UPSC Daily Current Affairs- 17th October 2022 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly PDF Download

GS-I

Context

Hampi, Khajuraho on list for G20 culture track.

• As part of India’s G20 Presidency between December 2022 and November 2023, the Government is planning to host five key meetings focusing on the “culture track” at Khajuraho, Bhubaneswar, Hampi and Agra.
• These cities have been chosen mainly for well-known monuments and UNESCO World Heritage Sites such as Taj Mahal and Agra Fort (UP), the Hindu and Jain temples of Khajuraho (Madhya Pradesh), the Konark Sun Temple around 65 km from Bhubaneswar (Odisha), and the sites at Hampi (Karnataka).
• For the culture track, a G20 Secretariat has been set up in the Ministry of Culture, which will hire a professional agency “for research, documentation and coordination work for the G20 work-stream of culture”.
• This presidency also provides a fantastic opportunity for India to shape the global agenda on culture across multiple work streams and engagement areas. These include:
  • protection and restitution of cultural property;
  • advancement of traditional cultural practices for sustainable living;
  • promotion of cultural and creative industries for livelihood generation; and
  • preservation and dissemination of culture by leveraging technology.

UNESCO World Heritage Site

• A World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by UNESCO for its special cultural or physical significance.
• The list of World Heritage Sites is maintained by the international ‘World Heritage Programme’, administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.
• There are 40 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India.
• Dholavira and Ramappa Temple are the latest addition to the list under the ‘Cultural’ category. There are two more categories — Natural and Mixed.

Agra Fort (declared in 1983)

• 16th-century Mughal monument
• Fortress of red sandstone
• It comprises the Jahangir Palace and the Khas Mahal, built by Shah Jahan; audience halls, such as the Diwan-i-Khas

Taj Mahal

• The Taj Mahal (Agra) is a mausoleum of white marble built by the Mughal emperor, Shahjahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal. It stands on the banks of the river Yamuna.
• The Taj Mahal was declared a centrally protected monument of national importance in December 1920.
• Considered as one of the Seven Wonders of the World, it was inscribed on the list of World Heritage Sites in 1983.
• It is famous for its unique layout, perfection in symmetry and inlay work.

Group of Monuments at Hampi (1986)

• This site was the last capital of the kingdom of Vijaynagara Kingdom.
• These Dravidian temples and palaces were built by rulers of Vijaynagara between the 14th and 16th centuries.
• In 1565, the city was captured by Deccan Muslim Confederacy and pillaged for a period of 6 months, before being abandoned.

Khajuraho Group of Monuments (1986)

• These temples were built during the Chandella dynasty, which reached at its pinnacle between 950 and 1050.
• Only 20 temples remain, belonging to two different religions namely-Hinduism and Jainism, including the famous Temple of Kandariya decorated with intricately and beautifully carved sculptures.
  

Konark Sun Temple in Odisha (1984)

• Built in the 13th century, the Konark temple was conceived as a gigantic chariot of the Sun God, with 12 pairs of exquisitely ornamented wheels pulled by seven horses.
• It was built by King Narasimhadeva I, the great ruler of Ganga dynasty.
• The temple is perfect blend of Kalinga architecture, heritage, exotic beach and salient natural beauty.

GS-II

Context

Recently, India participated in the 6th East Asia Summit Education Minister’s Meeting held in Hanoi, Vietnam.

What is the East Asia Summit?

