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  • Indo-Pacific region

    As India tries to diffuse the tension along the disputed northern border with China, it must focus on the other potential fronts that China could open. India Ocean could be the next one. This article examines the centrality of the Indian Ocean for China and their approach to the region.

    India’s Indo-Pacific vision

    • This vision is based on our historical associations with this region.
    • This vision also acknowledges the importance of the Indian Ocean in building prosperity in this century.
    • So, the key points of this vision are thus-
    • 1) Inclusiveness, openness and ASEAN centrality and unity.
    • 2) India does not see the Indo-Pacific Region as a strategy or as a club of limited members.
    • 3) It is not directed against any country.

    China should have equal access

    • China is not a littoral state in the Indian Ocean.
    • Historically, Chinese naval activity was limited to the East China Sea, the Bohai Sea, the Yellow Sea, and the South China Sea.
    •  In today’s context, China is the second-largest economy and the world’s largest trading nation.
    • The sea-lanes of communication in the Indian Ocean are vital to her economy and security.
    • Under international law, China should have equal access to the Indian ocean.

    China’s “Malacca Dilemma”

    • China thinks that others would block the Malacca Straits to “contain” the Chinese.
    • So, China has strategized to dominate not just the Malacca Straits, but the ocean beyond it.
    • The PLA Navy (PLAN) made its first operational deployment in the Gulf of Aden in 2008.
    • In 2009 China planned for overseas base or facility.
    • In 2010 a China State Oceanic Administration report alluded to plans to build aircraft carriers.

    BRI: Overcoming the deficiencies China face in India Ocean

    • The US hegemony and India’s regional influence in the Indian Ocean are thought of as a challenge to China.
    • So, China focused on 3 inherent deficiencies that they wanted to overcome.
    • (a) China is not a littoral state.
    • (b) Its passage through key maritime straits could be easily blocked.
    • (c) The possibility of US-India cooperation against China.
    • How to overcome these deficiencies?
    • (1) carefully selecting sites to build ports — Djibouti, Gwadar, Hambantota, Sittwe and Seychelles.
    • (2) By conducting activities in a low-key manner to “reduce the military colour as much as possible”.
    • (3) By not unnerving India and America by cooperating at first, then slowly penetrating into the Indian Ocean, beginning with detailed maritime surveys, ocean mapping, HADR, port construction and so on.

     China acting on the plans

    • The PLA’s new base in Djibouti is the prototype for more “logistics” facilities to come.
    • More port construction projects like Gwadar and Hambantota, are being offered to vulnerable countries.
    • These projects are commercially unviable but have military possibilities,
    • Chinese “civilian” vessels routinely conduct surveys in the EEZ of littoral states.
    • In January 2020 the PLA Navy conducted tripartite naval exercises with Russia and Iran in the Arabian Sea.
    • They have the largest warship building programme in the world.

    Consider the question “What constitutes India’s Indo-Pacific vision? Elaborate on the factors that explain China’s reluctance to subscribe to this vision.”

    Conclusion

    The idea of Indo-Pacific might potentially derail the carefully crafted Chinese plan. So, they now wish to cause alarm by raising fears about Great Power “strategic collision” caused by the so-called American-led “containment” strategy. It is important to look past their propaganda.

  • How to counter China

    There is no doubt that an economically prosperous India will be well placed to deal with China effectively. So, to achieve this prosperity India urgently needs to embark upon the path of reforms. 

    How much China has moved ahead

    • In 1987, both countries’ nominal GDPs were almost equal.
    • China’s economic opening-up has left India behind, contributing to a military imbalance.
    • China’s economy was nearly five times larger than India’s in 2019.
    • Not coincidentally, from rough parity in 1989, China’s military spending last year more than tripled India’s.
    • Heightened vigilance along the LAC demands summoning scarce resources.
    • If India cannot close the economic gap and build military muscle, Beijing may feel emboldened to probe the subcontinent’s land and maritime periphery.

    Reforms: Key to progress

    • In 1991, India enacted changes allowing markets to set commodity prices.
    • But it did not similarly liberalise land, labour and capital.
    • Now, the government has delivered mixed messages about a revitalised reform agenda.
    • Some States have temporarily lifted labour restrictions.
    • Some others intend to make land acquisition easier.

