Manipur Violence

Why in the News?

            The State of Manipur is registering fresh cases of violence with one man shot and 15 houses burnt.

Manipur:

1. The Northeastern state of India, sharing borders with Nagaland, Mizoram and Assam and international border with Myanmar (2 regions- Sagaing region and Chin state) with an estimated population of 3.3 million people.
2. The official language of the state is Meitei language.
3. The state has an agrarian economy with high hydroelectricity generation potential.
4. Manipur is famous for its Manipuri classical dance and credited with introducing polo to the Europeans.

What are the reasons for the Manipur conflict?

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. Anti-encroachment drive conducted by the Manipur govt to check deforestation and illegal settlement of migrants from Myanmar in the forest lands.
                  2. Anti-poppy campaign - Poppy was cultivated by the illegal migrants from Myanmar, also called 'The New kukis'
                  3. The Manipur HC has directed the state govt to recommend the Union Tribal Affairs Ministry on inclusion of Meity Community in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) list, created a flash point for the violence because
      2. Meity community, majorly Hindu non-tribals residing in 8% of the plain regions constitute 60% of the total population sending 40 MLAs to the state legislature.
      3. The other tribal groups residing in the hilly areas including kuki tribes send only 20MLAs to the legislature.
      4. The tribal groups fear that Meiteis who are politically, socially and educationally developed, upon grant of ST status would usurp available job opportunities, acquire land in the hill regions and eventually push them out of the region.

What are the consequences of the conflict?

1. Violence against women at its peak was reported during the violence with hundreds of FIRs registered in various police stations across the state.
   • The leaked video of women paraded naked in the street of Manipur reflected the injustices advanced towards women in the state.
2. The death toll has reached nearly 100 with Meity minorities in the hill regions and tribal minorities in the plain regions attacked.
3. Injured and internally displaced persons have been shifted to relief camps.
4. 35000 Army personnel have been deployed in huge numbers with AFSPA in force.
5. Restrictions ranging from complete ban on internet to partial ban on internet and movement have been put to force.
6. Negotiation to restore normality at the bureaucrats, politicians, Civil society organizations has been carried out.
7. Demand for a separate administration has evolved from Kuki's side. This might also cause ripple effects in the Naga community of the state.
8. Has led to exclusion of tribal communities from the decision-making process in governance issues because, kukis refuse to work in govt. offices which are majorly present in Meitei-dominated villages.
9. Loss of trust with the government machinery over its failure to maintain law and order in the state.
10. The National Commission for Women (NCW) failed to act as an effective body by not visiting the state during the conflict and inaction in mobilising support for the victims by coordinating with the State Commission for Women.

Communal Violence in India

Why in the News?

            Cases of Communal violence have been registered in Nuh and Mewat of Haryana has raised the issue of communal violence, triggered by clashes that erupted during a Hindu religious procession in a Muslim dominated region of Nuh.

Communal violence in India:

1. It involves people belonging to two different religious communities mobilised against each other mainly based on hatred, enmity and revenge.
2. Over 2,900 cases of communal or religious rioting were registered in the country between 2017- 2021.

Reasons for the communal violence:

1. Circulation of fake news and rumours having the potential of inciting violence.
2. Feelings of hostility, emotional fury, exploitation due to historical reasons or stereotyped images of religious communities. For instance, partition of the state/ country, influx of refugees in the past resulted in deterioration of the present residents of the region.
3. Social discrimination and social neglect are especially cited as an issue faced by religious minorities in the country.
4. Lack of tolerance and acceptance to beliefs and practices of other religious faith.
5. Indifference to and passive acceptance of the activities of religious organisations without any element of introspection or analysis.
6. Use of religious element in the context of politics to garner vote banks leading to alienation of other religious groups, thus seeding enmity.
7. Economic exploitation and discrimination of minority religious communities.

Way forward:

1. Imposing stringent law and order as per secular law.
2. Inter-religious harmony must be established at the intellectual, emotional, spiritual and ideological levels, for long-term peace and cohesion among religious communities.
3. Peace committees shall be established mandatorily in all areas and the meeting frequency should be increased.
4. Civil societies or non-governmental organizations (NGOs) must render assistance in restoring ordinary people’s trust in their neighbourhoods, police, and local administration.
5. The interests if the minorities have to be safeguarded to be free from fear and hostility, the main factors causing resentment among religious groups.
6. Awareness and education among people have to be generated about misguiding politicians taking religion as a political advantage.