• About:
  • Established in 2005, it is a forum of 18 regional leaders for strategic dialogue and cooperation on the key political, security, and economic challenges facing the Indo-Pacific region.
  • The concept of an East Asia Grouping was first promoted in 1991 by the then Malaysian Prime Minister, Mahathir bin Mohamad.
  • There are six priority areas of regional cooperation within the framework of the EAS.
  • These are – Environment and Energy, Education, Finance, Global Health Issues and Pandemic Diseases, Natural Disaster Management, and ASEAN Connectivity.
• Membership:
  • It comprises the ten member states of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) which are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, along with 8 other countries namely Australia, China, Japan, India, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Russia and the USA.
  • It is an ASEAN-centred forum so it can only be chaired by an ASEAN member.
  • Brunei Darussalam is the chair for 2021.
• EAS Meetings and Processes:
  • The EAS calendar culminates in the annual Leaders' Summit, which is usually held alongside ASEAN Leaders' meetings in the fourth quarter of every year.
  • Meetings of EAS Foreign Ministers and Economic Ministers are also held annually.
• India and EAS:
  • India is one of the founding members of the East Asia Summit.
  • At the East Asia Summit in Bangkok in November 2019, India had unveiled India’s Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI), which is aimed at forging partnerships to create a secure and stable maritime domain.

What are the Issues Related to the Education Sector in India?

• Inadequate Infrastructure in Schools: According to the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) for 2019-20, only 12% of schools have internet facilities and 30% have computers.
• High Dropout Rate: The dropout rate is very high in primary and secondary levels. Most of the students in 6-14 age groups leave the school before completing their education. It leads to wastage of financial and human resources.
• Problem of Brain Drain: Due to cutthroat competition for getting admission in top institutes like IITs and IIMs, a challenging academic environment is created for a large number of students in India, so they prefer going abroad, that makes our country deprived of good talent.
• Mass Illiteracy: In spite of constitutional directives and efforts aimed at enhancing education, around 25% of Indians still remain illiterate, which also leaves them socially and digitally excluded.
• Lack of Technical and Vocational Education: Development of technical and vocational education is quite unsatisfactory, due to which the number of educated unemployed persons is increasing day by day.
• Gender-Inequality: Despite the government's effort to ensure equality of opportunity for education for both men and women in our society, the literacy rate of women in India, especially in rural areas, still remains very poor.

What are the Education Initiatives taken by India?

• National Education Policy 2020:
  • NEP 2020 encourages a holistic, flexible & multidisciplinary approach to education and it is based on foundational pillars of access, equality, quality, affordability & accountability & is aligned with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030.
• PM SHRI scheme:
  • Under the scheme, more than 14,500 schools will be developed across India with all components of NEP 2020 as exemplar schools.
  • These schools will offer mentorship to other schools in their vicinity.
• PM- eVidya:
  • The Central government had launched the PM e-Vidya programme in 2020 to boost online learning.
  • It unifies all efforts related to digital/online/on-air education to enable multi-mode access for imparting education by using technology to minimise learning losses.
• e-Learning Platforms 
  • Government had also launched various e-learning platforms like DIKSHA, SWAYAM MOOCS platform, Virtual Labs, e-PG Pathshala and National Digital Library.

Way Forward

• There is a need for inclusion of problem-solving and decision-making related subjects in the school curriculum to offer a hands-on learning experience to students and prepare them to face the outside world when they enter into the workforce.
• India's educational setup needs to be enhanced by integrating vocational learning with mainstream education and providing right mentorship at school (especially in government schools) to ensure that students are guided in the right direction from the start and are aware of career opportunities.

Context

The General Assembly of the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) is meeting in Delhi for four days from October 18, 2022.

• This is the second time since 1997 the 195 member-strong body is holding such a large conference in India.

What is the Interpol?

• It was set up in 1923, as a secure information-sharing platform that facilitates criminal investigation of police forces across the globe through collection and dissemination of information received from various police forces.
• It is headquartered in Lyon, France.
• It keeps track of the movements of criminals and those under the police radar in various regions and tips off police forces which had either sought the Interpol’s assistance or which in its opinion will benefit from the particulars available with it.
• It aims to promote the widest-possible mutual assistance between criminal police forces.

How is the Interpol Organised?

