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.Recognising altruism: On rewarding Good Samaritans on road
Good Samaritans can help reduce accident deaths, but road safety needs more work
The initiative of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to award Good Samaritans who save lives of road accident victims with a cash prize is a welcome attempt to reduce India’s staggering annual death toll from mishaps. Ranking third among 20 nations that have the highest number of accidents, India fares far worse on an important metric — cases to fatalities ratio — compared to the U.S. and Japan, which have more recorded crashes but fewer deaths. During 2020, even with severely disrupted mobility due to COVID-19, National Crime Records Bureau data show 1,33,715 lives were lost in 1,20,716 cases attributed to negligence relating to road accidents. Under the Motor Vehicles law, a Good Samaritan voluntarily helps an accident victim with no expectation of payment or reward, and has no legal obligation to record his involvement or aid the investigation in the case. In spite of an entire chapter being added to the Motor Vehicles Act last year to sensitise police forces and hospitals on this, altruism is affected by the perception of harassment and legal complications. The Ministry’s latest move seeks to overcome reticence by rewarding socially minded individuals who offer immediate assistance and rush a victim with certain kinds of injuries to hospital, with ₹5,000 and a certificate of recognition for saving a life. State governments are responsible for the plan, with the Centre providing an initial grant, but the Union Transport Ministry will give its own award of ₹1 lakh each to the 10 best Good Samaritans in a year.
Achieving a reduction in mortality on India’s largely lawless roads warrants determined action on several factors, beginning with scientific road design and standards, and zero tolerance enforcement. It was only on September 3 that the Centre notified the long-pending National Road Safety Board, with a mandate to formulate standards on, among other things, safety and trauma management, to build capacity among traffic police, and put crash investigation on a scientific footing. Yet, on enforcement, State police forces generally appear to favour a populist approach of least engagement; regional transport bureaucracies — compared by Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari in 2015 to looting Chambal dacoits — can also benefit from a shake-up. As a steadily motorising country, the goal must be to reduce accidents and the ratio of deaths and injuries to cases. The Good Samaritan plan can work well if District Committees tasked with awarding these individuals readily recognise their contribution, aided by the police, hospitals and RTOs. Many more people will continue to be impelled by sheer altruism to help road users involved in a crash, and governments should get bureaucratic barriers out of their way.
2.Sensing heat: On 2021 Nobel for Physiology or Medicine
Genetic mutations in cellular mechanism of temperature, pain sensation are insightful
This year’s Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine — awarded to the researchers, David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian from the University of California, San Francisco and Scripps Research in La Jolla, California, respectively — recognises their seminal work in identifying the gene and understanding the mechanism through which our body perceives temperature and pressure. Our ability to sense touch and temperature — particularly noxious temperature — is essential for our survival and determines how we interact with our internal and external environment; chronic pain results when the pain response goes awry. Dr. Julius utilised capsaicin, a key ingredient in hot chilli peppers that induces a burning sensation, to identify a sensor in the nerve endings of the skin and the cellular mechanism that responds to uncomfortably hot temperatures. The receptor for heat gets activated only above 40° C, which is close to the psychophysical threshold for thermal pain, thus allowing us to react to external heat. In 2002, five years after the heat sensor was discovered, the two laureates, and independently, used menthol to discover the receptor that senses cold temperatures. Recent studies have found that discrimination between warm and cool temperatures is possible only through simultaneous activation of warmth-sensing nerve fibres and inhibition of cold-sensing nerve fibres. Using pressure-sensitive cells, Dr. Patapoutian discovered a novel class of mechanical sensors that responds to pressure on the skin and internal organs, and the perception of touch and proprioception — the ability to feel the position and movement of our body parts. The cellular mechanism that senses touch also regulates important physiological processes. Besides laboratory work, insights have been gained by studying people carrying genetic mutations in the cellular mechanism of temperature, pain, touch and pressure sensation.
