Observing The Cosmic Dance

“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it Fate” – Carl Jung. Mahashivratri is considered one of the most important festivals towards this effort. “The Great Night of Shiva” is the most significant among twelve Shivratris, the fourteenth day of every lunar month or the day before the new moon. Who am I, What is my source, and Where am I, are the three most important and fundamental questions, any thinking human mind seeks answers to. Trinity of Brahma-Vishnu-Mahesh is at the core of understanding one’s surroundings in Hinduism. Mahesh or Shiva is the Lord of destruction or evolution. Change is the very nature of nature, and this understanding is perhaps most vital aspect of a person’s intelligence.

Fritjof Capra, one of the foremost proponents of the link between ‘Eastern philosophy’ and science, says “Hundreds of years ago, Indian artists created visual images of dancing Shivas in a beautiful series of bronzes. In our time, physicists have used the most advanced technology to portray the patterns of the cosmic dance. The metaphor of the cosmic dance thus unifies ancient mythology, religious art and modern physics.”

One of the fundamental issues of our scientific understanding of the physical world is the attempt to superimpose the principles of macro-physics onto the micro-world of atoms, subatomic particles and energy, where they fail spectacularly. Quantum mechanics is a hugely successful theory in modern physics and has led to far-reaching practical applications in our lives today. We still don’t know the basic explanation for some of its foundational predictions.

Fritjof Capra explained in The ‘Tao of Physics’, “The Dance of Shiva symbolises the basis of all existence. At the same time, Shiva reminds us that the manifold forms in the world are not fundamental, but illusory and ever-changing. Modern physics has shown that the rhythm of creation and destruction is not only manifest in the turn of the seasons and in the birth and death of all living creatures, but is also the very essence of inorganic matter. “According to quantum field theory, the dance of creation and destruction is the basis of the very existence of matter. Modern physics has thus revealed that every subatomic particle not only performs an energy dance but also is an energy dance; a pulsating process of creation and destruction. For the modern physicists then, Shiva’s dance is the dance of subatomic matter, the basis of all existence and of all-natural phenomena.”

The night of celebrating the changing apparent reality by fasting, singing, dancing and meditating, so that one comes closer to directly experiencing the changeless reality, Mahashivaratri, is celebrated across India and is a Gazetted Holiday.

Gati Shakti for Transforming Connectivity

“We shape our buildings; thereafter, they shape us.” – Winston Churchill

The new India is marching on the roads of an unprecedented transition into an entirely new dimension of modern living, where system are both solution-oriented and sustainable. By rightly identifying the hitches, the focus has shifted to ‘building afresh’ in the recent years. While prominent initiatives like Make in India, Vocal for Local, Self-Reliant India, Startup India, and others have ignited a sense of awareness and stimulation in India, especially boosting sectors like manufacturing and entrepreneurship, all of this is being rightly taken to the next level by working on the infrastructural development like never before across the country.

PM Gati Shakti, which runs on a transformative approach for economic growth and sustainable development, is driven by seven engines, namely, Roads, Railways, Airports, Ports, Mass Transport, Waterways, and Logistics Infrastructure. All seven engines can lift up the growth curve of the entire country, if supported by the complementary roles of Energy Transmission, IT Communication, Bulk Water & Sewerage, and Social Infrastructure. Such an economic breakthrough can create a plethora of job and entrepreneurial opportunities for all, catering to especially the youth.

The introduction of Gati Shakti, as the name suggests, is a powerful means to get almost all the imperative sectors of the economy up and running with ‘Connectivity’ being the main fuel, as ease in transportation relentlessly brings down the logistics cost. This retention further relaxes the budget plots across various sectors, leading to exports competitiveness, boosting labour employment, resulting in more investments and vigorous economic expansion. More and more connectivity convenience naturally leads to the development of multiple urban, industrial centres. These urban centres are enabler of balanced regional development, paving way for more and more industrial clusters to sprout up across the country. Further, a good roads infrastructure would feed well into railway lines, which in turn, would feed into ports, resulting in faster goods transportation, stirred up supply chain systems, quick manufacturing and more trade and business.