• The head of Interpol is the President who is elected by the General Assembly. He comes from one of the member-nations and holds office for four years.
• The day-to-day activities are overseen by a full-time Secretary General elected by the General Assembly, who holds office for five years.
• The General Assembly lays down the policy for execution by its Secretariat which has several specialised directorates for cybercrime, terrorism, drug trafficking, financial crime, environmental crime, human trafficking, etc. Every member-country is the Interpol’s face in that country.
• All contact of a country’s law enforcement agency with Interpol is through the highest investigating body of the land.
• The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) assumes this role in India with one of its senior officers heading its exclusive Interwing (the National Central Bureaus) for collation of information and liaison with the world body.

What are Interpol Notices?

• About:
  • Its notices are international requests for cooperation or alerts allowing police in member countries to share critical crime-related information.
  • Notices are issued by the General Secretariat at the request of a member country’s INTERPOL National Central Bureau and are made available for all our member countries to consult in our Notices database.
• Different Notices:
  • Notices can also be used by the United Nations, International Criminal Tribunals and the International Criminal Court to seek persons wanted for committing crimes within their jurisdiction, notably genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

What are Interpol’s Future Challenges?

• The rising spectre of transnational, cyber and organised crime requires a globally coordinated law enforcement response.
• Interpol has a legacy of trust and reliability. It needs to acquire powers of sanction against a country which refuses to cooperate in implementing a red notice.
• It is however highly unlikely that member-nations will ever agree to dilute their sovereignty and invest the Interpol with such authority.

Context

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) helped compensating 20-80% of the income loss incurred because of the Covid-19 induced lockdown, as per a study conducted by Azim Premji University across four states (Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh).

• However, 39% of the surveyed households didn’t get a single day of work in the Covid-19 year due to lack of adequate works being sanctioned/opened.

What is MGNREGA?

• About: 
  • MGNREGA is one of the largest work guarantee programmes in the world launched in 2005 by the Ministry of Rural development.
  • The primary objective of the scheme is to guarantee 100 days of employment in every financial year to adult members of any rural household willing to do public work-related unskilled manual work.
  • As of 2022-23, there are 15.4 crore active workers under the MGNREGA.
• Legal Right to Work
  • Unlike earlier employment guarantee schemes, the act aims at addressing the causes of chronic poverty through a rights-based framework.
  • At least one-third of beneficiaries have to be women.
  • Wages must be paid according to the statutory minimum wages specified for agricultural labourers in the state under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948.
• Demand-Driven Scheme
  • The most important part of MGNREGA’s design is its legally-backed guarantee for any rural adult to get work within 15 days of demanding it, failing which an ‘unemployment allowance’ must be given.
  • This demand-driven scheme enables the self-selection of workers.
• Decentralised planning
  • There is an emphasis on strengthening the process of decentralisation by giving a significant role in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) in planning and implementing these works.
  • The act mandates Gram sabhas to recommend the works that are to be undertaken and at least 50% of the works must be executed by them.

What are the Issues Associated with Implementation of Scheme?

• Delay and Insufficiency in Funds Dispersal
  • Most states have failed to disburse wages within 15 days as mandated by MGNREGA. In addition, workers are not compensated for a delay in payment of wages.
  • This has turned the scheme into a supply-based programme and subsequently, workers had begun to lose interest in working under it.
  • There is ample evidence by now, including an admission by the Ministry of Finance, that delays in wage payments are a consequence of insufficient funds.
• Caste Based Segregation
  • There were significant variations in delays by caste. While 46% of payments to SC (Scheduled Caste) workers and 37% for ST (Scheduled Tribes) workers were completed in the mandated seven-day period, it was a dismal 26% for non-SC/ST workers.
  • The negative impact of caste-based segregation was felt acutely in poorer States such as Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal.
• Ineffective Role of PRI
  • With very little autonomy, gram panchayats are not able to implement this act in an effective and efficient manner.
• Large Number of Incomplete works
  • There has been a delay in the completion of works under MGNREGA and inspection of projects has been irregular. Also, there is an issue of quality of work and asset creation under MGNREGA.
• Fabrication of Job cards
  • There are several issues related to the existence of fake job cards, the inclusion of fictitious names, missing entries and delays in making entries in job cards.