    But a call for self-sufficiency could do harm

    • India emphasis on self-reliance could inhibit growth and constrain investment in a more vigorous foreign and defence policy.
    • Greater self-sufficiency is desired.
    • Home-grown manufacturing of critical medicinal ingredients or digital safeguards on citizens’ personal data would reduce vulnerabilities.
    • Imposing restriction to help the local defence industry would hamper acquisitions helping balance China.

    Competition from other countries

    • China is facing intense scrutiny for its role in the pandemic, geopolitical competition, trade wars, and economic coercion.
    • Businesses are revisiting whether or not to diversify suddenly exposed international value chains.
    • India’s competitors [like Bangladesh, Vietnam] are trying to attract the businesses shifting out form China.
    • These countries are highlighting their regulatory predictability, stable tax policies, and fewer trade obstacles.
    • While India remains outside the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, competitors are wooing companies seeking lower trade barriers.
    • Asian countries are pushing ahead: Vietnam just inked a trade deal with the European Union that threatens to eat into India’s exports.

    Way forward

    • India needs increased exports and investments to provide more well-paying jobs, technology.
    • Before committing to long-term, multi-billion investments, companies often want to test India’s market through international sales.
    • Liberalisation remains the tried-and-true path to competitiveness.
    • If India can unite its people and rapidly strengthen capabilities, it will likely discover that it can deal with China effectively.

    Consider the question “Do you agree with the view that slowdown in the reforms in land, labour and capital after the reforms of 1991 restricted Indias economic progress? Give reasons in support of your argument.

    Conclusion

    The choices that India makes to recapture consistent, high growth will determine its future. Bold reforms offer the best option to manage Beijing and achieve greater independence on the world stage.

  • What is Winter Diesel?

    India’s armed forces may soon be using winter diesel for operations in high altitude areas such as Ladakh, where winter temperatures plummet to extremely low as -30° Celsius.

    This year BS-VI compliant fuel was in news. Try differentiating the Winter Diesel with the BS-VI fuel.

    What is Winter Diesel?

    • Winter diesel is a specialised fuel that was introduced by Indian Oil Corp. Ltd. last year specifically for high altitude regions and low-temperature regions such as Ladakh, where ordinary diesel can become unusable.
    • The flow characteristics of regular diesel change at such low temperatures and using it may be detrimental to vehicles.
    • Winter diesel which contains additives to maintain lower viscosity can be used in temperatures as low as -30°C and that besides a low pour point, it had higher cetane rating — an indicator is the combustion speed of diesel and compression needed for ignition.
    • It has lower sulphur content, which would lead to lower deposits in engines and better performance.

    Back2Basics: BS-VI fuel

    • Sulphur content in fuel is a major cause for concern. Sulphur dioxide released by fuel burning is a major pollutant that affects health as well.
    • BS-VI fuel’s sulphur content is much lower than BS-IV fuel.
      It is reduced to 10 mg/kg max in BS-VI from 50 mg/kg under BS-IV.

    This reduction makes it possible to equip vehicles with better catalytic converters that capture pollutants. However, BS-VI fuel is expected to be costlier that BS-IV fuel.

    With inputs from:
    https://www.civilsdaily.com/news/pib-winter-grade-diesel/

  • Sindhu Darshan Puja

    During his day-long whirlwind visit, PM Narendra performed Sindhu Darshan Puja at Nimu, the forward brigade place in Ladakh.

    Sindhu Darshan Puja.

    ⦁ Sindhu Darshan Festival is a festival of India held every year on full moon day (on Guru Purnima) in the month of June.
    ⦁ It is held at Leh, in Ladakh District of Ladakh. It stretches for three days.
    ⦁ It was first started in the October by veteran politician L.K. Advani, 1997 and continues to be held every year since then, attracting large number of foreign and domestic tourists.
    ⦁ The main reason behind the celebration of Sindhu Darshan Festival is to endorse the Indus River (Sindhu River) as an icon of the communal harmony and unity of India.

  • Plastic waste management in pandemic

    The threat posed by plastic waste to the environment is well established. The corona pandemic has led to an increase in plastic waste. This article suggests some ways to deal with the issue.

    Rising plastic use during pandemic

    •  In 2018, a report by McKinsey estimated that, globally, we generate 350 million tonnes of plastic waste.
    • Only 16 per cent of it is recycled.
    • Today, due to pandemic the amount of plastic waste we are generating is much higher than that estimated in the McKinsey report.
    • The Guardian recently reported that there are possibly more masks than jellyfish in the oceans today.

