📰 Home Ministry amends FCRA rules
Norms relaxed for farmer, student, religious and other groups not involved in ‘active politics’.
•The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has relaxed norms for farmer, student, religious and other groups who are not directly aligned to any political party to receive foreign funds if the groups are not involved in “active politics”.
•The Ministry notified new rules under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), 2010 on Wednesday thereby amending the FCRA Rules, 2011.
•The new rule said, “The organisations specified under clauses (v) and (vi) of sub-rule (1) shall be considered to be of political nature, if they participate in active politics or party politics, as the case may be.”
•The 2011 rules on said clauses dealt with “guidelines for the declaration of an organisation to be of a political nature, not being a political party”, and the Central government could specify an organisation as that of political nature based on six criteria.
‘Political group’
•Clause V of Rule 3 (FCRA 2011) qualified a political group as, “organisations of farmers, workers, students, youths based on caste, community , religion, language or otherwise, which is not directly aligned to any political party, but whose objectives as stated in the memorandum of association, or activities gathered through other material evidence, include steps towards advancement of political interests of such groups”.
•The other 2011 clause (VI) qualified a group as political if the “organisation by whatever name called habitually engages itself in or employs common methods of political action like rasta roko, jail bharo, rail roko, bandh or hartal in support of public causes”. A new clause has been inserted which says that groups mentioned in Clause V and VI will only be considered a political group by the Centre if they participate in “active politics or party politics”.
•As per the FCRA, members of legislatures, political parties, government officials, judges and media persons are prohibited from receiving any foreign contribution
•FCRA regulates foreign donations and ensures that such contributions do not adversely affect the internal security of the country. The Act, first enacted in 1976, was amended in the year 2010, when a slew of new measures were taken by the Union Home Ministry to regulate foreign donations. It was again amended in September this year.
•The Act is applicable to all associations, groups and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) who intend to receive foreign donations.
•The new rules also make new FCRA registrations more stringent.
•Any organisation that wants to register itself under FCRA “shall be in existence for three years” and should have “spent a minimum amount of ₹15 lakh on its core activities for the benefit of society during the last three financial years”. However, exceptions could be granted “provided that the Central Government, in exceptional cases or in cases where a person is controlled by the Central Government or a State Government may waive the conditions”.
•The amended rules also said that office bearers of NGOs or organisations seeking registration under the FCRA must submit a specific commitment letter from the donor indicating the amount of foreign contribution and the purpose for which it was being given.
The Union government has brought Over The Top (OTT) platforms, or video streaming service providers such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and others, under the ambit of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
The story so far
•The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has found a vast swathe of unregulated content, namely news online and Over the top (OTT) platforms which had escaped any architecture of regulation. While the print was regulated by the Press Council of India and Television, both News and Entertainment, were being regulated by the Cable Networks Regulation Act (2005), content on online, the Government felt, fell into a black hole with no oversight.
•It may also be recalled that the Supreme Court of India last month had issued notice to the Centre and the Internet and Mobile Association of India, on a petition to regulate OTT platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime etc.
So, what did the Ministry do?
•Sometime last month, the Ministry wrote to the Ministry of Information and Technology to explore the possibility of regulating online content. The rationale? The Ministry was already regulating news and entertainment content on TV and radio through statutory bodies under the Ministry. Also, senior officials in the Ministry said they were in receipt of several complaints from the public underlining the concern and need to regulate online content.
What was the outcome?
•A notification from the Cabinet Secretariat on November 9, said that films and audio-visual programs made available by online content providers and news and current affairs content on online platform will be under the purview of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry. This shall come into force at once. Ministry officials feel the order is an enabling mandate to enforce, in the words of Ministry officials, a greater discipline online.
How does the Ministry propose to regulate news and OTT online?
•No details as of now, but it is learnt that the Programme Code that governs content on TV and which found an outlet in the Cable Television Network Regulation Act, 1995, may serve as a template to frame rules for online content. The Programme Code lists several dont’s that channels are required to observe and follow. Currently, the Electronic Media Monitoring Centre, which was set up in 2008, is entrusted with the work of monitoring content on TV. It puts out reports on violations of the Programme Code. The findings go to an inter-ministerial committee. There is a possibility that the brief of the monitoring service could be extended to include online content.