Way Forward

• There is a need for better coordination between various government departments and the mechanism to allot and measure the work.
• Some discrepancies in the payouts need to be addressed, too. Women in the sector, on an average, earn 22.24% less than their male counterparts.
• State governments must ensure that public work gets started in every village. Workers turning up at the worksite should be provided work immediately, without much delay.
• Local bodies must proactively reach out to returned and quarantined migrant workers and help those in need to get job cards.
• Gram panchayats need to be provided with adequate resources, powers, and responsibilities to sanction works, provide work on demand, and authorise wage payments to ensure there are no delays in payments.
• MGNREGA should be converged with other schemes of the government. For example, Green India initiative, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan etc.

GS-III

Context

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced that the indigenous Strategic Strike Nuclear Submarine INS Arihant had successfully launched a nuclear capable Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) in the Bay of Bengal with “very high accuracy”.

About INS Arihant:

• It is India’s first indigenous nuclear powered ballistic missile capable submarine.
• Launched in 2009 and Commissioned in 2016, it is built under the secretive Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) project.
• INS Arihant and its class of submarines are classified as ‘SSBN’, which is the hull classification symbol for nuclear powered ballistic missile carrying submarines.
• INS Arihant can carry a dozen K-15 missiles on board.
• While the Navy operates the vessel, the operations of the SLBMs from the SSBN are under the purview of India’s Strategic Forces Command, which is part of India’s Nuclear Command Authority.
• In November 2019, after INS Arihant completed its first deterrence patrol, the government announced the establishment of India’s “survivable nuclear triad” — the capability of launching nuclear strikes from land, air and sea platforms.
• The second submarine in the Arihant class is SSBN Arighat which was launched in 2017.
• In addition, India operates 15 conventional diesel electric submarines (classified as SSK), and some more are on the way.

About SLBM:

• The Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles (SLBMs), sometimes called the ‘K’ family of missiles, have been indigenously developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
• The family is codenamed after Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, the centre figure in India’s missile and space programmes who also served as the 11th President of India.
• Because these missiles are to be launched from submarines, they are lighter, more compact and stealthier than their land-based counterparts, the Agni series of missiles which are medium and intercontinental range nuclear capable ballistic assets.
• Part of the K family is the SLBM K-15, which is also called B-05 or Sagarika. It has a range of 750 km.
• India has also developed and successfully tested K-4 missiles from the family, which have a range of 3,500 km.
• The tests conducted were a key step towards ultimately deploying K-4s on the INS Arihant.
• It is also reported that more members of K-family — reportedly carrying the code names K-5 and K-6, with a range of 5,000 km and 6,000 km respectively — are under development.

The Strategic Significance:

• The successful user training launch of the SLBM by INS Arihant is significant to prove crew competency and validate the SSBN programme.
• A robust, survivable and assured retaliatory capability is in keeping with India’s ‘no first use’ commitment.
• These submarines can not only survive a first strike by the adversary, but can also launch a strike in retaliation, thus achieving ‘Credible Nuclear Deterrence’.
• The development of these capabilities is important in the light of India’s relations with China and Pakistan.
• China: The PLA Navy currently operates 6 nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) and 46 diesel-powered attack submarines (SSs).
• Pakistan: It Navy operates 5 diesel-electric submarines and 3 mini submarines of under 150 tonne displacement.

Context:

Quantum computers have the potential to wreak havoc on the data, systems, devices, and networks we rely on daily.

• With traditional encryption models at risk and increasing military applications of quantum technology, the deployment of “quantum-resistant” systems has become the need of the hour.

