Editorial Today (English)

In this section, we are presenting our readers/aspirants compilation of selected editorials of national daily viz. The Hindu, The live mint,The Times of India, Hindustan Times, The Economic Times, PIB etc. This section caters the requirement of Civil Services Mains (GS + Essay) , PCS, HAS Mains (GS + Essay) & others essay writing competition.

1.Permission does not a bond market make

Insurance regulator, Irdai, has given its go-ahead for insurers to invest in debt securities issued by infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs) and real estate investment trusts (Reits). The measure is intended to build a vibrant market for corporate debt in India. But taking the horse to the water is one thing and making it drink something else. To make pension and insurance monies flow to corporate bonds, these bonds have to be made attractive and the market completed for hedging risks of interest and exchange rate changes and credit default. A helpful first step would be getting the Credit Guarantee Enhancement Corporation of India, announced in Budget 2019, up and running.

Norms for long-term investors like insurance companies and pension funds require them to invest in debt securities rated AA or higher. But ongoing infrastructure projects are rarely rated above BBB, given a panoply of construction and other risks. Hence the pressing need for institutional mechanism and oversight to address default risks on bond payments, with tools such as excess interest spread, cash collateral and partial credit guarantees. Assets under management by pension and insurance funds now exceed Rs 55 lakh crore. Enhanced policy coordination is needed for long-term investors to step up resource allocation for infrastructural investments. In tandem, investors also need risk mitigation products to manage routine currency, interest rate and credit risks. And here, it is very much a work in progress. Take, for instance, credit risks. The law has recently been changed to allow ‘netting’ of exposure on derivative instruments, but the norms for credit default swaps have yet to be put in place. Or consider interest rate derivatives. Sure, non-residents can now hedge and trade in the rupee interest rate derivatives market, but there remain restrictions galore both for retail and other participants.

There are other rigidities as well. The glitches surely need prompt removal for a vibrant market for corporate bonds fund infrastructure.

2.Real-life vaccination as clinical trials

Beginning May 1, India will open up vaccination to its entire adult population. It is essential to secure maximum amount of data to analyse and understand the impact of the vaccines. The government needs to put in place a system that will allow vaccine recipients to volunteer to share health-related data that will be anonymised.

Across the world, Covid-19 vaccines have been given emergency approvals. Basically, long and protracted trials that vaccines developers ordinarily undertake to understand how the vaccine interacts with the human body has been abridged, given the urgency of containing Covid. Effectively, instead of a long, limited group of people taking part in a trial, Covid vaccines are undergoing mass trials. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the country’s apex medical research body, should devise a follow-up protocol and ask vaccination centres to request those being vaccinated to volunteer for this study. Besides the volunteers providing information, they should be requested to undergo periodic check-ups. Israel made such a commitment to obtain its quota of messenger-RNA vaccines early on. The sample will need to reflect the diversity of the population. The information will be extremely useful to ascertain any long-term side effects, besides vaccine performance among different segments of the population. Information on multiple data points will allow for vaccine developers to refine their product or develop follow-up shots or even new therapies.

This exercise will help not just with development of new Covid-19 vaccines but also give a better sense of the workings of the virus and could spur the development of therapies for dealing with Covid-19 and cures or vaccines for related diseases. The process must begin now.

3. 18 plus: Next phase of vaccination presents challenges and opportunities

With just days to go for the next phase of Covid vaccination to begin for the 18 to 45 years age group, states are still unsure about vaccine supplies. From Bengal to Goa, no state is sure about procuring the additional vaccines that will be required to inoculate the new age bracket. With the country essentially relying on Serum Institute’s Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, supplies are already stretched. Plus, many above 45 years are still waiting for their second jab. Their wait may get longer if vaccine supplies aren’t significantly ramped up from May 1.

That said, inoculating the 18-45 age group is essential since this category is the most mobile and more likely to be super spreaders. Therefore, the Union government should spare no expenses in helping ramp up vaccine production capacity to meet the needs of the working age population, as well as ensure second doses for the 45-plus group.