•However, monitoring content 24x7 has its own challenges. Whether the Ministry will set up a committee involving the public to look into complaints received remains to be seen.
📰 Social infra PPPs eligible for viability gap funding
₹2,100 crore allocated in scheme rejig
•The government on Wednesday expanded the provision of financial support by means of viability gap funding for public private partnerships (PPPs) in infrastructure projects to include critical social sector investments in sectors such as health, education, water and waste treatment.
•The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the continuation of the scheme for financial support to PPPs in infrastructure that has been in place since 2006, till 2024-25, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, stressing that the scheme had been revamped.
•“The viability gap funding [VGF] provided for economic infrastructure will now be extended to social infrastructure,” Ms. Sitharaman said. A total of ₹8,100 crore has been allocated under this programme between 2020-21 and 2024-25, of which ₹2,100 crore will be devoted to social sector projects.
•“Now, under two new schemes, private sector projects in areas like waste water treatment, solid waste management, health, water supply and education, could get 30% of total project cost from the Centre,” she said, adding that States could chip in with another 30% and the rest can be private sector investments. These projects should entail full recovery of operating costs to qualify for the VGF.
•Separately, pilot projects in health and education, with at least 50% operational cost recovery, can get as much as 40% of the total project cost from the central government. The Centre and States would together bear 80% of the capital cost of the project and 50% of operation and maintenance costs of such projects for the first five years.
📰 A time for cautious optimism
While Pfizer’s interim analysis of the Phase-3 trial of the vaccine is encouraging, there are some unknowns
•The first interim analysis of the Phase-3 trial of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine (BNT162b2) calls for cautious optimism. The results of the Phase-1 trial, announced in August, showed that the vaccine induced neutralising antibodies and specific T cell (major components of the adaptive immune system) responses in younger and older adults. Neutralising antibodies in younger adults (18-55 years) were 3.8 times more than those in convalescent plasma and 1.6 times more in older adults (65-85 years) in the Phase-1 trial. Neutralising antibodies and T cell responses were also seen in pre-clinical trials on rhesus macaques.
Safe, so far
•Though the first interim results of the Phase-3 trial do not provide details, it is likely that neutralising antibodies and T cells responses would have played a vital role in preventing disease in many vaccinated participants — the vaccine showed more than 90% effectiveness in preventing disease. So far, the vaccine appears to be safe as no serious adverse events were reported in the over 43,000 Phase-3 trial participants.
•Ninety-four confirmed cases of COVID-19 in trial participants were evaluated in the analysis, but the break-up of how many were among the vaccinated group has not been spelt out. The over 90% effectiveness reported is basically against symptomatic infection. But the nature of infection — mild, moderate or severe — that the vaccine can protect against is not clear.
•The efficacy, which was evaluated seven days after the second dose, indicates that protection is achieved 28 days after administration of the first dose, which is again encouraging; the second dose was given 21 days after the first. The endpoint to evaluate vaccine efficacy is when 164 trial participants get infected, irrespective of whether they received the vaccine or a placebo. The company expects that endpoint to be reached by the end of this month. By then, trial participants would have been followed-up for an average of two months — a Food and Drug Administration (FDA)safety requirement for COVID-19 vaccine approval.
•While over 90% vaccine effectiveness is much more than what scientists had expected, the effectiveness might change as more cases get reported. In all likelihood, it might drop marginally, but not below the FDA cut off of at least 50% vaccine effectiveness to prevent disease or decrease disease severity. The vaccine will be seen as being truly effective if it has the potential to prevent severe disease and thereby prevent deaths.
•The over 90% vaccine effectiveness is based on symptomatic infection. Since not all trial participants have been tested for the virus, it is unclear if the vaccinated participants have been asymptomatically infected. While the inability of the vaccine to prevent asymptomatic infection might not matter for protecting individuals against severe disease outcomes, it might matter in its ability to cut down on transmission.