Quantum Computing:

• Quantum computing aims to apply the principles of quantum physics — a body of science that seeks to describe the world at the level of atoms and subatomic particles — to computers.
• Whereas today’s computers use ones and zeroes to store information, a quantum computer relies on quantum bits, or qubits, which can consist of a combination of ones and zeroes simultaneously, something that’s known in the field as superposition.
• These qubits can also be linked together through a phenomenon called entanglement.
• Quantum computers are far more powerful than today’s machines and are able to solve complex calculations much faster.
• This could pose a problem for modern encryption standards.

What is Encryption:

• Encryption is the process of sending a scrambled message that only the intended recipient’s device can decode—allows private and public sectors alike to safeguard information.
• Quantum computers’ exponential leaps in processing power will render classical cyphers obsolete, potentially exposing troves of sensitive data across commercial entities, healthcare providers, government institutions, and billions of individual users.
• Experts are working to devise cryptographic schemes that can run on today’s computers, but that can also be used in ciphers to protect data against quantum attackers.
• RSA (Rivest–Shamir–Adleman) is a public-key cryptosystem that is widely used for secure data transmission.
• The day a quantum computer breaks an encryption for an attack is known as harvesting.

Concerns:

• Current protocols like the RSA will quickly become outdated. A quantum computer will be able to do break an RSA encryption – considered the gold standard for Public Key Encryption (PKE) in 10 seconds!
• This means that quantum cyberattacks can potentially breach any hardened target, opening a significant vulnerability for existing digital infrastructure. Hack proofing these systems will require considerable investments.
• Quantum computing can be exploited by military groups or criminal gangs, attacks on satellites, their systems, and base stations on Earth are seeing a steady uptick. Recent signal jamming of SpaceX Starlink satellites above conflict areas in the Ukraine forced him to announce a reallocation of resources toward cyber defense.
• In the hands of the enemy, a quantum computer capable of destroying RSA- encrypted data would have devastating effects on critical infrastructure and economy.

China specific concerns:

• China’s quantum advances expand the spectre of quantum cyberattacks against India’s digital infrastructure, which already faces a barrage of attacks from Chinese state-sponsored hackers.
• Cyber risks arising from quantum computing are accentuated by the lead taken by some nations in this sector. For example, the US National Quantum Initiative Act has already allocated $1.2 billion for research in defence-related quantum technology.
• Particularly worrying for India is the fact that China now hosts two of the world’s fastest quantum computers.
• India’s dependence on foreign, particularly Chinese hardware, is an additional vulnerability.

Indian Initiatives:

• Indian Army is developing cryptographic techniques to make its networks resistant to attacks by systems with quantum capabilities. The Army has collaborated with industry and academia to build secure communications and cryptography applications.
• This step builds on last year’s initiative to establish a quantum computing laboratory at the military engineering institute in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh.
• A joint team of the DRDO and IIT-Delhi successfully demonstrated a QKD link between two cities in UP — Prayagraj and Vindhyachal — located 100 kilometres apart.
• In 2019, the Centre declared quantum technology a “mission of national importance”. The Union Budget 2020-21 had proposed to spend Rs 8,000 crore on the newly launched National Mission on Quantum Technologies and Applications.

Suggestions:

• India must consider procuring the United States National Security Agency’s (NSA) Suite B Cryptography Quantum-Resistant Suite as its official encryption mechanism.
• The NSA is developing new algorithms for their cypher suite that are resistant to quantum cyberattacks. This can then facilitate India’s official transition to quantum-resistant algorithms.
• The Indian defence establishment can consider emulating the cryptographic standards set by the US’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) which has developed a series of encryption tools to handle quantum computer attacks. It has developed a series of four algorithms to frame a post-quantum cryptographic standard.
• After adopting these technical steps, India must start its national initiatives to develop quantum-resistant systems. For this, the government can fund and encourage existing open-source projects related to post-quantum cryptography along with active participation in the Open Quantum Safe project — a global initiative started in 2016 for prototyping and integrating quantum-resistant cryptographic algorithms.
• The country should start implementing and developing capabilities in quantum-resistant communications, specifically for critical strategic sectors.
• QKDs over long distances, especially connecting military outposts for sensitive communications, can be prioritised to ensure secure communications whilst protecting key intelligence from potential quantum cyberattacks.
• Eventually, this can help establish a nationwide communication network integrated with quantum cryptographic systems, thereby protecting cyberspace from any cross-border quantum cyber offensive.
• Finally, diplomatic partnerships with other “techno-democracies” — countries with top technology sectors, advanced economies, and a commitment to liberal democracy — can help India pool resources and mitigate emerging quantum cyber threats.