Border forces at Siliguri corridor

Why in the News?       

The border guarding forces of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) shall be deployed along the Siliguri corridor for safeguarding the strategic area during peacetime.

Siliguri corridor and its significance:

1. The Siliguri corridor is narrow stretch adjoining Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh measuring 170*60km with a narrowest stretch of around 20-22km attributing its name to ‘chicken’s neck’.
2. It acts as a crucial link between the Indian mainland and the Northeastern part of India.
3. It has major national highways, railway lines, pipelines and optical fiber communication lines among others.
4. Proximity to China’s Chumbi valley in the Tibet Autonomous region holds tremendous geopolitical importance apart from its geostrategic location.
5. The Doklam issue of 2017 and the present situation of heightened deployments of Chinese forces along the LAC (Line of Actual control) since May 2022, demands guarding of the sensitive Siliguri corridor.

6. The Corridor contains Vulnerable Areas and Vulnerable Points (VAVPs) shall hereafter be guarded by the CAPF personnel- specifically the forces of
   1. The Border Security Force (BSF)
   2. Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB)
   3. The Indo- Tibetan Border Police (ITBP)

• These forces have been historically guarding the borders with Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and China.
• The forces come under the administrative and operational jurisdiction of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

Issues with India’s Pharmaceutical sector

Why in the News?

USFDA has issued a warning letter to a Gujarat-based Pharma manufacturing company citing serious violations of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP).

India’s Pharma Sector:

1. Indian pharma sector is set to achieve $130 billion by value, in the year 2030.
2. The domestic Pharma companies are expected to report a steady revenue growth of 6-8 per cent in 2023-24.
3. India is known as ‘the Pharmacy of the world’ as it is the world's third largest manufacturer of drugs by volume and second largest by value and known for its generic medicines and low-cost vaccines.
4. India accounts for 60 percent of global vaccine production, contributing 40-70% of the WHO demand for DPT and BCG vaccines, and over 90% of the measles vaccine.
5. The Exports of Pharmaceuticals have registered an increasing trend continuously for the past years.

Major segments of Indian Pharmaceutical Industry:

Challenges faced by the Pharma sector of India:

1. Rising pressure from the US FDA:
   1. In 2018, USFDA inspections of Indian pharma manufacturing companies accounted for 14% of total FDA inspections across the world.
   2. Between 2013-18, 60 Drug good Manufacturing practices warning letters have been issued. This can potentially lead to,
      1. Negative impact on the share market value of Indian Pharma Companies.
      2. Hampering of the overall image of the pharma manufacturing quality.
2. Government’s stringent control over the pricing of drugs turns out be a hurdle for the growth of innovative capabilities of Pharma companies, as the companies will restraint to invest in R&D activities as the assurance of getting the investment back through sale of drugs become bleak.
3. Spurious drugs
   1. WHO reports that 35% of the world’s spurious drugs are produced in India, that are fake, counterfeit, or substandard.
   2. Gambia has made it mandatory for all Indian drugs to be tested before being exported to the African country since July 1, after Gambia reported death of dozens of children linked to consumption of cough syrup from India.
4. Lack of skilled workforce:
   1. Gap between the theoretical degree studies and actual requirements of the industry, leading to a skill gap in spite of the fact that 4 lakh Pharma students graduate every year.
   2. This leads to sub-optimal utilisation and efficiency of the manpower.
   3. This also leads to Good Manufacturing Practices issues in the manufacturing processes.
5. India’s high dependence on China for APIs:
   1. About 80% of India’s Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients’ (APIs), the raw materials used in the manufacture of medicines or formulations, requirements are fulfilled through imports from China.

Initiatives taken by India:

1. PLI Scheme for Pharmaceuticals
   1. The scheme aims to enhance India’s manufacturing capabilities by increasing investment and production in the sector. This shall result in product diversification to high-value goods in the pharmaceutical sector.
   2. The scheme covers pharmaceutical goods under the following three categories-
      1. Category 1:

Biopharmaceuticals, Complex generic drugs, Patented drugs or drugs nearing patent expiry, Cell-based or gene therapy drugs, Orphan drugs, Special empty capsules, Complex excipients, Phyto-pharmaceuticals and other drugs as approved.

1. 1. 2. Category 2:

Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients, Key Starting Materials and Drug Intermediates

1. 1. 3. Category 3
         1. This includes Drugs not covered under Category 1 and Category 2.

