The Next Pandemic

Why in news?

The WHO Director-general at the 76th world health assembly has cautioned against the threat of emerging pathogens.

What is a pandemic?

• A pandemic is a disease outbreak that spreads across countries or continents.
• COVID-19 is one such pandemic in recent years, which led to waves of infections and deaths in all countries.
• The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared that COVID-19 was no longer a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
• The virus continues to have reservoirs in animals, but the likelihood to turn into a pandemic or public health threat is small.

How do pandemics happen?

• Air travel - Ease of travel makes it likely for infections to spread to a large number of populations and countries.
• Urbanisation - Large number of people living in close proximity.
• Travel and density of population has played a role in previous pandemics as well.
• The Spanish Flu of 1918 happened towards the end of World War I and spread through congested and overcrowded camps.
• The deadliest pandemic Black Death is also thought to have come to Europe with rats that were aboard trading ships.

How has climate change impacted outbreaks and pandemics?

• Climate plays several roles in outbreaks and pandemics.
• Deforestation and encroachment of habitats of other animals has brought the humans and animals closer.
• This increased human-animal interactions has led to more zoonotic transfer of diseases.
• The climate itself may change the habitats of the disease-carrying vectors.
• For example: The geographical range of dengue in the country expanded to hilly and colder regions.
• Climate change also leads to extreme weather events that can displace people and force them to live in poor hygienic conditions.
• Climate change may increase the risk of ‘viral spillover’ in some regions that could cause new pandemics.

What are pandemic potential pathogens?

• Pandemic potential pathogens - The bacteria, viruses, or microorganisms that are highly transmissible capable of spreading unchecked amongst humans and highly virulent capable of causing severe disease and death.
• Coronaviruses are one such pathogens that has pandemic potential.
• Priority List - The WHO has a priority list of pathogens that are pandemic potential and don’t have adequate drugs and vaccines against them.
• This list acts as the basis for prioritising research for developing diagnostics, drugs, and vaccines for these diseases.
• The list includes -

• The list also includes ‘Disease X’ which represents a serious international epidemic could be caused by a pathogen currently unknown to cause human disease.

What is the way forward?

• The countries and healthcare systems are required to prepare for such future pandemics.
• A one-health surveillance that can track outbreaks in both human and animal population.
• Recently, the WHO has launched the International Pathogen Surveillance Network (IPSN).

• Government should ensure sanitation and hygiene to reduce infection risks.
• There is a need to keep the health systems ready for a health emergency including systems to quickly come up with diagnostics, drugs, or vaccines.
• Similar Topics - WHO's Pandemic Treaty, India’s APPI and AHSSOH

References

1. IE - Why the WHO Director-general has cautioned against the threat of emerging pathogens

Evergreening of Loans

Why in news?

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das raised red flags over banks adopting innovative methods for evergreening of loans.

What does evergreening of loans mean?

• The evergreening of loans is a term in which banks try to revive a loan that is on the verge of default by granting further loans to the same borrower.
• It is a form of zombie lending in which banks provide more loans to the borrowers to stop them from turning into huge non-performing assets (NPAs).
• The process of evergreening of loans is typically a temporary fix for a bank covering up the real status of stressed loans.

A loan turns into a nonperforming asset (NPA) if the interest or instalment remains unpaid even after the due date and remains unpaid for a period of more than 90 days.

Why do banks follow evergreening of loans?

• If an account turns into a non-performing asset (NPA), banks are required to make higher provisions which will impact their profitability.
• To avoid classifying a loan as an NPA, banks adopt the evergreening of loans.
• Banks offer fresh loans to borrowers on the verge of default to ensure they repay an old loan.
• Banks delay the recognition of losses through evergreening process.
• Banks also avoid provisioning to cover loan losses and increase their liquidity.

What are the evergreening methods?

• Bringing two lenders together to evergreen each other’s loans by sale and buyback of loans or debt instruments.
• Good borrowers being persuaded to enter into structured deals with a stressed borrower to conceal the stress.
• Use of internal or office accounts to adjust borrower’s repayment obligations.
• Renewal of loans or disbursement of new/additional loans to the stressed borrower or related entities closer to the repayment date of the earlier loans.