Way forward:

• As the Information Age gives way to the Quantum Age of computing it will require the largest global cryptographic transition in the history of computing. NATO, the U.S. government, the EU and other global institutions and governments around the world are preparing now for quantum attacks or Y2Q – the day a quantum computer breaks encryption.
• The world is moving towards an era in which the applications of quantum physics in strategic domains will soon become a reality, increasing cybersecurity risks. India needs a holistic approach to tackle these challenges. At the heart of this approach should be the focus on post-quantum cybersecurity.

Context:

Globally, food and nutrition security continue to be undermined by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, spiralling food inflation, conflict, and inequality.

• Today, around 828 million people worldwide do not have enough to eat and over 50 million people are facing severe hunger.
• The Hunger Hotspots Outlook (2022-23) — a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP) — forebodes escalating hunger, as over 205 million people across 45 countries will need emergency food assistance to survive.
• This year’s World Food Day is a reminder to ‘Leave No One Behind’ — and is an opportunity, perhaps the most urgent one in recent history, for nations to strengthen food security nets, provide access to essential nutrition for millions and promote livelihood for vulnerable communities.

Challenges to Food Security:

• Global warming: More than 1,000 global and regional studies predict that a temperature rise of 1 to 2 degrees Celsius will translate into loss in yield of several crop varieties in tropical and temperate regions. An increase of 3 to 4 degrees will have very severe consequences for global food security and supply
• Higher temperatures, water scarcity, droughts, floods, extreme weather events and greater CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere will drastically affect staple crops around the world. It will also impact fishing and livestock farming.
• Indian agriculture is vulnerable to climate change because 65% of India’s cropped area is dependent on the monsoons.
• The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that a 0.5°C rise in winter temperature is likely to reduce wheat yield by 0.45 tonnes per hectare in India.
• The impact of climate change on water availability – 54 per cent of India faces high to extremely high, water stress.
• Groundwater levels are going down alarmingly in over 50 per cent groundwater wells in the country. This this will directly impact food production. While upping wheat production by 25 per cent and rice by 65 per cent to meet the demand in 2050 may not seem difficult it could prove to be a herculean task unless global warming is contained.

Better production:

• During 2021-22, the country recorded $49.6 billion in total agriculture exports — a 20% increase from 2020-21.
• India’s agriculture sector primarily exports agriculture and allied products, marine products, plantations, and textile and allied products. Rice, sugar, and spices were some of the main exports.
• India is also a provider of humanitarian food aid, notably to Afghanistan, and to many other countries when the world faces food supply shortages and disruptions, such as during the current crisis in Ukraine.
• By 2030, India’s population is expected to rise to 1.5 billion. Agri-food systems will need to provide for and sustainably support an increasing population. In the current times, there is an increased recognition to move away from conventional input-intensive agriculture towards more inclusive, effective, and sustainable agri-food systems that would facilitate better production.
• Given climate shocks and extreme weather phenomena, it is important to place a greater focus on climate adaptation and resilience building.