    Management of plastic in India

    • We have the Plastic Waste Management Rules of 2016, which were updated and amended in 2018.
    • In fact, India saw incredible momentum in its fight for effective management of plastic waste in the last year.
    • The Prime Minister made clarion calls for a jan andolan (people’s movement) to curb the use of single-use plastic(SUP).
    • Jan andolan was also to ensure proper disposal of all plastic waste.
    • Also, the entire country rallied together under the banner of the Swachhata Hi Seva campaign.

    Why single-use plastic is different

    • Plastic is not the problem, our handling of it is.
    • We need plastic, but not SUP, which is difficult to dispose of effectively, and that is where the problem lies.
    • It is important to understand this distinction.
    • By understanding this distinction we may change our behaviour and our lifestyles, to balance our need for plastic with effectively managing its waste.

    Way forward

    • One way to approach the issue is to treat it not just as an environmental problem but as an economic opportunity.
    •  We require new business models which are designed for sustainability.
    • In Uganda, they are melting plastic waste to make face shields which are being sold for just a dollar each.
    • But, most of all, we need a tectonic shift in the behaviour of consumers.
    • We need consumers to care about their role in the plastic waste value chain.
    • Under phase 2 of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) village communities are now starting to plan for setting up waste collection and segregation systems, with material recovery facilities at the block- level.
    • Change is possible when we take necessary steps to Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and, when all else fails, Remove, or dispose of plastic waste safely and effectively.
    • Raising awareness amongst the public of the harm caused by plastic pollution through education and outreach programs to modify behavior.
      • A movement against plastic waste would have to prioritise the reduction of single-use plastic such as multi-layer packaging, bread bags, food wrap, and protective packaging.
    • Promote Alternatives, before the ban or levy comes into force, the availability of alternatives need to be assessed, hence the government may:
      • Provide economic incentives to encourage the uptake of eco-friendly and fit-for-purpose alternatives that do not cause more harm.
      • Support can include tax rebates, research and development funds, technology incubation, public-private partnerships and support to projects that recycle single-use items and turn waste into a resource that can be used again.
      • Reduce or abolish taxes on the import of materials used to make alternatives.
    • Provide incentives to the alternative industry by introducing tax rebates or other conditions to support its transition from plastic industry.
    • Expanding the use of biodegradable plastics or even edible plastics made from various materials such as bagasse (the residue after extracting juice from sugarcane), corn starch, and grain flour.
    • Use of microbeads in personal care products and cosmetics must be prohibited.
    • Target the most problematic single-use plastics by conducting a baseline assessment to identify the most problematic single-use plastics, as well as the current causes, extent and impacts of their mismanagement.
    • Consider the best actions to tackle the problem of plastic waste management (e.g. through regulatory, economic, awareness, voluntary actions) given the country’s socio-economic standing.
    • Assess the potential social, economic and environmental impacts (positive and negative) of the preferred short-listed plastic waste management measures/actions, by considering how will the poor be affected, or what impact will the preferred course of action have on different sectors and industries.
    • Identify and engage key stakeholder groups like retailers, consumers, industry representatives, local government, manufacturers, civil society, environmental groups, and tourism associations in order to ensure broad buy-in.
    • Explaining the decision and any punitive measures that will follow, as a result of non compliance of plastic management rule.
    • Use revenues collected from taxes or levies on single-use plastics to maximize the public good, thereby supporting environmental projects or boosting local recycling with the funds and creating jobs in the plastic recycling sector with seed funding.
    • Enforce the plastic waste management measure effectively, by making sure that there is clear allocation of roles and responsibilities.
    • Monitor and adjust the plastic waste management measure if necessary and update the public on progress.

    Consider the question “What are the legal provisions for plastic waste management in India? Suggest the ways to deal with the issue of plastic waste effectively.”

    Conclusion

    The corona pandemic crisis should not blind us to the plastic crisis and we should try to bring about the behaviour change when it comes to the use of plastic and devise the economic model.

  • Prerak Dauur Samman

    The Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) announced a new category of awards titled ‘Prerak Dauur Samman’ as part of Swachh Survekshan 2021.

