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Last week, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) sought inputs
on whether it would be possible to have “selective” app bans instead of
internet shutdowns, in order to reduce the impact that a wholesale
communications lockdown can entail.

The Indian government considers Internet shutdowns a legitimate tool of

maintaining law and order.

The approach suggested by TRAI would require telecom operators and

messaging app firms like WhatsApp to cooperate with each other and stop
access to services during a shutdown. The telecom regulator has sought
inputs on licensing messaging apps in India, which may require firms to be
subjected to surveillance and blocking requirements.

In 2015 and 2018, the TRAI had held consultations on regulating messaging
apps, a process that led to wide-ranging protections for net neutrality — the
concept that all internet traffic should be treated equally. Telecom operators
had then called for regulation because they argued that messaging apps
provide the same service without going through the stringent security and
surveillance regulations that telecom operators go through.

Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology added a requirement of

‘traceability’ to the IT Rules, 2021, wherein one can find the original sender
of a forwarded message. However, civil society groups and tech firms said
that such requirements were impossible without breaking end-to-end
encryption.

It is possible to block websites and certain apps by ordering telecom

operators to do so. However, Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) make these
blocks trivial to bypass. VPNs tunnel a user’s internet traffic through another
server.

When the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-in) published

directions in 2022 requiring VPN firms to retain records of users from India,
most large VPN providers stopped offering servers physically located in
India.

Blocking VPNs is not straightforward, as companies operating them tend to

frequently change the IP addresses associated with their servers. While VPN
services’ websites may be blocked, the installation files can be found
elsewhere online.
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The Union Cabinet has approved the introduction of the National Research
Foundation (NRF) Bill in Parliament.

Setting up the NRF was one of the key recommendations of the National
Education Policy 2020.The NRF intends to act as a coordinating agency
between researchers, various government bodies and industry, thus
bringing industry into the mainstream of research.

In addition to providing research grants to individuals, the NRF plans to

seed, grow and facilitate research in India’s universities, especially State
universities, by funding research infrastructure and researchers.

The NRF will operate with a budget of ₹50,000 crore for five years, of which
28% (₹14,000 crore) will be the government’s share, and the remaining 72%
(₹36,000 crore) will come from the private sector. Out of the government’s
share, ₹4,000 crore will be used from the existing Science and Engineering
Research Board’s budget, which will be subsumed under the NRF. Therefore,
the government has earmarked an additional 10,000 crore over the next five
years for the NRF.

However, this increase in the nation’s gross domestic expenditure on

research and development (GERD) seems too meagre, (less than 2% of
GERD) especially if one compares the GDP and the comparative spending in
other big economies, such as the U.S. and China.

While India’s GDP was 7.6 and 5.1 times smaller than that of the U.S and
China respectively, India’s GERD was nearly 24 times less than both these
countries during the same period. And in the last five years, that gap has
further widened.

How can the NRF facilitate the “ease of doing science”?

First, the time between applying for a research grant and receiving the
money must be minimal, preferably within six months.

Second, all the paperwork must be digitally processed without sending

stacks of papers in hard copies to the NRF.

Third, all finance-related queries, paperwork, approval, and acceptance

need to be between the NRF and the finance department of the university/
research institution keeping the scientist free to focus on research.

Fourth, Scientific research needs independent guidelines for spending

money, which provides flexibility while making scientists accountable.

Finally, the release of money needs to be timely. Although the NRF draft
mentions timely disbursal of funds.

Thinking Palette by Sahil

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The proposed NRF is largely modelled after the National Science Foundation
of the U.S. It borrows some of the best practices from the German, U.K.,
Swiss, Norwegian, South Korean, and Singapore science agencies.
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In the 1960s, neuroscientists began finding evidence that growing up poor

could affect how a young brain develops.

In 2015, three studies reported that human children and young adults
growing up in low-income families had lower cortical volume and did
relatively poorly in tests for academic performance. The cortex is the outer
layer of the brain.

Now, a study by researchers from Harvard University and Washington

University, has demonstrated that children growing up in low-income families
indeed risk a smaller hippocampus which in turn might relate to later
“inequities in [their] physical and mental health outcomes. The researchers,
showed that generous anti-poverty policies substantially lower this risk.

The researchers found that the hippocampal volume was indeed larger for
participants belonging to families with relatively higher income.
Impaired hippocampal development has been associated with higher risk of
psychopathologies, such as major depressive disorder and post-traumatic
stress disorder.

If one were living in a low-income household in a state with a higher cost of

living, and received generous cash benefits, their hippocampal volumes
were, on average, 34% larger than those who lived in low-income households
in states with a relatively higher cost of living and lower cash benefits.

Poverty is often a symptom of more systematic discrimination. Similarly, in

India, communities listed as Scheduled Tribes (STs), Scheduled Castes
(SCs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) are significantly poorer than
those not listed in these categories, according to a recent study.