It is well documented that as a proportion of the total value of goods, logistics costs are almost double in India (around 14%) as compared to developed nations (around 7%), hence there is lot of room of improvement. This underlines the need and power of Modern logistics mechanisms, which is the aim of the endeavour of Gati Shakti. The government also has in its pipeline the National Logistics Policy to ease supply chain bottlenecks and accelerate India’s logistics sector, which frequently deals with competitiveness gap. The plan will improve India’s trade competitiveness, create more jobs, improve India’s performance in global rankings and pave the way for India to become a logistics hub.

Indian Healthcare Sector – Coming of Age amidst Pandemic

It is indeed remarkable that India has achieved both the highest number of vaccinations as well as highest percentage of population being vaccinated . This is an unparalleled large-scale implementation in handling the pandemic while considering welfare of all at home with ‘Sabka Saath’ and abroad with Vaccine Maitri. Right communication regarding vaccines at the grassroots level was pivotal. For this, a five-point strategic action framework was utilized to draw up the guidelines – Advocacy; Capacity Building; Media Engagement and social media; Social Mobilization and Community Engagement; and Crisis Communication using AEFI (Adverse Events Following Immunization).

One of the key aspects that haven’t gotten enough attention is the vaccination teams’ compassionate attitude and approach during the vaccination drive. All were trained to engage and show empathy to beneficiaries seeking information or sharing their concerns irrespective of their socio-economic or demographic status. The first and foremost preparatory step that was imperative prior to the launch of the vaccination drive was to train and build the capacity of skilled resource personnel. The success of the vaccination initiative was highly dependent upon the quality of training being provided.

Following the successful development of two vaccines – the indigenously developed COVAXIN and AstraZeneca’s COVISHIELD through technology transfer – India embarked on a new herculean task of vaccine distribution to every nook and corner of the country. Government formulated the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration (NEGVAC) for COVID-19. NEGVAC facilitated the high level of coordination required at the national, state, and district levels to establish effective levels of coordination among key departments. The Co-WIN platform was at the heart of the vaccination drive. The software performed the crucial functions of registration, real-time status on booked and available booking slots on different dates and at different sites, end-to-end implementation of vaccine process, etc. at national, state, district and block levels. In the global battle against COVID- 19, various low-cost innovative technologies developed and scaled up by start-ups from all over the country played a critical role. E-Sanjeevani, the largest telemedicine service, made its efforts towards successful communication. State-level monitors undertook the continuous supervision of vaccine arrival and distribution cycle and ensured quality orientation in vaccine receipt and distribution.

Right information has changed the minds of those who were skeptical about inoculation, and turned the Indian vaccination journey from resistance to acceptance.

Abstained to make a point

“India is deeply disturbed by the recent turn of developments in Ukraine. We urge that all efforts are made for the immediate cessation of violence and hostilities. No solution can ever be arrived at the cost of human lives,” said India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti on behalf of India, which abstained from voting on a UNSC resolution that condemned Russia’s “aggression” against Ukraine and demanded the withdrawal of Russian forces from the neighbouring country. By abstaining, India has chosen to keep its window open to reach out to concerned sides in an effort to find the middle ground with an aim to foster back dialogue and diplomacy.

There are times when even history fails to provide any account or instances that one could refer to in order to shepherd a way out of a crisis. While the recent launch of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia is not unfamiliar to history, it has certainly increased the criticality quotient for India, as it handles its UNSC Presidency with utmost ministration, and at the same time pulls out all the stops to evacuate Indians back to its soil.

The military attacks on Ukraine has reshuffled an already intricate world order, leaving India to walk on a tightrope of protecting its diplomatic ties with the NATO states as well as with CSTO and Russia. As both of these alliances enjoy the veto votes in UNSC, It would make it rather difficult for India, which has been seeking a permanent membership at the high table, to chair a council that has already begun to split into factions.

