[Mission 2023] INSIGHTS DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS + PIB SUMMARY 2 December 2022

GS Paper 2

Syllabus: International Organizations

Source: Indian Express

Context: India assumed the Presidency of the UN Security Council in December. India had earlier assumed the Presidency of the UNSC in August 2021.

 Items on Agenda:

• Reformed Multilateralism
• Counter-Terrorism
• Maintenance of International Peace and Security
• New Orientation for Reformed Multilateralism (NORMS): NORMS envisages reforms in the current multilateral architecture, with the UN at its centre, to make it more representative and fit for purpose.

India’s priority issues have been guided by the “Five S” approach:

• Samman (Respect)
• Samvad (Dialogue)
• Sahyog (Cooperation)
• Shanti (Peace)
• Samriddhi (Prosperity)

Recent issues with regard representation of UN membership:

• Overrepresentation: There is a huge European bias in P-5 due to the presence of the United Kingdom and France, including Russia.
• Under-representation: While regions like Latin America, the Caribbean Group, the Arab World, and Africa do not have a single permanent member,
• Question of Veto: All five permanent members of the UNSC enjoy veto power. But the veto has been misused to put national interests ahead of global interests.
• Non-transparent: The UNSC has been functioning in the most non-transparent and non-consultative way.
• North-South Inequality: Only China is representative of the global south region, whereas the global north has four nations to present themselves at the UNSC.

Conclusion:

UN remains the one place on Earth where all the world’s nations can gather together, discuss common problems, and find shared solutions that benefit all of humanity.

Insta Links

UN Reforms

Mains Links

Q. Discuss the need for reforms in the United Nations to strengthen its legitimacy, representativeness and relevance in order to address the realities of contemporary times. (15M)

GS Paper 3

Syllabus: Mobilisation of resources

Source: IE

 Direction: The article highlights the insurance regulatory framework in India, the government’s recent decision to review this framework and its significance.

Context: In light of the changing needs of the insurance sector, a comprehensive review of the sector’s legislative framework has been conducted by the government in collaboration with the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) and the industry.

Background: The Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, is in the process of amending the Insurance Act 1938 and the IRDA Act 1999, to take the reform agenda in the insurance segment to the next level.

Insurance regulatory framework in India:

• IRDAI is a statutory body established under the IRDA Act 1999, for –
  • Overall supervision and development of the insurance sector in India,
  • Promotion of competition so as to enhance customer satisfaction,
  • Ensuring the financial security of the Insurance market.
• The Insurance Act, of 1938 is the principal Act governing the Insurance sector in India. It empowers IRDAI to frame regulations for the supervision of the entities operating in the sector.

The proposed amendments primarily focus on:

• Enhancing the financial security of the policyholders,
• Promoting policyholders’ interest,
• Improving returns to the policyholders,
• Facilitating the entry of more players in the insurance market leading to economic growth and employment generation,
• Enhancing efficiency (operational and finance) of the insurance industry,
• Enabling ease of doing business (EoDB).

Reforms suggested by the IRDAI:

• Issuing composite licences, which is a common license (banned as of now) to operate in both the life and general insurance markets.
• Reducing the minimum capital requirement from Rs 100 crore in order to enable the entry of smaller players (micro insurers), to serve niche markets.

Earlier reforms:

• The government raised the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in insurance from 49 to 74% in the 2021 budget.
• The IRDAI approved proposals, involving investment, solvency norms, dilution of equity and fundraising, aimed at promoting EoDB and simplifying the process of setting up an insurance company.

Significance of proposed changes:

• It will facilitate the longer-term growth of the industry and bring India closer to global practices.
• It will enable insurers to offer comprehensive service to their customers.
• It will also help companies tap into newer market segments and reach new customers.
• In the current digital environment, where customer expectations are fast evolving, these changes will provide a uniform, yet personalised service to customers.

Insta Links:

More a private sector primer than a health-care pathway

Mains Links:

Q. Health insurance in India suffers from many lacunae. In the light of the basic right to health of citizens that flows from Article 21 of the Constitution, critically analyse problems plaguing India’s health insurance sector and measures needed to fix these problems. (250 Words)

GS Paper 4

Syllabus: Issues relating to health

Source: DTE

Direction: The article discusses the issue of AMR – what it is, prevention and the way ahead to tackle this top global public health emergency.

 Context: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been declared one of the top global public health threats by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Background:

• In 2019, an overall 95 million deaths were caused by AMR infections and associated complications.
• India is the world’s largest consumer of antibiotics and has the world’s highest infectious disease burden including due to multi-resistant pathogens (superbugs).
• AMR may cause a global annual GDP loss of $3.4 trillion by 2030 and may push 24 million people into extreme poverty.

About AMR:

Factors leading to AMR:

• Overuse, misuse and over-the-counter use of antimicrobials;
• Poor sanitation, sewage and waste;
• Effluent and waste from the pharmaceutical industry and healthcare facilities;
• Overuse of antimicrobials in crop production and Animal husbandry;

Preventive measures:

Way ahead:

• More research to better understands the spread of AMR in the environment.
• Short-term and long-term action points related to policy, institutional framework, research, surveillance, engagement and awareness.

Conclusion: With India taking over the G20 Presidency and One Health being one of the priority areas for discussion, the time is opportune for India to address the environmental aspects of AMR.

Insta Links:

Tackling antimicrobial resistance

Mains Links:

Q. Antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest health challenges of the 21st century. Examine why.

GS Paper 4

Source: The Hindu

Context: The Delhi High Court recently passed an interim order to prevent the unlawful use of Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan’s name, image and voice. 

The court restrained people from infringing the personality rights of the actor.

 Personality rights:

Personality rights refer to the right of a person to protect his/her personality under the right to privacy or property. These rights are important to celebrities as their names, photographs or even voices can easily be misused in various advertisements by different companies to boost their sales. 

 Personality rights consist of two types of rights —

• Firstly, the right of publicity, or the right to keep one’s image and likeness from being commercially exploited without permission or contractual compensation and
• Secondly, the right to privacy or the right to not have one’s personality represented publicly without permission.

Statutes like the Trademarks Act 1999 and the Copyright Act 1957 govern publicity rights.

Ethical issues involved:

• Consumers are often misled owing to false advertisements or endorsements. This lead to a loss of trust among consumers.
• Violation of law: Amendment to the Consumer Protection Act of 2019 was passed to keep a check on the misleading advertisements and endorsements of consumer products by imposing a penalty on the endorser as well
• Violation of one’s privacy