Finally, India’s Moon Moment?
Dear Reader,
Welcome to Takshashila Dispatch. Given the recent developments, we continue our focus on the India-US relationship, with articles on the Artemis Accords and India’s lunar ambitions and the significance of defence deals to India’s domestic manufacturing, followed by podcasts on high-tech developments and strategic import of the relationship between the two countries.
We also cover our analysis of the new guidelines on insect gene editing, the effectiveness of PLI schemes, improving driving behaviour on Indian roads, and India’s central armed police forces.
Finally, India’s Moon Moment?
During PM Narendra Modi’s state visit to the United States last week, India signed the Artemis Accords which paves the way for India’s participation in the Artemis programme for lunar exploration and space cooperation with the US and other signatories. In addition, ISRO is set to launch the Chandrayaan-3 mission to Moon later this month.
Is India closer than ever before to the Moon? Aditya Ramanathan explains why India is sitting on the precipice of lunar achievements:
An Opportunity for India’s Defence Manufacturing Sector
During PM Modi’s visit to the US last week, two major defence deals - co-production of the General Electric F414 fighter jet engine and the acquisition of MQ-9B drones - were announced. In his column for ThePrint, Lt. Gen. Prakash Menon argues that the onus is now on India’s defence industrial base ecosystem led by DRDO to transform itself to deliver for India:
There is a compelling case for the DRDO to concentrate its efforts on technologies that will not be readily transferred from foreign sources. This shift requires a major reorientation and restructuring of the DRDO.
As part of the reorientation, the DRDO should shed technologies that can be developed by India’s civil and private sectors, such as special rations and clothing. Once specific technologies are identified, the DRDO must be restructured by creating competing verticals within the organisation, which will obviate the monopoly that verticals enjoy currently because it faces no competition.
Therefore, if there are two verticals for aero-engines instead of one as at present, each of them can team up with different corporate entities to produce the prototype. This will foster a broader research and development base, and stimulate competitive progress in development of key technologies.
All Things Policy: Focus on India-US Ties
Last week, two episodes of All Things Policy focused on the outcomes of PM Modi’s US visit and the implications of the several announcements made by the countries.
High-Tech Developments between India and US
In this episode of All Things Policy, Saurabh Todi, Pranay Kotasthane, Bharat Reddy, and Aditya Ramanathan discuss the announcements in the India-US joint statement in the field of Semiconductors, Advanced Telecommunications, and Space.
What the Modi Visit to US Means
In this episode of All Things Policy, Takshashila's Sachin Kalbag and Yusuf Unjhawala break down the strategic and tactical import of one of the "most consequential friendships" of the 21st century.
Analysing India’s Guidelines for Genetically Engineered Insects
India expects its bio-economy to grow to 5% of its GDP from the current 2.6% by 2030. In this context, the government has released the Guidelines for Genetically Engineered (GE) insects which acts as a procedural roadmap for researchers.
In an Explained feature for The Hindu, Shambhavi Naik elaborates on the lacunae in the guidelines:
This brings us to another issue with governance of GE insects. The guidelines are applicable to only research and not confined trials or deployment. Thus, once the insects are made and tested in the laboratory their further trials and deployment are based on the approval of the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) functions in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).
Further, the deployment of these insects will have to be closely governed by the government authorities. Genetically engineered insects, once deployed, cannot be recalled and unlike genetically modified food are not amenable to individual consumer choice. For example, if as an consumer I do not want to eat a GMO, I can choose to buy organic food or food labelled as “contains no GMO”. However, if a company decides to release a GE insect in my locality, I have no choice in getting exposed to them. Thus, wider community engagement and monitoring of impact of GE will be required.
PLI Schemes in India: What’s the Verdict?
Following the Union Government’s decision to review the Production Linked Incentives (PLI) Schemes last month, Miheer Karnadikar and Revati Gandekar argue that the review must focus on the choice of sectors selected for the scheme.
Many sectors (Pharmaceuticals, Telecom, White Goods, Medical Devices) in which we are import dependent have been wrongly termed as strategic, probably because most of the imports are from China. White goods (household consumer goods), for example, aren’t strategic at all. This is married to the ‘Aatmanirbhar’ mission and promotes import substitution. Reducing dependence on China might be a worthy goal, but producing in India might be the wrong answer.
In the case of sectors like textiles and apparel, and metals and mining, none of the two reasons apply. But the ministry website says that these schemes aimed to generate employment and make Indian companies '‘global champions'’ because these sectors have a high demand domestically. In the case of food processing, some evidence states that it might be a sunrise industry, but that can be contested as India’s exports here are very high.
This inconsistency with real and displayed reasons is worrying and begs the question of what the government actually wants to achieve. If reducing import dependence is the goal, they should just mention that outright. If the objectives aren’t clear, we can’t judge whether the PLI schemes have been successful or not.
How to Teach Indians How to Drive?
Road accidents and fatalities statistics show that road safety in India is perilously low. In his column for the Mint, Nitin Pai argues that road behaviour can only be improved by fixing the broken system of driving licenses:
While the Union government is adopting a multi-pronged strategy of education, engineering, enforcement and emergency care, it has limited influence in fixing the weakest link: qualifying drivers. States issue driving licences and the cavalier manner in which they do so is an open secret. A friend’s daughter was appalled when she found that the driving school instructor not only took the computerized learner’s licence test on her behalf, but got 40% of the multiple choice questions wrong. The next two weeks saw her learning how to get the vehicle moving, followed by a driving test that tested just that. Neither the test nor the instructor had anything to say about driving safely and following traffic rules. How can we expect drivers to know about lane discipline, road signs, speed limits and suchlike? MORTH plans to set up model institutes of driving training, but the effort must expand massively, engage state governments in a genuine partnership and ensure that every new driver is really trained.
The Art of Praja Dharma
Nitin Pai, the author of Nitopadesha, was in conversation with accomplished author Roopa Pai on Friday, June 30th. Nitopadesha is a collection of ancient Indian fables retold for modern readers, with a focus on teaching people how to be good citizens.
They spoke about the rich Indian ancient literary traditions, the art of storytelling, and the modern relevance of the lessons contained in the works. Nitin spoke about the inspiration behind the book and the curious set of circumstances that led to him translating the work.
Police Chowki: India’s Central Armed Police Forces
The Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) of India provide internal security and guard our international borders with our neighbouring countries.
In this week’s episode of Police Chowki, Javeed Ahmad and Shrikrishna Upadhyaya discuss the origin of CAPFs as paramilitary forces, policy issues around over-reliance on CAPFs by state police, and attempts to rationalise the functions of these forces.
That’s all from this week. Take care!