The US too has to settle on a decision. Either it could allow Ukraine to be steamrolled and Moscow to get all power-backed. Or it could decide to intervene indirectly and levy sanctions that do not hurt Russia directly. Or it could also intervene directly and maybe even launch a nuclear war that would devastate the world and all the people living in it.

As for the imposition of financial sanctions on Russia, the possibilities of such counterattacks are never hard to guess. Perhaps, this is why it looks like Washington is taking the second option of levying enormous sanctions on the Kremlin that would hurt some but not all of its sectors. In such a case, the world could contemplate the following choices : i) Focus on saving more and more Ukrainian lives, ii) Focus on preventing anymore destruction in Ukraine, iii) Focus on how to halt Russia’s massive offensive into Ukrainian territory, iv) Rebuild Ukraine after the war.

However, the above mentioned choices seem far from getting picked currently, which could result in a more deteriorating aftermath and might leave Russia’s next targets, the Stans, vulnerable. Peace should try to be restored by India and others, or else the world might end up giving birth to another humanitarian crisis. India has prioritized citizens first, of the world and of its own. Ensuring this is also in tandem with action points identified by NATO leaders, as they called on Russia to stop the “senseless war” & immediately cease its assault by withdrawing all its forces from Ukraine, and turn back to the path of dialogue.

S.M.A.R.T. Agriculture in India

As the government welcomes modern tech-based agricultural solutions, including use of Kisan drones, Nano-technology based fertilizers, digitization of land records, and more to keep India’s agricultural growth trajectory robust, India has shifted to practices of what can be called ‘Smart Agriculture’ which has begun to transform the lives of Indian farmers.

The word SMART, when combined with ‘Agriculture’, deciphers a plethora of actions and practices that must be well adapted to by all the stakeholders of the agricultural sector, be it government, institutions, producers, sellers and every individual linked to the Agro-chain. One could smartly break the acronym (SMART) into Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-based, which are key factors in deciding the fate of Agriculture and allied sectors.

By identifying the precise new technologies and working to acquire them for its agricultural requirements, India is being ‘Specific’. By building capacity and infrastructure to come up the farm, production and land records and create tools and schemes to make new ones, it is being ‘Measurable’. It has been ‘Attainable’ by ensuring and celebrating exports growth, record production, record organic exports growth, maintaining satisfying MSPs, timely and easy release of funds under various schemes like Kisan Samman Nidhi & others through DBT, opening up of 44.23 cr Jan Dhan Accounts, etc. India is also being ‘Relevant’ as it looks forward to solutions facilitating use of Kisan drones and convergence of AI & machine learning, blockchain technology, remote sensing-based tools and technologies with Agriculture. And all this is being done with a ‘Time-based’ approach, meeting deadlines.

Terming it as the future, PM Narendra Modi addressed a webinar on ‘Smart Agriculture’ calling on policymakers and stakeholders to begin the execution of the provisions discussed in the budget 2022-23 for the agriculture sector. PM Modi laid out seven ways which hold the potential to turn Indian agriculture smart enough. These include natural farming, use of modern technologies, Mission Oil Palm to reduce our dependence on import of edible oils, new logistical facilities for transportation of food-grains and other farm products, agriculture waste management, agriculture research and use of post offices in providing banking services to the farmers.

Over the past six years, farm outputs have seen an unprecedented growth registering new records, following the continuous impetus from the government through different plans. This oscillates in tandem with the goals that have been defined by it to double farmers’ income by 2022-23, promote farmers welfare and bring parity between earnings of farmers and those working in non-agricultural professions. The food grain production rose to 298 million tonnes in 2019-20, 311 million tonnes in 2020-21 and estimated 316 million tonnes in 2021-22. However, it vacillated before 2016-17, hovering between 245 million tonnes and 265 million tonnes.