Finally, ‘generous’ anti-poverty policies don’t just increase family income;

they can also allow “families to make decisions that lead to a decrease in
wages but that also reduce stress, such as working fewer hours,” per the
new paper.

The study also illustrated how “investments in social safety net programs”
could lower the high cost of “addressing mental health, educational, and
economic challenges resulting from socioeconomic disparities in
neurodevelopment” tomorrow.
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We continue to monitor a basket of goods that includes torches, radios, tape
recorders, CDs, DVDs, audio/video cassettes, and trunks, among some 300
other items. Although these have a minimal weight in the overall CPI
calculation, we are clinging onto the past, tracking items that no longer hold
the same relevance in our consumption patterns.

The CPI basket should not be viewed as an unchangeable artefact frozen in

time. On the contrary, the real consumption basket of a common Indian is
fluid and continually evolving, mirroring the shifts in societal needs,
preferences, and economic conditions.

In the current CPI (base year 2012), weights of various groups are as
follows: food and beverages (45.86); paan, tobacco and intoxicants (2.38);
clothing and footwear (6.53); housing (10.07); fuel and light (6.84);
miscellaneous (28.32). The weightage of food in the CPI basket has
decreased from 60.9 (in 1960).

This gradual decline indicates that as the economy grows, the proportion of
income spent on food decreases. This is a common trend known as Engel’s
Law.

These shifts imply that as people’s income rises, they tend to allocate a
larger proportion of their spending towards non-food items such as housing,
education, healthcare, personal care, entertainment, and digital services
such as the Internet.

Further, the startlingly high weight of 9.67 assigned to cereals in the current
CPI is undoubtedly excessive and casts a stark light on two critical issues.
First, as nations undergo economic advancement and societal progress, a
typical trajectory involves diversifying food intake and embracing a broader
range of nutrient-rich options beyond cereals.

Second, the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana has substantially reduced
cereal expenditure for a large segment of the populace.

aWeights for CPI can only undergo a significant shift after we have data from
the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (CES) data. Currently, the
Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) is in the midst
of the CES, with the first round slated to conclude in July 2023 and the
second round a year later, in July 2024.

The absence of CES has spawned a slew of issues. We’re unable to

determine the population under the poverty line accurately, and our ability to
track inflation effectively has been severely undermined. This isn’t merely a
theoretical challenge; it’s a question of how accurately we are measuring
the cost of living and economic well-being.

Thinking Palette by Sahil

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Quiet diplomacy could ease South China Sea tensions
The Foreign Ministers of India and the Philippines recently met at the fifth
meeting of the Philippines-India Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation, in
New Delhi.

Building on the shared interests of the

two maritime Asian republics and nearly
75 years of diplomatic history, the
External Affairs Minister of India and the
Secretary for Foreign Affairs of the
Philippines outlined the path for a
strengthened bilateral partnership
between Manila and Delhi in the 21st
century.

Key points
The decision to open the resident
defence attache office in Manila;
boosting cooperation between the Coast
Guards of the two countries; acquisition
of naval assets by Manila under a
concessional line of credit from Delhi;
expansion of training and joint exercises
on maritime security and disaster responses, and commencing a maritime
dialogue are some examples of the evolving strength of this nautical partnership.

However, the most notable development was the agreement on regional and
multilateral issues, particularly on maritime highways such as the South China
Sea. While India reiterated its consistent position on adhering to international
law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Thinking Palette by Sahil

The Philippines had submitted a case of arbitration to the Permanent Court of
Arbitration (PCA) in order to settle disputes with China. Despite China’s formal
withdrawal from the arbitration in 2013, the proceedings continued as scheduled
under UNCLOS guidelines. The PCA denied China’s assertion that it had
historical rights in the South China Sea, and the unanimous decision was
unexpectedly in the Philippines’ favour.

The Tribunal also found that “China has violated the sovereign rights of the
Philippines in its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) by (a) interfering with
Philippines’ fishing and petroleum exploration, (b) constructing artificial islands,
and (c) failing to stop Chinese fishermen from fishing in the zone”.

The South China Sea is a crucial maritime gateway and junction for shipping
between the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Any confrontation in the South China
Sea, one of the world’s most vital oceans in terms of geopolitics, economy, and
strategy, will be a danger to regional and global security.

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As free and stable marine commons are crucial to global trade and economy,
India and many other nations have an interest in safeguarding the water lanes
that pass through the region.

Despite the fact that the PCA declared its decision, the reality on the ground has
not altered, making it practically impossible to carry out the decision. By
reiterating the need for a peaceful conflict resolution that fully respects legal and
diplomatic channels and abides by the ruling, India has sent a strong message
that the region wants peace and respect for international law.

Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) should try to find
a political solution through “quiet diplomacy”, as the potential for resolving this
issue through legal methods is very low.

“Quiet diplomacy” refers to one state's efforts to influence the behaviour of another state
through discreet negotiations or actions.