What do bankers say?

• It is difficult for banks to indulge in the evergreening of loans as the RBI monitors each and every loan on a regular basis.
• Once an account is classified as an NPA, the situation will become worse.
• By evergreening, banks try to save a borrower from becoming NPA by extending temporary liquidity.

What is the problem with evergreening?

• Bad loans are made to look good at the risk of additional lending to unviable borrowers.
• Evergreening of loans put lenders at risk of huge amounts of default.
• The RBI does not approve of evergreen loans and it is going against its norms.
• This is a misgovernance in banking.

How can evergreening be stopped?

• The audit committee needs to be particularly vigilant.
• A significant evergreening is assumed to be wilful, with support from sections of the senior management of the bank.
• It then becomes necessary to levy penalties and action against the erring officers. Few are -
• Penalties should be levied through cancellations of unvested stock options.
• Claw-back of monetary bonuses on officers concerned and on all whole-time directors.
• The Chairman of the audit committee could be asked to step down from the board.

Quick Facts

Evergreen Loans - A type of loan

• An evergreen loan is a type of interest-only loan in which principal payment is deferred.
• Typically, the repayment of principal is only expected at the end of the loan term.
• Until the interest is paid, the repayment of principal can be delayed indefinitely and it works like revolving credit.

References

1. IE - Are banks, corporates still window-dressing loans?
2. Zee Business - Evergreening of loans

The History of Insurgency in Manipur

Why in news?

A battle is raged between Manipuri commandos and Kuki-Zomi insurgent groups killing many insurgents amidst rising protests and spurts of violence in Manipur.

What is the history of conflict in Manipur?

• Manipur has been in the cross-currents of India’s oldest insurgent movements.
• Naga - The Naga movement (1950s) is the country’s longest-running insurgency which fights for the Greater Nagaland or Nagalim.
• Kuki - Kuki groups also have fought the Indian government for an ‘independent Kuki homeland’, spread across Manipur.
• The Kuki insurgency gained momentum after ethnic clashes with the Nagas of Manipur in the early 1990s.
• Meitei - The Meiteis in Manipur also opposed the merger agreement between the Manipuri king and the Indian government (1949).
• In 1964, the United National Liberation Front (UNLF), a meitei insurgent group, was formed, demanding secession from India.
• Subsequently, numerous Meitei insurgent (valley insurgent) groups like the People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) came into being.

What are the major ethnic conflicts in Manipur?

• Naga-Kuki clash - Land that the Kukis claim to be their ‘homeland’ in the Manipur hills overlaps with the Greater Nagaland or Nagalim.
• The NSCN-IM entered a ceasefire agreement with the Indian government only in 1997.
• Kuki-Zomi - In 1993, a massacre of Kukis by the NSCN-IM left thousands of Kukis homeless.
• The Kuki-Zomi tribes organised various armed groups as a reaction to this aggression of Nagas.
• Meiteis and Meitei Pangals (Muslims) - Similar clashes were taking place between them which led to the formation of the Islamist group People’s United Liberation Front (no longer active).

What is the Kuki-Zomi movement?

• The Kuki-Zomi movement started as defence against aggression by other groups.
• It later transformed into a call for Kukiland and later diluted to simply a call for a separate state.

Kukiland – an imagined country spreading across the Kuki-Zomi inhabited areas of India, Myanmar and Bangladesh.

What are the dominant valley insurgent groups?

• The United National Liberation Front (UNLF) is considered the mother of all Meitei insurgent groups.
• Out of the valley insurgent groups, the UNLF remained the most powerful till recently.
• Few other powerful groups are the Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) and the Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL).
• These groups emerged over time and now function out of camps set up in Burmese territory.
• Over the years the power of the valley groups has waned, even UNLF is at its weakest.
• Amongst the Naga groups, the NSCN-IM remains the most prominent group.

