28 September 2023

• Economy: India's Pharma-MedTech Policy launched to shift the sector from a cost-based to an innovation-driven approach.
• Economy: RoDTEP export benefits extended until June 2024.
• Science: PET46 enzyme capable of degrading plastic bottles within hours was reported.
• Culture: Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2021 officially conferred on Waheeda Rehman.

GS area: Economy (pharmaceuticals, health), Governance

A new national Pharma-MedTech Policy was launched to shift India's pharmaceutical and medical devices sector from a cost-based competitive model (cheap generic manufacturing) to an innovation-driven model (original drug discovery and indigenous medical devices).

• India's pharma position: India is the world's third-largest pharmaceutical producer by volume and the largest supplier of generic medicines to the world. It supplies over 50 per cent of Africa's vaccines and 25 per cent of all medicines to the UK.
• The limitation: generic manufacturing earns thin margins. Patents for many blockbuster drugs have expired, eroding the sector's growth. R&D investment as a percentage of revenue is very low.
• Policy focus: building research infrastructure at National Institutes of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPERs), which are the pharma equivalents of IITs, facilitating public-private R&D partnerships and creating a regulatory environment that rewards innovation.
• Medical devices: India currently imports approximately 85 per cent of its high-end medical devices. The policy aims to develop domestic manufacturing using the Production Linked Incentive scheme.
• PLI for pharmaceuticals: already running with an approved outlay of 15,000 crore rupees to incentivise bulk drug and complex formulation manufacturing.

Static linkage: economy (pharmaceuticals, health), government schemes (PLI).

GS area: Economy (trade, export promotion)

The Remission of Duties and Taxes on Export Products (RoDTEP) scheme, which provides rebates on Central, State and local taxes embedded in export production but not refunded by any other mechanism, was extended until June 2024.

• What RoDTEP covers: it remits uncredited input taxes (like fuel taxes, mandi taxes, Krishi Kalyan Cess) embedded in the export supply chain. GST refunds cover GST inputs; RoDTEP covers the remaining taxes.
• WTO compliance: unlike direct export subsidies, tax rebates are WTO-compliant because they merely neutralise tax burdens rather than conferring a benefit.
• Administered rates: rates vary by product. Labour-intensive sectors (garments, handicrafts, textiles) receive higher rebate rates.
• Earlier scheme: MEIS (Merchandise Exports from India Scheme) was replaced by RoDTEP from January 2021 after MEIS was found to violate WTO norms.

Static linkage: economy (trade, export promotion, WTO).

GS area: Economy (green finance, sustainable development)

NABARD raised 1,040.50 crore rupees through social bonds for projects in green and social sectors.

• Social bonds: fixed-income instruments issued to raise capital specifically for social projects (healthcare, education, water supply, sanitation). Defined by the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) Social Bond Principles.
• NABARD's role: National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development is India's apex institution for rural credit and development finance. It lends to state cooperative banks, regional rural banks and directly to priority projects.
• Green bonds: similar instruments where proceeds fund environmental projects (renewable energy, sustainable water). NABARD is a prolific issuer.
• Climate finance linkage: these bonds provide the ESG investment community an avenue to fund India's development goals, aligning private capital with SDGs.

Static linkage: economy (green finance, NABARD, capital markets).

GS area: Science and Technology (environment, biochemistry)

Scientists reported a new enzyme, PET46, capable of degrading PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic bottles under ambient conditions.

• PET plastic: the most common plastic for water and beverage bottles. PET is technically recyclable but much of it ends up in landfills or oceans because recycling rates are low.
• PET46 mechanism: like the previously known PETase enzyme (discovered 2016), PET46 breaks PET polymer chains into their monomer building blocks (terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol), which can be recycled to make new PET.
• PET46 advantage: the new enzyme works at lower temperatures than earlier enzymes, making large-scale industrial deployment more energy-efficient.
• Plastic pollution scale: approximately 400 million tonnes of plastic are produced annually. Less than 10 per cent is recycled globally.
• India's plastic problem: India generates approximately 3.5 million tonnes of plastic waste annually. Much of it goes to river systems and eventually the ocean.

Static linkage: science and technology (biotechnology, environment), environment (plastic pollution).

GS area: Governance (food safety), Health

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India issued a warning against using newspaper for wrapping or packaging food items due to contamination risks.

• FSSAI: the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India is the statutory body under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. It regulates food business operators, sets standards and handles food safety enforcement.
• Risk from newspaper: printing inks contain chemicals including heavy metals (lead, chromium) and phthalates. These can leach into food, especially oily or hot items. The risks are greater for items with high fat content.
• Common practice: street food vendors and small shops commonly use newspaper to wrap snacks (samosas, pakoras, vada pav). The practice is culturally entrenched.
• Alternative packaging: FSSAI recommends food-grade paper, banana leaves, sal leaves or biodegradable packaging.

Static linkage: governance (food safety, FSSAI), health.

GS area: Society (demography), Economy

India's elderly population (60+) is projected to comprise 20 per cent of the total population by 2050. The 80+ age group is expected to grow 279 per cent between 2022 and 2050.

• Current status: approximately 138 million elderly in India in 2023, about 10 per cent of the population.
• Welfare gap: over 40 per cent of the elderly in India live in poverty. Women face more severe challenges, particularly widows who may lose property and social support after their husband's death.
• Atal Pension Yojana: a pension scheme for informal sector workers. PFRDA (Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority) requested an increase in the guaranteed pension amount.
• Demographic dividend and dividend risk: India is in the demographic dividend phase (young workforce) but must prepare for rapid ageing. Countries that failed to build pension and healthcare systems before ageing (like many Latin American nations) faced fiscal crises.
• LASI: the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India provides data on the health, economic and social status of Indians aged 45+.

Static linkage: society (demography, ageing), economy (pensions), governance (welfare schemes).

• Rough diamonds import suspension: the diamond industry suspended rough diamond imports for two months due to inventory buildup and weak retail demand in the US and China. Surat, Gujarat is the world's largest diamond cutting and polishing centre.
• Copyright in media: the HumansOfBombay versus PeopleOfIndia case on Instagram raised questions about intellectual property in social media storytelling. The Delhi High Court considered whether photographic storytelling styles are copyrightable.
• Anti-smoking warnings on OTT platforms: FSSAI and the Ministry of Health discussed placing anti-tobacco warnings on OTT (over-the-top streaming) content featuring smoking, similar to film certifications.