Editorial 1 : A safer web
Introduction: At a time when technology is integrated into all aspects of life, there is always a concern regarding how can society's most vulnerable members be better protected from its harms.
The Delhi High Curts’s recent observation on ‘Virtual Touch’
- A question like this one lay behind the observations on May 6, by a single-judge bench of Delhi High Court, which said that efforts to protect minors should go beyond teaching them about "good touch" and "bad touch" in the physical world.
- Invoking the concept of "Virtual touch", Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma said, "Minors must be equipped with the knowledge and tools to navigate online interactions safely and recognise potential risks lurking in cyberspace."
The growth of Internet
- More than three decades since the Internet entered the public domain, the understanding of how the World Wide Web impacts society, especially children and young adults, struggles to keep pace with the evolution of technology itself.
- Complicating this is the fact that the generations of so-called "digital natives" that have emerged since the late 1990s, have limited or no experience of a world without the internet, even as those responsible for putting safeguards in place continue to frame the unique challenges of the digital world in analog terms.
Protecting children in the age of the world wide web
- There is little doubt that the pervasiveness of the internet has made it easier for children and young people to be exposed to dangers, including child sexual abuse, online harassment, cyberbullying and blackmail.
- Existing laws such the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, which mandates that parental consent be taken for processing of a child's data, go some way towards addressing these concerns.
- But legislation can only play a limited role, thanks to the dynamic nature of the internet and its threats.
- For any effort to protect children to be effective, it must begin from the home and classroom, with frank conversations between children and adults that also take into account the former's concerns and experiences.
- As Justice Sharma said, this would involve teaching children about "appropriate online behaviour, recognising warning signs of predatory behaviour, and understanding the importance of privacy settings and online boundaries."
How can children be protected from cyber threats?
Education:
- Teach online safety basics: Talk to your child about strong passwords, not sharing personal information online, and being cautious about clicking on links or downloading files from unknown sources.
- Critical thinking skills: Help them develop a healthy scepticism towards online information and encourage them to question things that seem too good to be true.
- Positive online behaviour: Discuss responsible online behaviour, including cyberbullying and online etiquette.
Tools:
- Parental controls: Utilize built-in parental controls on devices and platforms to restrict access to inappropriate content, manage screen time, and limit app downloads.
- Security software: Consider antivirus and anti-malware software to protect devices from malware and phishing attempts.
Open Communication:
- Create a safe space: Let your child know they can come to you with any concerns they have online, without fear of punishment.
- Regular conversations: Have regular conversations about their online activities. Show interest in the games and websites they use, but avoid being intrusive.
- Be a role model: Practice good online habits yourself, like strong passwords and being mindful of what you share publicly.
Conclusion: The Internet is a great resource for children. Considering that a majority of children in India still either have no or restricted access to the Internet, what is called for is a balanced approach that keeps the child safe online, while recognizing her right to access the Internet.
Editorial 2 : Make it farmer friendly
Introduction: Agricultural exports touched $48.9 billion in 2023-24, registering an 8 per cent decline from $53.2 billion in 2022-23. This is significantly short of the ambitious target of $60 billion set by the Narendra Modi government for 2022.
The performance of agri-export in UPA and NDA governments
- The growth momentum in agri-exports during the 10 years of the Modi government dropped from an annual average growth rate of 20 percent during the UPA government (2004-05 to 2013-14) to a meagre 1.9 percent during 2014-15 to 2023-24.
- In absolute terms, while India’s agri-exports surged from $8.7 billion in 2004-05 to a whopping $43.3 billion in 2013-14, a vault jump of almost 500 percent, they only lurched thereafter, reaching $48.9 billion by 2023-24.
- This indicates a decline in trade surplus, from a peak of $27.7 billion in 2013-14 to $16 billion in 2023-24.
- Had the growth momentum of the UPA period been sustained during the NDA period, agricultural exports could have reached the $200 billion mark today.
The major constituents of India’s agri-exports
- Rice holds the top position in India’s agri-exports basket, valued at $10.4 billion from 16.3 million tonnes (MT).
- This represents roughly 21 per cent of the total value of agri-exports in 2023-24.
