in agriculture and other fields but the issue of genetically modified crops has always been controversial. Mustard is used for edible oil, their leaves are eaten and it is also used as ayurvedic medicine. Its impact on health of the people, environment, soil, groundwater or food chain is not known yet. The glufosinate-based herbicide to which the proposed GM mustard is tolerant will also have adverse impacts on health. A herbicide-tolerant crop promotes constant exposure to a single herbicide which eventually results in weeds becoming resistant.
2. There are social and economic concerns attached to any technology as well. In this case, farmers especially in Punjab and other mustard growing areas have said that they don’t need new varieties. They need better policy, pricing and to rationalize the input costs against the cost which they get after selling it in the markets. If these problems cannot be solved, bringing in another technology might not solve the problem.
3. GEAC needs to be a transparent bodye. it should put it in the public domain that on what grounds it has approved GM mustard for citizens to analyze and stay aware whether it is good for them or not. If there is a lack of trust on the part of people who are to use it, it will be like forcing something upon them. India is a signatory to Cartagena Protocol on biosafety where it has committed to public participation in decision making.
4. There has to be strong liability laws if there are any environmental hazards or if something goes wrong in future which are not there in India at present.
5. The pesticide industry’s efforts to influence policymakers and regulators have obstructed reforms globally. Their business model aims only at making profit.
6. Allowing the cultivation of GM mustard would lead to a direct attack on women involved in the mustard crop weeding.

Conclusion:

Agriculture is a state subject therefore, it is important for the Centre to take into consideration the views of State Governments as well. It is expected that the Supreme Court will ensure protection of Indian consumers and farmers as giving a nod to GM mustard will pave the way for clearance to other GM crops as well whether the impact is good or bad.

First woman to represent India in ICAO

India’s representative to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), Shefali Juneja, has been unanimously elected as chairperson of the UN specialised aviation agency’s Air Transport Committee (ATC). India has won this coveted position in ICAO after 28 years when Juneja got unanimously elected in the ICAO council for the same on 24 October 2022. Incidentally, Juneja is the first woman to represent India in ICAO.

What

1. ATC is a standing committee of ICAO created by Chicago Convention in 1944. It is the most important committee (of ICAO) as it decides on standards in air transport policies.
2. Nine technical panels report to (it) including facilitation and digitalisation of aviation.
3. The director of the air transport bureau reports to the chair and the entire year of work is decided under his guidance, Juneja said from ICAO headquarters in Montreal.
4. India is set to emerge as the third largest aviation market globally by 2025. The country’s representative has held this position twice in the 78 years of ICAO’s existence, in 1987 and 1994.
5. Juneja has occupied various positions in ICAO as chair of implementation and strategic policy group; group on gender leading to first time a mission statement being adopted by ICAO.
6. Last year, Juneja was elected as the first woman chair of the aviation security committee and also held the position as chair of innovation.

About ICAO:

What is it?

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is a UN specialized agency, established by States in 1944 to manage the administration and governance of the Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention).

What it does?

• ICAO works with the Convention’s 193 Member States and industry groups to reach consensus on international civil aviation Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) and policies in support of a safe, efficient, secure, economically sustainable and environmentally responsible civil aviation sector.
• These SARPs and policies are used by ICAO Member States to ensure that their local civil aviation operations and regulations conform to global norms, which in turn permits more than 100,000 daily flights in aviation’s global network to operate safely and reliably in every region of the world.
• ICAO also coordinates assistance and capacity building for States in support of numerous aviation development objectives; produces global plans to coordinate multilateral strategic progress for safety and air navigation; monitors and reports on numerous air transport sector performance metrics; and audits States’ civil aviation oversight capabilities in the areas of safety and security.

Chicago convention:

• Convention on International Civil Aviation (also known as Chicago Convention), was signed on 7 December 1944 by 52 States.
• Pending ratification of the Convention by 26 States, the Provisional International Civil Aviation Organization (PICAO) was established.
• It functioned from 6 June 1945 until 4 April 1947. By 5 March 1947 the 26th ratification was received. ICAO came into being on 4 April 1947. In October of the same year, ICAO became a specialized agency of the United Nations linked to Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
• The Convention establishes rules of airspace, aircraft registration and safety, and details the rights of the signatories in relation to air travel. The Convention also exempts air fuels in transit from (double) taxation.

First-ever list of fungal infection released

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has published a report highlighting the first-ever list of fungal “priority pathogens” – a catalogue of the 19 fungi that represent the greatest threat to public health. The WHO fungal priority pathogens list (FPPL) is the first global effort to systematically prioritize fungal pathogens, considering the unmet research and development (R&D) needs and the perceived public health importance. This report is based on research led by the University of Sydney in Australia.

What the report said?