Rescuing amidst Crisis

Time and again, India has shown the world how swiftly it could react on matters pertaining to the security and safety of Indians across the globe. From Operation Sankat Mochan (evacuation of 46 Indian nurses from ISIS) to recently concluded Operation Devi Shakti (evacuation of Indians and Afghans from Afghanistan) the world has witnessed India’s unrelenting grit in face of crises. Amidst the spiraling tensions between Russia and Ukraine, India is once again up to pick the challenge of bringing back thousands of their nationals stuck in the foreign land to their home country.

“I underline once again that more than 20,000 Indian nationals including students are located in different parts of Ukraine including in its border area. We are facilitating the return of all Indian nationals including students as may be required,” India’s Permanent Representative to UN, Ambassador T S Tirumurti said today. India is ready to reach out and take care of every citizen, no matter what the crisis is. The present Russia-Ukraine crisis has spiralled into dangerous territory however.

He further said that, “The Security Council has met two days ago and discussed the situation. We had called for urgent de-escalation of tensions and emphasised on sustained and focus diplomacy to address all issues concerning the situation. However, we note with a regret that the calls of the international community that give time to the recent initiative undertaken by parties to defuse tensions were not heeded to. The situation is dangerous spiralling into a major crisis. We express our deep concern over the developments which if not handled carefully may will undermine the peace and security of region. We call for immediate de-escalation and for refraining from any further action that could contribute to worsening of situation. We call on all party to exert greater effort to bridge divergent interest. I would like to underline that the legitimate security interest of all the parties should be fully taken into account. India has consistently advocated at the United Nations the need for peaceful settlement of disputes in accordance with International law and with agreements entered into by parties concerned.”

Amidst weeks of diplomatic efforts to broker a peace settlement between Russia and Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced ‘a special military operations’ in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. Following Moscow’s act, the West has rallied in their support for Ukraine. Condemning Russia’s attack as ‘unprovoked and unjustified’, US President Joe Biden said, “Russia alone is responsible for the death and destruction this attack will bring, and the United States and its Allies and partners will respond in a united and decisive way. The world will hold Russia accountable.”

India has put its stand in very clear words that, “We believe that the solution lies in the sustained diplomatic dialogue between the concerned parties. In the mean time we strongly emphasize the vital need for all sides to maintain international peace and security by exercising the utmost restrain.”

Breaking Free of the SILOcked Bureaucracy

“More than availability of money, it is the presence of siloes and lack of convergence that is the problem”, Said PM Modi while addressing the webinar on positive impact of Union Budget on rural development.

The term silo is derived from the Greek σιρός (siros), “pit for holding grain. Silos are tall vertical storage towers/containers which are used for bulk storage of grain, coal, carbon black, sawdust, wood chips etc. When the world is now shifting to new technologies and products, being specially designed to unite employees and merge workplaces in more ways than ever before, the Indian bureaucracy is still struggling with the threat of organizational/departmental silos. The reason behind the administrative and work inadequacy of government departments is ‘governance among departments’.

Traditionally the kind of policies and working framework most of the Indian bureaucratic setups generally have are so complex and full of layers that it becomes a cumbersome task to work a way out. Those working in such a setup, have always had their hands full with files (digital and otherwise) to move, reports to send and repetitive bulky processes to follow. Such a routine, when followed for a long time, starts to shatter creativity and block ideas, reducing productive participation. Over time, such an atmosphere turns into an abstract behavioral environment, wherein people begin to show a reluctance towards any kind of ‘Change’, towards ‘New opportunities’, and towards working with a different team, different media, different mindset. The Indian government setup has been experiencing this very syndrome ever since its democratic inception.

SILOcratic nature develops over time, but the fact that the current government has already recognised this as a ‘problem’ and is well-aware of it, brings both relief and ray of hope. The removal of unnecessary laws and regulations and efforts towards ease of doing business and ease of living are some of the much needed reforms which have taken center stage. PM Modi said, “The Budget has made essential allocations for every scheme like PM Awas Yojana, Gramin Sadak Yojana, Jal Jeevan Mission, connectivity of North-East, broadband in villages”.