- Following rice are marine products ($7.3 billion), constituting a 15 per cent share, spices ($4.25 billion) with a 9 per cent share, bovine meat ($3.7 billion) with an 8 per cent share, and sugar ($2.8 billion) accounting for 6 per cent of the total share.
Major factors influencing India’s agri-exports
- Indian agri-exports are influenced by two main factors:
- how global prices of agri-produce are behaving;
- how liberal is our agri-export policy.
1. Global prices of agri-produce
- When global prices are on the upswing, India’s agri-exports also surge, as was the case in the UPA period.
- But when global prices fall, our price-competitiveness also gets blunted, and agri-exports suffer, as was the case in the first five years of the Modi government.
2. India’s agri-export policies
- Besides global price dynamics, export restrictions and outright bans on sensitive agricultural commodities like wheat, rice, sugar, and onions lately have significantly impacted agri-exports, driven primarily by the concerns of domestic food inflation.
- This began with the ban on wheat exports on May 13, 2022, followed by restrictions on sugar exports in June 2022. On July 20, 2023, exports of non-basmati white rice and broken rice were prohibited.
- Additionally, on August 25, 2023, a 20 per cent duty was imposed on parboiled non-basmati rice exports, along with minimum export price (MEP) on basmati rice, initially at $1200/tonne, but later reduced to $950/tonne in October 2023.
- Recently, while the export ban on onions was lifted, it was replaced with a 40 per cent duty, in addition to a MEP of $550/tonne.
The export restrictions on rice
- Export restrictions on rice offer valuable policy lessons.
- As India announced its rice export restrictions, the international price of rice surged by approximately 25 per cent, escalating from $494/tonne during April-June 2023 to $620/tonne in January 2024.
- This helped exporters of basmati rice and parboiled rice get better price realisation.
- Despite a 27 per cent drop in rice exports from 22.3MT in 2022-23 to 16.3MT in 2023-24, the export value realisation only decreased by 6 per cent, from $11.1 billion to $10.4 billion during the same period.
What lessons can India draw from the rice export restrictions?
- In a global market of around 53 MT, if India exports say 22 MT or more rice, it will bring down the global price to Indian levels.
- Trade theory suggests an optimal export tax to ensure that marginal revenue from additional exports should not fall.
- Some research indicates India’s optimal rice export quantity should be around 15-16 MT.
- Beyond this, additional exports will yield diminishing marginal revenues.
- In other words, India will have to export more quantity to get the same export revenue.
- That is not a wise policy. A prudent policy option would be to impose a 15 per cent export duty on common and parboiled rice, alongside lifting the outright export ban.
Why the optimum export of rice is prudent policy decision?
- In the case of rice, which is 65 per cent irrigated, there are also concerns related to depleting groundwater, especially in the Punjab-Haryana belt.
- Free power and highly subsidised fertilisers are leading to an ecological disaster.
- It is widely recognised that producing one kilogram of rice requires between 3,000-5,000 litres of water for irrigation.
- Assuming an average water usage of approximately 4,000 litres per kilogram of rice, with roughly half of this water seeping back to groundwater, exporting 16.3 MT of rice effectively means exporting 32.6 billion cubic meters of water.
- We must recognise that high subsidies on power and fertilisers confer artificial competitive advantage.
- Essentially, true export competitiveness hinges on boosting productivity and achieving more with fewer resources.
- This goal demands significant investments across agriculture, including research and development, seeds, irrigation, fertilisers and adopting resource-efficient farming practices like precision agriculture, fertigation etc.
- These strategic investments can drive down per-unit costs, enhance global competitiveness, increase agricultural exports, improve farmers’ profitability, as well as protect the environment.
The consumer bias in government’s onion export restrictions
- The government announced opening up its exports just before polling in Maharashtra but put a very high MEP with 40 per cent export duty, making the effective export price of Rs 65/kg.
- This is when farmers are currently selling onions at Rs 13 to Rs 15/kg in Lasalgaon, not enough to recover their costs.
- However, they are deprived of the export opportunity that could have lifted their domestic price.
Conclusion: All the recent policy measures show that government policy has a consumer bias, which implicitly discriminates against the farmer. This needs to change if we want to augment farmers’ incomes.