1. Emerging evidence indicates that the incidence and geographic range of fungal diseases are both expanding worldwide due to global warming and the increase of international travel and trade.
2. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the reported incidence of invasive fungal infections increased significantly among hospitalized patients.
3. As the fungi that cause common infections (such as candida oral and vaginal thrush) become increasingly resistant to treatment, risks for the development of more invasive forms of infections in the general population are also growing.
4. Emerging from the shadows of the bacterial antimicrobial resistance pandemic, fungal infections are growing, and are ever more resistant to treatments, becoming a public health concern worldwide, WHO said.

Three priority categories

The WHO FPPL list is divided into three categories: critical, high and medium priority.

1. The critical group includes Candida auris, which is highly drug resistant and has caused a number of outbreaks in hospitals worldwide, as well as Cryptococcus neoformans, Aspergillus fumigatus, and Candida albicans.
2. The high group includes a number of other fungi from the Candida family as well as others such as Mucorales, a group containing the fungi that causes mucormycosis or “black fungus”, an infection which rose rapidly in seriously ill people – particularly in India – during COVID-19.
3. The medium group lists a number of other fungi, including Coccidioides spp and Cryptococcus gattii.

Fungal infection

1. Fungal pathogens are a major threat to public health as they are becoming increasingly common and resistant to treatment with only four classes of antifungal medicines currently available, and few candidates in the clinical pipeline, WHO said.
2. The invasive forms of these fungal infections often affect severely ill patients and those with significant underlying immune system related conditions.
3. Populations at greatest risk of invasive fungal infections include those with cancer, HIV/AIDS, organ transplants, chronic respiratory disease, and post-primary tuberculosis infection.

Ending Dominance: On Competition Commission of India’s Ruling Against Google

• Recently competition commission imposed a provisional penalty on Google for abusing its dominant position in the Android mobile device ecosystem is significant not just for the amount of penalty imposed but also for the drastic changes in business practices that it requires the IT giant to undertake.
• The antitrust watchdog claimed that Google had exploited its dominant position in the licensing of its mobile operating system, the Android app market, general web search services, non-operating system-specific mobile web browsers, and online video hosting services.

What is the issue?

• Google has restrictive clauses in its agreements with original equipment manufacturers (who use its Android platform) that it can keep competition at bay
• Google ensured that users continue to use its mobile devices search services, which facilitated uninterrupted growth of advertisement revenue for Google.\
• The Google idea of restriction on its device is to protect and stregthen its dominant market position.

Significance of ruling

Cease and desist:

The regulator has asked google to change the terms of the deals it enters into with original equipment manufacturers.

• For instance, Google should no longer require original equipment makers to choose from its portfolio of apps to be pre-installed on the device, as per the Competition Commission’s order.
• Nor should it, demand device makers to pre-install its programmes as a requirement for licensing of its Play Store, including Google search, Chrome, YouTube, and Maps, among others.
• It also has been directed against restricting users from uninstalling its pre-installed apps.

Other issues against google

• A thorough investigation was ordered by the CCI in 2019 in response to complaints from users of Android-based smartphones. OEMs of smartphones and tablets put Android, an open-source mobile operating system, on their products.
• After a report detailing CCI’s preliminary conclusions against Google was leaked in September 2021, the business filed a lawsuit against the watchdog.
• The tech juggernaut has now received a fine from the CCI twice.
• In 2018, it fined Google Rs 136 crore for engaging in unfair commercial practices in the Indian online search sector.
• In India, Google is dealing with many antitrust cases.
• The CCI is also investigating Google’s business practices in the market for smart TVs and its in-app payment mechanism.

Competition Commission of India (CCI):

• It is a statutory body charged with executing the 2002 Competition Act. It was established in March 2009.
• It works to create a healthy competitive environment.
• The commission is a quasi-judicial organisation that provides advice to statutory bodies and handles various matters.

Role

• To eradicate anti-competitive behaviours, promote and sustain competition, defend consumer interests, and secure trade freedom in India’s marketplaces.
• To provide an opinion on competition concerns in response to a referral from a statutory authority formed under any law, as well as to engage in competition advocacy, raise public awareness, and provide competition training.

To achieve its goals, the Indian Competition Commission takes the following steps:

• Consumer protection: To make markets operate for consumers’ advantage and well-being.
• Ensure fair and healthy competition in the country’s economic activities for faster and more inclusive economic growth and development.
• Implement competitive policies with the goal of maximising the efficiency of economic resources.
• CCI has the right to issue warnings to companies that export to India if it believes they are distorting competition in India’s home market.
• The Competition Act ensures that no business exploits its ‘dominant position’ in a market by controlling supply, manipulating purchasing prices, or engaging in tactics that prevent other businesses entry to the market.
• A foreign firm looking to enter India through an acquisition or merger must follow India’s competition rules.
• The Competition Commission of India will be notified if the group’s assets and turnover exceed a specified monetary value (CCI).

Way forward

• Both the penalty and the regulator’s direction to Google “to modify its conduct”, is a step in the right direction as it will promote competition and choice for the users.What the mobile users of a potential digital powerhouse such as India need is an environment of real choice.