Daily Mains Practice Questions 30-03-2023

KEY POINTS

·        According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 5 conducted in 2019-2020, 35.5 per cent of children under the age of five in India are stunted, 19.3 per cent wasted, and 32.1 per cent underweight.

·        India currently uses the growth charts recommended by WHO (2006) based on the Multicentre Growth Reference Study (MGRS) for children from zero to five years.

·        WHO collected the data of 8.440 children from populations with unconstrained growth in six countries, namely, India, Brazil, the US, Oman, Ghana, and Norway.

·        In India, the samples were drawn from 58 affluent neighbourhoods of South Delhi, where relatively large groups of affluent, educated individuals reside.

·        Instead of taking random children, their selection criteria were strict, making them more reasonable than other available growth charts at that time (between 1997 & 2003).

·        For example, a recent study published in Lancet showed the overestimation of stunting while using the WHO standards compared to the Indian “Indian Urban Middle Class” (IUMC) reference.

·        The success of achieving SDG 2.2, which is to end all forms of malnutrition by 2030, including achieving, by 2025, the internationally agreed targets on stunting and wasting in children under five years of age, depends on these critical metrics.

KEY POINTS

·        While this culture denotes absolute power and leads to growth, it also leads to drawbacks in running businesses such as lack of professionalism, inadequate risk management and poor succession planning.

·        From a corporate governance perspective as well, it’s perhaps a good situation  a promoter-led board, promoter-funded company and promoter as the largest shareholder.

·        For starters, it’s about absolute power, including the control over the board, which might make the promoters too attached to the businesses, and that sometimes may work against the interests of the minority shareholders.

·        Since the entire control remains with the promoter with very little say for such minority shareholders, the focus of corporate governance shifts to the protecting the interests of minority shareholders.

·        The report alleged many governance issues peculiar to promoter-led businesses, including related-party transactions, lack of transparency or disclosures and violation of SEBI’s listing norms.

·        While the allegations are yet to be proved, the market reaction has been catastrophic, specifically for retail investors. The stock price has been falling over multiple sessions now.

·        But in India, concentrated ownership and promoter-led businesses will continue to dominate, and hence the role of the board should revolve around protecting minority shareholders.

KEY POINTS

·        India’s digital public infrastructure (DPI), loosely the India Stack and more, is a marvel of our times, shaped in a unique partnership between governments (Union and States), regulators, the private sector, selfless volunteers, startups, and academia/think tanks.

·        Much has been spoken and written about India’s DPIs, and as such, this article does not seek to repeat all of that, but instead about what is coming next, and who is driving it.

·        The judgment of the Supreme Court of India had affirmed privacy to be sacrosanct, and led to an unintended slowdown of the opening of Aadhaar to the private sector to unlock its value even further.

·        Banks and other regulated entities can store Aadhaar numbers as long as they protect it using vault and other similar means, as in Unique Identification Authority of India security regulations.

·        Proof that this is work in progress is that Aadhaar authentications have shot up to 2.2 billion per month, and the cumulative number over the past 12 years has crossed 100 billion.

·        It has now crossed eight billion transactions per month and transacts a value of $180 billion a month, or about a staggering 65% of India’s GDP per annum.

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