The duration of protection
•The interim results do not reveal how effective the vaccine is in older adults, who are more likely to progress to severe disease and even die. Also, how long the protection lasts after vaccination is not known. It is therefore essential that the trial continues for several more months even when the vaccine is given emergency use authorisation by the FDA. Meanwhile, one way of knowing the duration of protection is by analysing the immune responses of individuals who participated in the Phase-1 trial, which took place a few months ago.
•Pfizer is not the only company to use the mRNA platform for COVID-19 vaccine. The COVID-19 vaccine candidate of Moderna and NIAID, which is at an advanced Phase-3 trial, too uses the same mRNA platform; Novavax, Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline are other vaccine candidates using the same mRNA platform. It is likely that these vaccines too may show similar outcomes. The encouraging results of Pfizer’s vaccine is good news for vaccines that use other platforms, as well. The Oxford University vaccine being tested by AstraZeneca and other vaccines too produced immune responses similar to Pfizer’s in early stage trials and may show encouraging results in Phase-3 trials.
📰 Centre unveils PLI to encourage domestic manufacturing in 10 more sectors
Estimated outlay of ₹1.46 lakh crore planned over the next five years.
•The government on Wednesday unveiled a production-linked incentive scheme to encourage domestic manufacturing investments in ten more sectors, with an estimated outlay of about ₹1.46 lakh crore over the next five years.
•The ten sectors, which Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said had been identified on the basis of their potential to create jobs and make India self-reliant, include food processing, telecom, electronics, textiles, speciality steel, automobiles and auto components, solar photo-voltaic modules and white goods such as air conditioners and LEDs.
•Earlier, the government had announced a production linked incentive or PLI scheme for medical devices, mobile phones and specified active pharmaceutical ingredients, with a proposed outlay of ₹51,311 crore. Now, several more pharmaceutical products have been brought under the aegis of the PLI scheme, including complex generics, anti-cancer and diabetic drugs, in-vitro diagnostic devices and special empty capsules.
•“We have decided to introduce one more PLI like the one that was earlier announced and had got a good response [from investors and producers]. The selection of sectors has been based on job creation, [linkages with] the global value chain, the sunrise sectors and the larger principle of self-reliant India,” Ms. Sitharaman said, stressing that the Cabinet’s decision should be viewed as a clear signal that India is not turning protectionist.
•“This should answer the question ‘Does Atma Nirbharta mean inward looking?’ Not at all. We are once again proving it, even in PLI, we want to build on our strengths and link with the global value chain,” she said.
•While the Minister and other Cabinet Ministers pegged the estimated cost of the PLI scheme at ₹2 lakh crore, an official statement from the Cabinet put the figure at ₹1,45,980 crore, with the largest chunk of over ₹57,000 crore allocated for automobiles and auto components production.
•The Finance Minister said individual Ministries in charge of these sectors are ready to immediately implement the scheme. Applications to avail the benefits will be vetted by an Empowered Finance Committee, following which they will be taken up to the Cabinet for final approval. A window has also been kept open for new sectors to be included in the PLI scheme after acquiring a fresh approval from the Cabinet.
•“The PLI scheme across these 10 key specific sectors will make Indian manufacturers globally competitive, attract investment in the areas of core competency and cutting-edge technology; ensure efficiencies; create economies of scale; enhance exports and make India an integral part of the global supply chain,” the statement said.
•The Automotive Components Manufacturers Association of India expressed hope that the high outlay for the sector under the PLI will encourage industry to become a net exporter and help reduce import dependence. “We eagerly await the detailed contours of the scheme. Whilst the industry exports over 25% of its production, our ambition is to capture a significant proportion of global trade,” said the association’s president Deepak Jain.
•Industry chambers welcomed the move and called for similar ideas to help more sectors of the economy. “The sectors covered under the PLI scheme are strategic, technology intensive and also important from the perspective of employment generation in the country. We also hope to hear about such progressive schemes for more sectors,” said Sangita Reddy, president of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI).