Repurposed drugs, Auto-immune drugs, anti-cancer drugs, anti-diabetic drugs, anti-infective drugs, cardiovascular drugs, psychotropic drugs and anti-retroviral drugs, In-vitro diagnostic devices and other drugs not manufactured in India.

2. Umbrella Scheme for Development of Pharmaceutical Industry
   1. A Central Sector Scheme namely ‘Strengthening of Pharmaceuticals Industry’ with three sub-schemes
      1. Assistance to Pharmaceutical Industry for Common Facilities (API-CF)
      2. Pharmaceutical Technology Upgradation Assistance Scheme (PTUAS)
      3. Pharmaceutical & Medical Devices Promotion and Development Scheme (PMPDS)
   2. The scheme intends to increase the efficiency and competitiveness of domestic pharmaceutical and MedTech industry in the global market.
   3. Also, to ensure accessibility, availability and affordability of quality pharmaceuticals and medical devices for mass consumption.
3. Promotion of Bulk Drug Parks scheme
   1. Aims for creation of world class common infrastructure facilities to bulk drug units located in the parks.
   2. The Bulk Drug parks can
      1. bring down the manufacturing cost
      2. Increase competitiveness of the domestic bulk drug industry
      3. Minimize country’s dependence on imports by providing a push to indigenous manufacturing and facilitate Indian bulk drug industry.
4. Establishment of Pharma Bureau
   1. Provides facilitation to investors and resolves issues of inter-departmental coordination in the Pharmaceutical and Medical Device sector.
   2. It also policy support to Department of Pharmaceuticals for framing incentive schemes for the industry.

Research linked Incentive scheme

Why in the News?

The Ministry of Science and Technology has written to the Finance Ministry to introduce a Research Linked Incentive (RLI) scheme for the Pharma sector in the upcoming budget of 2024-25.

What is Research linked Incentive scheme?

1. The RLI scheme has been envisaged on the lines of production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, to give stimulus to research and development in the field of Science and Technology (S&T).
2.  The incentives provided to the companies shall total an outlay of Rs. 100 Crore per year, with incremental annual spending in the forthcoming years.
3. RLI also incorporates policy interventions to harness India’s inherent potential.
4. The scheme shall operate in addition to the existing incentive R&D schemes available for the Pharma and biotech companies operating in India.

Possible benefits of the scheme:

1. The incentives provided by the scheme shall enable firm push to Research and development to boost Innovation, that can help to improve India’s ranking in the Global innovation Index (GII) further.

2. Promotes innovation in emerging fields of S&T:
   1. Electric vehicles (EV)
   2. Hydrogen and renewable energy
   3. Sustainable technologies
   4. Artificial intelligence (AI) based smart technologies involving Machine Learning
   5. Semiconductor designing and manufacturing.
3. Research-linked incentives given sector-specific enables development of sustainable and green technologies in the future.
4. The scheme shall enable India to shift away from a low-value, high-volume player to a high-value, high-volume player in the global pharma market.

About:

Research & Development in the Pharma sector:

1. The Pharma R&D processes involves:
   1. Pre-clinical research
   2. Discovery of innovative drugs
   3. Clinical trials of prescription drugs
   4. Preparation and submission of applications for Food and Drug Administration or FDA approval
   5. Designing production processes for the new product
   6. Clinical testing of a new drug against an existing drug to showcase the benefits of the new drug.
   7. Additional clinical trials after a new drug reaches the market
      1. for safety monitoring
      2. Detection of additional side effects that may not have been observed in earlier trials during development
   8. Improvements over existing prescription drugs by developing new dosages and delivery systems and testing for additional potential uses
2. India’s R&D in Pharma sector:
   1. The gestation period for translation of concept to market may take about 10-15 years, with a >90% attrition rate in the Indian pharma industry.
   2. The need for a early innovation and a cushion for handling the risk of capital needs given the high failure rate stresses the importance of incentives in R&D sector in India.
   3. The average pharma industry funding continues to be around 10%, compared to 15-20% for most large innovators globally. 
   4. Though government grants are provided especially from BIRAC (e.g., the Biotechnology Ignition Grant) and MeiTY, which accounts for about Rs 5-50 lakhs over 6-18 months, it remains largely insufficient for the entire development cycle of drugs.
   5. The R&D Expenditure of India stands at 0.8% of the GDP, way lower than the developed and emerging economies of the world.

UNESCO: R&D intensity as a percentage of GDP (2018)