19 July 2023

• Poverty: India's national MPI released. About 13.5 crore people escaped multidimensional poverty between 2015-16 and 2019-21.
• Tax: OECD's Two-Pillar Solution on digital economy taxation moves toward global minimum tax implementation.
• Economy: Industrial concentration increased sharply: the top five business groups' asset share doubled between 1991 and 2021.
• Technology: India released the India Climate Energy Dashboard (ICED) 3.0, providing near real-time data on energy and emissions.
• Health: India achieved a DPT3 immunisation coverage of 93 per cent in 2022, an all-time high.

GS area: Society, Economy

NITI Aayog released India's national Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) report. The index uses a methodology similar to the global UNDP-OPHI MPI but calibrated to Indian data sources.

• Progress headline: Approximately 13.5 crore (135 million) people exited multidimensional poverty between 2015-16 and 2019-21.
• Incidence: The share of multidimensionally poor fell from 24.85 per cent in 2015-16 to 14.96 per cent in 2019-21.
• One in seven: Approximately one in seven Indians remained multidimensionally poor by 2019-21.
• MPI methodology: Deprivation is measured across three dimensions: health, education, and living standards. Individuals deprived in 33 per cent or more of the weighted indicators are counted as poor.
• BIMARU states fastest: Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh showed the fastest rural poverty decline, from 32.59 per cent to 19.28 per cent collectively.
• States below 10 per cent poverty: Mizoram, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Kerala, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Manipur, and Uttarakhand.
• Nutrition weight: Nutrition alone contributes nearly 30 per cent to the overall MPI score, making it the most significant single indicator.

Static linkage: Social development, poverty, flagship welfare programmes.

GS area: Economy, International Relations

138 countries under the OECD-G20 Inclusive Framework endorsed the Two-Pillar Solution to address tax challenges arising from the digital economy, including profit shifting by multinational corporations.

• BEPS (Base Erosion and Profit Shifting): The practice of multinationals shifting profits to low-tax jurisdictions costs governments between 100 and 240 billion US dollars in lost tax revenue annually.
• Pillar One: Reallocates a portion of the residual profits of the largest multinationals to the market jurisdictions where revenue is earned, regardless of physical presence.
• Pillar Two: Introduces a global minimum corporate tax rate of 15 per cent (the "Subject-to-Tax Rule"). Countries hosting multinationals can "tax back" income inadequately taxed elsewhere.
• OECD background: Established in 1961 with 38 member countries. Promotes democracy and market economies.
• India's position: India has been an active participant in BEPS negotiations and advocates for increased revenue for developing countries from profit reallocation.

Static linkage: International taxation, OECD, digital economy governance.

GS area: Economy, Governance

A study of India's corporate landscape found that industrial concentration rose sharply from 1991 to 2021, with the top five business groups' share of total corporate assets doubling from 10 to 18 per cent, while the next five groups' share contracted.

• Policy concern: High concentration stifles competition, enables price manipulation, and allows large business groups to influence political institutions and regulatory processes.
• Electoral bonds: Corporate donations to political parties through the Electoral Bonds Scheme were cited as a mechanism through which large businesses channel funds to ruling parties, blurring the line between the state and capital.
• Historical parallel: The Licence-Permit-Quota Raj of the pre-liberalisation era was supposed to prevent monopoly power. Liberalisation removed those controls without creating effective competition law enforcement.
• Regulatory response: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) under the Competition Act 2002 is the primary body. CCI has been upgraded with expanded powers over digital markets through 2023 amendments.

Static linkage: Market regulation, competition law, governance.

GS area: Environment, Governance, Science and Technology

NITI Aayog released ICED 3.0, the third version of India's integrated climate and energy data platform.

• Coverage: Over 500 parameters and 2,000 infographics, updated with near real-time data.
• Purpose: Monitor India's clean energy transition, track renewable capacity additions, and identify sectoral gaps.
• Public access: Free and open to researchers, policymakers, and citizens.
• Complementary tool: India Energy Security Scenarios (IESS 2047 v3.0), also updated, allows modelling of different energy policy choices and their impact on emissions through 2047.

Static linkage: Climate policy, data governance, renewable energy.

GS area: Health

India achieved 93 per cent DPT3 (diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, third dose) vaccination coverage in 2022, an all-time national high.

• WHO South-East Asia Region: Coverage in the region rose from 82 per cent in 2021 to 91 per cent in 2022, also driven largely by India's performance.
• Zero-dose children: India halved its count of unvaccinated children from 4.6 million to 2.3 million in two years.
• DPT diseases:
  • Diphtheria: Bacterial infection affecting the respiratory tract. Produces a toxin causing membrane buildup that can block breathing.
  • Pertussis (whooping cough): Highly contagious bacterial disease causing severe coughing spells, dangerous in infants.
  • Tetanus: Bacterial disease entering through wounds, causing muscle rigidity.
• Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP): India's flagship vaccination programme providing free immunisation for 12 vaccine-preventable diseases.

Static linkage: Public health, vaccination, child health.

• Steel slag roads: CSIR-CRRI developed a technology to use steelmaking byproduct (slag) in road construction. Benefits include 30 per cent cost savings and triple the lifespan of conventional roads. Roads were built in Surat and Arunachal Pradesh.
• Digital Time Voucher System: Electronic allocation of broadcast time for political parties on Doordarshan and All India Radio during elections, governed by ECI regulations and the Prasar Bharati Act.
• Wastewater surveillance: Cost-effective, non-invasive method for real-time community-level disease monitoring. Can detect disease trends before clinical cases present, complementing conventional epidemiological surveillance.
• Bicentenary of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah: The last Nawab of Awadh, whose bicentenary falls in 2023, is associated with Lucknow's Kathak dance, thumri music, and the cultural florescence of the Awadh court.