The discovery of pain receptors and the cellular mechanism have attracted pharmaceutical companies as these could be targets for novel medicines. Though there are challenges to be addressed before such drugs can be clinically meaningful, the hope is that newer approaches may one day bypass the hurdles. Further research will help in understanding the functions of the receptors in a “variety of physiological processes and to develop treatments for a wide range of disease conditions”. This year’s Prize once again underscores the great contributions refugees fleeing war-torn countries can make to science and other fields. Dr. Patapoutian, who is of Armenian origin, grew up in Lebanon during the country’s prolonged civil war and fled to the U.S. in 1986 as an 18-year-old. From being blissfully unaware about science as a career in Lebanon, he not only “fell in love doing basic research”, but has also excelled in it to produce path-breaking discoveries in medicine.
3.Change in mood: Ratings upgrade is good news. But India’s trend growth rate has to exceed 6%
Credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Service this week enhanced GoI’s rating outlook from negative to stable. It also affirmed Baa3 ratings for long-term loans in both domestic and foreign currency, indicative of moderate credit risk. It’s welcome and signals the worst of the pandemic induced economic shock is behind us. Two of the underlying reasons for the change in outlook are of particular importance. Moody’s forecast that the real GDP in 2021-22 will surpass the pre-pandemic level. Effectively, it means that it will take two years to get back on track, a period lower than what was widely estimated early on.
Another important conclusion is that risks of financial sector instability are receding. Consequently, the danger to the real economy from financial sector fragility is less likely. Years of provisioning by banks and additional capital raising exercises have built a cushion. The proximate cause for the relatively positive outlook is the acceleration in India’s vaccination drive over the last two months. The risk of another surge in Covid cases has not disappeared. However, the cumulative vaccination coverage, now at 921.7 million, has minimised the risk of the healthcare system getting overwhelmed. Therefore, the likelihood of economic disruption because of a surge has receded.
The good news was tempered by a sobering reflection on some areas where risks remain high. The most noteworthy of them is the social risk. Moody’s classifies it as highly negative. It arises from low and uneven distribution of income and unequal access to quality education and healthcare. Matters aren’t helped by what the rating agency terms as weakness in policy effectiveness. India needs a massive increase in the contribution of its manufacturing sector to GDP. Rapidly advancing technology calls for big investments in human capital. This is an area that both GoI and states need to pay more attention to.
The agency expects real GDP growth to average around 6% over the medium-term. While this may move the needle in reducing the fiscal deficit as a proportion of GDP, it will be inadequate to meet the need of a growing youth demographic entering the job market. High level of self-employed in India’s labour market classification is mainly a proxy of job scarcity. GoI needs to finesse its reform messaging to get a larger buy-in from the population. It’s widely accepted that the status quo cannot fulfil India’s aspirations. Transitions however are as much about effective communication as they are of sound policy.
4.Teacher, you learn too: Filling school vacancies is essential. So is doing this professionally rather than politically
While much attention has rightfully been on what India’s students have been missing out over the pandemic year, and what this has done to the learning outcomes that were worrying to begin with, a new Unesco report looks at the problem from the other end: What is the state of teachers who are expected to help improve the state of our children? Analysing the recently published UDISE+ data for 2019-20, the report estimates vacancies in 19% of all schools on average, with some states much worse off. Just imagine the impact of a vacancy on single-teacher schools, which form only 7% of the total but almost all of which are located in rural areas.
Teachers are involved in several non-teaching activities too such as coordinating midday meals, registering children for Aadhaar, election duty and vaccination drives. The case for filling the teacher vacancies is obviously rock solid. But how they are filled is critical. Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand see rules of recruitment being changed year to year, suggesting political influences, while Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have “a systematic, technology-based, transparent system of recruitment, employment and transfer”. The spread of teacher eligibility tests is helping improve standards but these also need improvement, being oriented to do subject testing rather than test teaching practice.
Basically quality matters. The country is now awash in educated youth looking for good jobs. To take the last two decades’ gains in enrolment and learning to the next level, India now needs to incentivise smart young people to take up the teaching profession and train them well. Upskilling is critical for the existing workforce as well. For example 66% of them report opening hyperlinks with difficulty and a lot of help, or never. Regular and effective support for these teachers is a necessary condition for them to provide the same to students.