Banking on the power of modern technology, many other efficacious initiatives are worth paying attention to, these include Broadband facilities in villages, ‘Vibrant Village programme, that was announced in the budget and is important for the border villages, ‘Financial inclusion’, that has ensured better participation of women in the financial decisions of the families, and the ‘Svamitva Scheme’, which is helping in properly demarcating residences and land in villages (with 40 lakh property cards already been issued). With measures like Unique land identification PIN, dependence of rural people on the revenue officials will decrease. A heartfelt dream of achieving the target of 4 crore water connections under the Jal Jeevan Mission with state governments to stay vigilant about the quality of the pipelines and water that is proposed to be provided under the mission.

With great awareness, comes great resolution, which then paves way for betterment and development. This is well reflected in the new measures and initiatives which are seeds of New India, where even rural areas stand strong and empowered.

Data-Driven Rural Development

“You see,” Gandhi began, “the centre of power now is in New Delhi, or in Calcutta and Bombay, in the big cities. I would have it distributed among the seven hundred thousand villages of India. That will mean that there is no power… nobody could deprive them of their assets. There will then be voluntary cooperation between these seven hundred thousand…,” These words of Mahatma Gandhi were noted by American journalist Louis Fischer in his book “A week with Gandhi” (4 to 10 June 1942).

We are told to be living in a global village and this terminology has come into existence because of the exponential rise in connectivity across the globe but how connected are villages of India? Not only this question is being answered but available modern technology is being utilized to connect and compound the growth of the Indian villages through a multi prong approach.

The Rural Connectivity GIS Data that has been made public by the Ministry for Rural Development today, is a classic example of this. Data for over 8 lakh rural facilities, 1 million+ habitations & 25 lakh kilometers of rural roads was collected & digitized using the GIS platform developed for the ambitious Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). This information will now act as building blocks to further the planning and implementation of developmental projects in India’s rural areas. The initiative is being governed by PMGSY’s nodal agency NRIDA, which, apart from signing MoUs with three GIS firms, has collaborated with Gati Shakti with an objective to exchange the data for the better planning and implementation of both the schemes.

As all this government exclusive data so far gets released in public domain, it not only sets a momentum to take connectivity to an all new high but also presents scores of drive thru opportunities for startups, academia, governments, and civil societies to have a share and build on the data access. The data as big and nuanced as this is bound to bring a multi-sectoral spin in India’s technological rise, by acting as a catalyst for facilitating quick convergence of rural and urban Indian systems in terms of opening markets, augmenting startup ecosystem, pave way for more infrastructural projects, digital buying and delivery, e-commerce, targeted pickups, transportation, strengthening supply chains etc. The Rural Connectivity GIS data access will widen the spectrum of growth and expansion for seekers, entrepreneurs, administrative and governing bodies, at the same time contributing to the Self-reliant India campaign. Access to correct and comprehensive DATA is going to play a pivotal role in building systems, of the people, for the people, by the people of India.

Vigyan Sarvatra Pujyate

For popular science in India, it has been a roller coaster ride from ‘Vigyan Mandir’ experiment of 1953 to upcoming ‘ Vigyan Sarvatra Pujyate’ week-long celebration being held from February 22 to 28 simultaneously in 75 locations across the country. India is perhaps the only country in the world to adopt ‘scientific temper’ in its constitution. Article 51A(h), under Fundamental Duties, states, “[It shall be the duty of every citizen of India] to develop scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform.” The Science, Technology and Innovation Policy of 2020 states that in order for India to “march ahead on a sustainable development pathway …towards achieving an ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, a greater emphasis may be needed on developing traditional knowledge systems, developing indigenous technologies and encouraging grassroots innovations”.