How influential are these insurgent groups in politics?

• The insurgent groups are intricately woven into the daily life in Manipur.
• The valley groups, in particular the UNLF, have from time to time called for strikes.
• They have rules as ‘moral codes’ such as ban on Hindi movies and music, ban on Indian clothing, ban on alcohol and regulations on what can be shown in Meitei movies, etc.
• They also levy ‘taxes’ on the public.
• Cutting across party lines, candidates stand for elections with insurgent backing.
• The groups also dictate to the voters who should win and influence the voters.

What was the Government’s reaction towards these clashes?

• The Indian government enacted the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in 1958 in reaction to the Naga separatist activity in Nagaland and parts of Manipur.
• When the valley movement gained momentum, the AFSPA act was extended to the entire state.
• In the 1980s, Manipur was declared a disturbed area.
• A tripartite Suspension of Operation (SoO) agreement between the Centre, the state and the Kuki-Zomi groups was signed in 2008 after several peace talks.
• With the gradual improvement of law and order AFSPA has been repealed in several areas.
• The Manipur government recently decided to withdraw from the SoO agreement.
• The Valley Insurgent Groups which remains active never entered an agreement with the Centre or participated in any peace talks.

References

1. IE - What is the history of insurgency in Manipur?
2. IE - What is the SoO agreement with tribal insurgent groups?

Prelim Bits 02-06-2023 | UPSC Daily Current Affairs

The Pandemic Fund

India is believed to have placed a funding request of around $55 million in its first call with the Pandemic Fund of the World Bank.

• Pandemic Fund is a multi-stakeholder global partnership officially established in November, 2022.
• It is one of the Financial Intermediary Fund (FIF).
• It is a collaborative partnership among donor countries, co-investors (countries that are eligible to receive funding), foundations and civil society organizations (CSOs).
• Objective - It will provide a dedicated stream of additional, long-term financing to strengthen critical pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response (PPR) capabilities in low- and middle-income countries.
• Governing Structure

1. Governing Board
2. Technical Advisory Panel
3. Secretariat - The World Bank
4. Trustee - The World Bank

• Funding - The financial volume of The Pandemic Fund depends upon contributions from donors. 
• Founding financial contributors - Australia, Canada, China, European Commission, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Spain, United Arab Emirates, United States, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Wellcome Trust.

Financial Intermediary Fund (FIF)

• They provide independently governed multi-contributor collaboration platforms for the global development community.
• It focuses on specific themes and each FIF is a type of trust fund for which the World Bank serves as trustee.
• Examples of FIFs are: Adaptation Fund, The Pandemic Fund, Global Environment Facility, Green Climate Fund, etc.,
• FIF Trusteeship does not involve overseeing or supervising the use of funds.

References

1. Business Standard | India’s request from pandemic fund
2. World Bank | The Pandemic Fund

Nepal PM visit to India

Nepal and India renewed the Transit Treaty, signed deals in energy and Connectivity

• Transit treaty - Under this, the contracting parties shall accord the freedom of transit across their respective territories through routes mutually agreed upon.
• The treaty of transit between India & Nepal expired in 2019.
• The amended new treaty will allow Nepal to access India’s inland waterways for cargo transportation to sea ports.
• Hydro Power Projects – Currently, India exports around 452 MW of power from Nepal.
• India had agreed to import an additional 1,200 MW.
• India has also agreed to facilitate the export of hydropower from Nepal to Bangladesh through India.
• Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project – It is a hydropower project to be developed in Mahakali River bordering Nepal and India.
• The project is covered under integrated Mahakali Treaty signed between India & Nepal.

Mahakali Treaty has been signed in 1996 for the purpose of Integrated Development of the Mahakali River (known as River Sarda in India), including Sarda Barrage, Tanakpur Barrage and Pancheshwar Project.

• Power trade – India and Nepal had also signed a long-term power trade agreement.
• Under this agreement, India will import 10,000 MW of power from Nepal in the next 10 years.