Better nutrition:

• Food safety nets and inclusion are linked with public procurement and buffer stock policy.
• This was visible during the global food crisis of 2008-12 and more recently during the COVID-19 pandemic fallout, whereby vulnerable and marginalised families in India continued to be buffered by the TPDS which became a lifeline with a robust stock of food grains.
• For instance, the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) scheme introduced in 2020 provided relief to 800 million beneficiaries covered under the NFSA from COVID-19-induced economic hardships.
• An International Monetary Fund paper titled ‘Pandemic, Poverty, and Inequality: Evidence from India’ asserted that ‘extreme poverty was maintained below 1% in 2020 due to PMGKAY.

Better environment through Millets:

• Nutrition and agricultural production are not only impacted by climate change but also linked to environmental sustainability.
• The degradation of soil by the excessive use of chemicals, non-judicious water use, and declining nutritional value of food products needs urgent attention.
• Millets — which fell out of fashion a few decades ago — have received renewed attention as crops that are good for nutrition, health, and the planet.
• Millets are climate-smart crops that are drought-resistant, growing in areas with low rain and infertile soil. They are hardier than other cereals, more resilient to changes in climate, and require less water to cultivate (as much as 70% less than rice), and less energy to process (around 40% less than wheat).
• Since they need fewer inputs, they are less extractive for the soil and can revive soil health. Additionally, their genetic diversity ensures that agrobiodiversity is preserved.
• India has led the global conversation on reviving millet production for better lives, nutrition, and the environment, including at the United Nations General Assembly, where it appealed to declare 2023 as the International Year of Millets.
• It is the world’s leading producer of millets, producing around 41% of total production in 2020.
• To enhance the area, production, and productivity of millets the national government is implementing a Sub-Mission on Nutri-Cereals (Millets) as part of the National Food Security Mission.
• State-level missions in Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh are an opportunity to guarantee food and nutrition security to millions while protecting the earth.
• Millet conservation and promotion contribute to addressing food security, improved nutrition, and sustainable agriculture, which aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals agenda.
• Millet production has been proven to enhance biodiversity and increase yields for smallholder farmers, including rural women.
• For example, the International Fund for Agricultural Development’s (IFAD’s) Tejaswini programme with the Government of Madhya Pradesh showed that growing millets meant a nearly 10 times increase in income from ₹1,800 per month in 2013-14 to ₹16,277 in 2020-21, with better food security because millet crops were not impacted by excessive rainfall.
• Women were key to villages adopting millets, as they were able to demonstrate that millets were easier to grow and led to better outcomes.

Better life:

• It is clear that the path to a better life resides in transforming food systems.
• This can be achieved by making them more resilient and sustainable with a focus on equity, including by incentivising the protection of the commons.
• Enhancing food and nutrition security and social protection networks, including by providing non-distortionary income support; promoting production and consumption of nutritious native foods such as millets.
• Investing in consumer sensitisation and in making the global and regional supply chain robust and responsive by strengthening transparency in the agricultural system through systems that promote labelling, traceability, etc.
• Increasing cooperation for leveraging solutions and innovations.

Government initiatives:

• Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana, which promotes organic farming;
• Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana, which focuses on more crops per drop for improved water use
• Soil Health Management which fosters Integrated Nutrient Management under the National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture.
• Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), the Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman Yojana (PM POSHAN Scheme), and take-home rations – for improving food access, especially for vulnerable populations
• National Food Security Act (NFSA) 2013 anchors the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), the PM POSHAN scheme (earlier known as the Mid-Day Meals scheme), and the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS).

Way forward

• Without food and nutrition security for all, there can be no peace and no prosperity. Only through collective and transformational action to strengthen agri-food systems, through better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, can we meet our promise to end hunger by 2030.
• India can lead the global discourse on food and nutrition security by showcasing home-grown solutions and best practices, and championing the principle of leaving no one behind — working continuously to make its food system more equitable, empowering, and inclusive.
• The upcoming G20 presidency for India provides an opportunity to bring food and nutrition security to the very centre of a resilient and equitable future and sharing its journey with the rest of the world.