Perhaps the implementation methodology of ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Vigyan’ is by celebrating various achievements in the field of science and technology over the 75 years, as being done over next week. It is refreshing to see popular science discussions are going to be held in various Indian languages, including Kashmiri, Dogri, Punjabi, Gujarati, Marathi, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telegu, Odiya, Bengali, Assamese, Nepali, Maithili, and Manipur. The event would display the country’s scientific legacy and technology prowess that has helped find solutions to defence, space, health, agriculture, astronomy, and other sectors. The event is jointly being organized by the Department of Science and Technology, Department of Biotechnology, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Space, Indian Council of Medical Research, All India Council for Technical Education, and Defence Research Development Organisation.

Vigyan Sarvatra Pujyate also aims to inspire India’s youth and help them navigate into building a progressive nation; bring to the fore stories of people in science and their achievements; reinforce the commitment of the scientific community towards the economic and social development of the country. It also highlights the work being done by the R&D organizations from across the country. In this post-COVID-19 world, it is absolutely certain that popularity of science has to reach grassroots in regional languages for any society to thrive.

Soak, Scrub, Rinse – Fresh FTAs are Back!

Layering is a term used in Money Laundering to define the process of hiding the source of illegal money by progressively adding legitimacy to it. Trade is the modern method of war and peace, where it is very likely that a hostile country may use seemingly fair deals to route otherwise not-allowed business and pursue hidden agenda.

In 2016, India served notices to 57 countries seeking termination of bilateral investment treaties (BITs). Further, in 2019, India pulled out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). The bold move was essential given China’s obvious dominance in the trade agreement and India’s unwillingness to open the gates of its market to Chinese producers who are known for subsidisation issues and dumping practices. Such advances become even more relevant today, as many states across the globe after having hit by the COVID pandemic and having experienced the US-China trade war ripples, are looking for alternatives and new deals and destinations.

Right after Prime Minister Narendra assumed the office in 2014, India began putting efforts to streamline trade relations with the rest of the world by overhauling its FTA strategy. It began with reviewing the existing FTAs with ASEAN (FTA for goods, 2010), Japan (2011), South Korea (2010), Malaysia (2011), Singapore (signed in 2005), Sri Lanka, and others. In 2015, as GoI signed pending agreements with ASEAN, it parallelly set up another committee, headed by the then-chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian, to review the other existing FTAs, amid fears that unchecked pacts may be resulting in widening trade imbalances.

Reversing a seven-year freeze, Government of India spent the year 2021 in studying & fixing the flaws and flows in its international trade strategies and was able to align India’s trade trajectory by decluttering the issue of free trade agreements (FTAs). Though India had signed an FTA (CECPA) with Mauritius last year but the major move has just begun.

Building on the three pillars of trust, transparency and talent, India has signed ‘India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement’- the first-ever trade pact with the Gulf Nation, which promises accelerated growth in both nations with goods trade projected to reach $100 billion in 5 years. The comprehensive trade agreement was signed during India-UAE virtual summit on Friday, February 18, 2022, in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan along with Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. The Indian side led by Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal signed the path-breaking agreement with the UAE side led by Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, UAE Minister of Economy. The agreement is being hailed for possibilities towards large scale employment generation in both countries.

Signing trade pacts alone cannot augment economic exchanges. Harnessing of true trade benefits has been backed with a chain of measures taken over the last couple of years such as introducing various ease of doing business reforms, incentivisation schemes like PLIs, rationalisation of duties, tightening the Rules of Origin (RoO) norms under FTAs (to keep in check the dumping of imports and re-routing of goods), promoting GI tagged products etc. Enormous efforts have also gone into promoting districts as export hubs by identifying products with export potential in each district. Major steps taken by the government to further boost imports include releasing of more than Rs. 56 crores against pending tax refunds of exporters, notifying Remissions of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) rates, Rebate of State and Central Levies and Taxes (RoSCTL) Schemes, and launch of Common Platform for Issuance of Certificates of Origin to facilitate trade and to increase FTA utilization by exporters.

Indeed, India seems to be ready now and is looking at FTAs with nations that have values of democracy, transparency and mutual growth. FTAs that are currently under negotiations are – with UK, Australia, EU, other Gulf Countries, Canada and Israel.