Daily Mains Practice Questions 03-02-2023

KEY POINTS

·        Picturesque Ladakh has been on edge ever since it was carved out as a Union Territory (UT) from the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir in 2019.

·        An agitation demanding the inclusion of the region in the Sixth Schedule under Article 244 of the Constitution (special protection to tribal populations).

·        The constant tussle between locals, elected representatives of two Hill Councils of Kargil and Leh, and the bureaucracy only widened over the months.

·        Despite the differences in their political stands, LAB and the KDA are now together over common goals.

·        They have put forth four major demands before the Centre, which include restoration of full-fledged Statehood, constitutional safeguards under the Sixth Schedule, separate Lok Sabha seats for Leh and Kargil districts and job reservation for locals.

·        They describe the demands as key to protecting Ladakh’s identity, culture and the fragile environment.

·        The Centre appears to be in a bind as the two committees it appointed to reassure the local populations have made little headway in the last two years.

·        In the absence of drastic measures to assuage the locals by meeting their genuine demands, the region will only remain embroiled to the advantage of those intent on fomenting trouble.

KEY POINTS

·        The Budget speech in the year preceding a general election is usually one that seeks to appease as wide a swathe of society as possible.

·        It follows that ministries that fund the bulk of research and development (R&D) too would see a healthy jump in allocation.

·        The Deep Ocean mission which includes among other components developing a deep-submersible vehicle  and the National Research Foundation have got substantially higher hikes.

·        There were multiple references in the Budget speech for investing in dedicated centres for excellence in ‘Artificial intelligence’ research, initiatives to scale up technology to produce laboratory-made diamonds and a centre for research in sickle cell anaemia.

·        While different countries define R&D spends variously, a rule of thumb suggests that developed and technologically advanced countries spend over 2% of their GDP on R&D.

·        India, according to a 2022 estimate by the Global Innovation Index, continues to hover around 0.7% despite being among the world’s largest producers of scientific literature.

·        The bulk of research continues to be funded by government and the participation of the private sector has grown only incrementally.

·        In the next few years, the government must not only increase the size of the funding pie but also ease the procedures to make the most efficient use of it.

KEY POINTS

·        The highest form of human intelligence is the acceptance and willingness to volve and learn.

·        The Budget today has yet again showcased the governments forward looking approach to global trends and making India a strong destination for intelligence, R&D and talent.

·        Technology and knowledge focussed, the Budget this year has laid out a strong roadmap for Make AI in India and make AI work for India.

·        It is hoped that this spurs public-private partnership in developing an effective AI ecosystem in healthcare.

·        Digital health solutions such as telemedicine, electronic health records, and remote monitoring will benefit from these CoEs in AI and help improve patient outcomes.

·        Not leaving it to the machines alone, there is high impetus in the Budget for focus on healthcase skiling and R&D.

·        These skilling efforts can further dovetail into the ‘Global Workforce Development’ vision which has the aim of developing 1 million trained and accredited healthcare resources by 2030 for the country, who can be used to serve India, and the greying world.

·        There is a clear commitment to improving the overall health ecosystem and well-being of the Indian population and have a significant impact on making India a global health destination.

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