Other upcoming projects with Nepal

References

1. The Wire | Nepal PM’s visit to India
2. Ministry of Jal Sakthi | India-Nepal Cooperation

Suspension of Operations (SoO) pact

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, warned that any further violation by insurgent groups would be considered a violation of the SoO agreement. Suspension of Operations (SoO) pact

• It is a tripartite agreement between the Government of India, State Governments and the insurgent groups.
• There are nearly 30 Kuki insurgent groups in Manipur, of which 25 are under the tripartite Suspension of Operations (SoO) pact.
• As many as 17 are under the umbrella group Kuki National Organisation (KNO), and eight are under the United People’s Front (UPF).
• The pact was signed in August 2008, with the primary objective of initiating political dialogue.
• AB Mathur, former special secretary of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), was the interlocutor for this agreement.
• The Kuki outfits who were initially demanding a separate Kuki state have come down to a Kukiland territorial council.
• Kuki Territorial Council – It would have financial and administrative powers independent of the Manipur Assembly and government.

Terms of the SoO Pact

• While the period of the Suspension of Operation agreement is 1 year, it is extendable according to the progress of its implementation.
• To oversee the effective implementation of the SoO pact, a committee called the Joint Monitoring Group (JMG), with representatives from all the signatories, has been formed.
• According to the pact, the Centre and state governments agreed that the security forces would not launch any operations against these groups.
• In return, the insurgent groups will also not launch any such operation.
• The pact also requires these groups to abide by the Constitution of India, the laws of the land and the territorial integrity of Manipur.

References

The Indian Express | What is the SoO agreement?

Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates (JME) 2023

India is having a reduction in stunting but wasting and obesity remains a concern.

• JME 2023 is jointly released by UNICEF, WHO and World Bank.

Global Scenario

• Obesity - The prevalence of obesity marginally increased in a decade in 2022 compared to 2012.
• But the overall classification for obesity is low and much lower than the global prevalence.
• Stunting - It is declined from a prevalence rate of 26.3% in 2012 to 22.3% in 2022.
• In South Asia, the decline was much sharper as it dropped from 40.3% to 30.5%.
• Wasting - It is probably more complex in South Asia and India.
• While in Africa it starts from 4-6 months.

In India

• Obesity - Prevalence of overweight children increased in India in 2022 compared to 2012.
• Stunting - India continues to show a reduction in stunted children under 5 years in 2022 compared to 2012.
• Wasting - In India 2/3rds of children at 12 or 24 months had wasting at birth or at one month of age.
• It is caused by maternal malnutrition.

India's Target

References

1. World Bank | Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates 2023
2. The Hindu | India sees decline in stunting

Zardosi Embroidery

Zardosi artisans made two lakh car hangers designed like a crown for King Charles III’s coronation.

• Zardozi comes from two Persian words - zar or zarin meaning ‘gold’, and dozi meaning ‘sewing’.
• It is a type of heavy and elaborate metal embroidery on a silk, satin, or velvet fabric base.
• Designs are often created using gold and silver threads and can incorporate pearls, beads, and precious stones.
• Other names
  • Zardozi - Bhopal, Delhi, Hyderanad and Uttar Pradesh
  • Kamdani or badla – Lucknow
  • Danka and gotta-patti – Rajasthan
  • Tilla - Jammu & Kashmir and parts of western India.
• Historically, it was used to embellish the attire of the royals.
• It is found in Iran, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Kuwait, Syria, Turkey, Central Asia, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
• Main Centers in India - Lucknow, Farrukhabad, Chennai, Bhopal, etc.
• Zardosi embroidery has been in existence in India from the time of the Rig Veda.
• The Delhi Sultanate era further boosted this craft.
• It attained its summit in the 17th century, under the patronage of Mughal Emperor Akbar.
• Under the rule of Aurangzeb, the royal patronage stopped and this led to the decline of the craft.
• In 2013, the Geographical Indication Registry (GIR) accorded Geographical Indication (GI) registration to the Lucknow zardozi.

References

1. The Hindu | Zardosi Embroidery
2. The Hindu | Zardozi crown for king