Vaccination is the only tool we have to flatten the current surge in Covid cases. Let us concentrate a significant chunk of our resources on getting it right. Hospitals, states, vaccination centres and vaccine manufacturers should all work in tandem to get the vaccines out to the maximum number of people in the shortest possible time. In that sense, opening up vaccination for 18-45 years presents a huge opportunity to tame the pandemic in India. Let’s get cracking.

4. US steps up: India’s Covid fight gets a much needed shot in the arm with American support

With fresh Covid cases exceeding 3 lakh for the sixth day in a row, and more than 2,000 deaths for the seventh consecutive day, India’s health infrastructure is gasping for oxygen. It’s therefore welcome that the US has sprung into action with President Biden pledging full support for India’s Covid fight, in a phone conversation with PM Modi. In fact, the full spectrum of the American machinery has been mobilised, with defence secretary Lloyd Austin saying that he had directed the Pentagon to use all available resources to support the US inter-agency effort to assist India.

Similarly, US secretary of state Antony Blinken met with leaders of the US business community and the US India Business Council to mobilise support for India. In fact, around 40 top American companies have come together to create a first-of-its-kind global task force for India to provide it with critical medical supplies, vaccines, oxygen and other life-saving assistance. Meanwhile, raw materials are being shipped from America to the Serum Institute to ramp up vaccine production.

All of this indicates the strength and durability of the US-India relationship – after an initially slow response in India’s grave hour of crisis when US messaging was off. Those bilateral and institutional connections need to be leveraged at this hour of crisis. And if the US wants to work with states and other institutions across the country instead of channelling all aid through the PMO, New Delhi shouldn’t make it a sticking point in negotiations. Indeed, given India’s size, decentralised disbursement is likely the quickest and broadest way to channel aid across the country.

India and the US can, as a matter of fact, work together for the benefit of the Indo-Pacific region as a whole – as was envisaged during the Quad summit – where US capital, technology and logistics capabilities are married to Indian vaccine production capacities. The Hyderabad-based vaccine manufacturer Biological E getting US funding to manufacture the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is a good example of such cooperation. The case for such cooperation isn’t just moral but also practical – if the US focusses on fighting Covid within its borders alone while the disease rages unchecked in India and other parts of the developing world, sooner or later disease variants will make their way back to the US and the Western world. Let’s allow Indian and American institutions to directly work together in tackling Covid instead of permitting red tape to bog them down.

5. Tackling the issue of biomedical waste | HT Editorial

The Noida Authority in the Delhi-National Capital Region has put up 500 red-coloured bins at city markets, cremation grounds, and other sites to dispose of Covid-19 waste such as masks, gloves and personal protective equipment (PPE) kits. According to the authority’s estimate, Noida is producing at least 70 kg of biomedical waste a day. This is one example of a wider challenge posed by the pandemic  — of tackling Covid-19 waste.

According to a Central Pollution Control Board report, released in November 2020, India generated around 33,000 tonnes of Covid-19 biomedical waste between April and November. Before the pandemic, regular biomedical waste generation in India was at 610 MT per day, but now, the waste has gone up to 765.5 MT per day. While Maharashtra has been the biggest contributor to biomedical waste, not a surprise given it has had the highest number of cases nationally, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi also figure among the top 10 waste generators.

The pandemic has exposed India’s broken system of biomedical waste management. If this waste is not managed scientifically, it can cause great harm to the environment and to human health. It is imperative to define Covid-19 waste; identify different types of waste generators; launch a large-scale campaign for awareness related to PPE usage. Urban local bodies must provide separate waste bins, and push citizens to segregate waste at source. The government must also augment the capacities of biomedical treatment units with appropriate monitoring strategies and work with all stakeholders — doctors, innovators and medical items and equipment manufacturers — to come up with a plan to reduce the waste burden.