    Try this question:

    Q. The Prerak Dauur Samman recently seen in news is related to:

    a) Swachh Bharat b) Literature c) Health Services d) Visual Arts

    Prerak Dauur Samman

    • The Prerak Dauur Samman has a total of five additional subcategories -Divya (Platinum), Anupam (Gold), Ujjwal (Silver), Udit (Bronze), Aarohi (Aspiring) – with top three cities being recognized in each.
    • In a departure from the present criteria of evaluating cities on ‘population category’, this new category will categorize cities on the basis of six select indicator wise performance criteria which are as follows:

    1) Segregation of waste into Wet, Dry and Hazard categories

    2) Processing capacity against wet waste generated

    3) Processing and recycling of wet and dry waste

    4) Construction & Demolition (C&D) waste processing

    5) Percentage of waste going to landfills

    6) Sanitation status of cities

  • What is the Hagia Sophia?

    Turkey’s highest court this week convened to decide whether Istanbul’s iconic Hagia Sophia museum can be turned into a mosque.

    Try this question:

    Q. The iconic Hagia Sophia, a UNESCO World Heritage site was recently in news. It is situated in:

    a) Greece b) Turkey c) Israel d) Iran

    What is the Hagia Sophia?

    • The construction of this iconic structure in Istanbul started in 532 AD during the reign of Justinian I, the ruler of the Byzantine Empire when the city was known as Constantinople.
    • The structure was originally built to become the seat of the Patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church and remained so for approximately 900 years.
    • In 1453, when Constantinople fell to Sultan Mehmet II’s Ottoman forces, the Hagia Sophia was ransacked by the invading forces and turned into a mosque shortly after.
    • For a long time, the Hagia Sophia was Istanbul’s most important mosque.
    • The 1,500-year-old structure, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, was originally a cathedral before it was turned into a mosque.

    What is the controversy about?

    • In the 1930s, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey, shut down the mosque and turned it into a museum in an attempt to make the country more secular.
    • There have been calls for long from extremists groups to convert the Hagia Sophia back into a mosque.

  • Safety net of income post Covid

    Providing a minimum basic income post-Covid will require some novel approach. This article proposes an approach with the mix of direct cash transfer and changes in the employment guarantee scheme.

    Non-universal targeted programs

    •  It is true that a universal schemes are easy to implement.
    • Non-universal targeted programmes face the problem of identification.
    • Narrowly-targeted programmes will run into complex problems of identification.
    • And the problem of identification gives rise to exclusion and inclusion errors.

    How to solve identification problem

    • There are three proposals which meet the objective of providing a minimum basic income.
    • 1) Give cash transfers to all women above the age of 20 years.
    • 2) Expand the number of days provided under MGNREGA.
    • 3) Have a national employment guarantee scheme in urban areas.
    • In all the three proposals, there is no problem of identification.
    • A combination of cash transfers and an expanded employment guarantee scheme can provide a minimum basic income.

    1) Cash transfer to all women

    • One way of doing it will be to give it to all women say above the age of 20.
    • This is an easily identifiable criterion because the Aadhaar cards carry the age of the person.
    • The female population above the age of 20 is around 42.89 crore.
    • Making available a minimum of Rs 4,000 annually as a cash transfer to all of them will cost Rs 1.72 lakh crore.
    • Which is 0.84 per cent of GDP.
    • The cost of the scheme to the government will be less if the well-off women choose not to take the cash transfer.

    2) Expanding MGNREGA

    • The Act guarantees 100 days of employment.
    • At present, MGNREGA is availed of only for 50 days of employment.
    • One way to help the poor and informal workers is to strengthen it.
    • The government needs to increase the number of days under the scheme from 100 to 150 in rural areas.

    3) Employment guarantee scheme for urban areas

    •  Introducing Employment Guarantee Act in urban areas would help also provide income.
    • Providing employment for 150 days instead of 100 days will also prove beneficial.

    Some facts and figures

    • In 2019-20, the government spent Rs 67,873 crore for providing 48 days of employment to 5.48 crore of rural households.
    • Out of this, the wage expenditure was Rs 48,762 crore.
    • The government has increased the per day wage rate from Rs 182.1 in 2019-20 to Rs 202.5 in 2020-21.
    • So, the estimated expenditure for 150 days of employment to 5.48 crore households in rural areas and 2.66 crore households in urban areas — together they account for 33 per cent of total households in the country.
    •  The additional expenditure needed for the new proposal proposal is Rs 1.9 to 2.5 lakh crore.
    • This additional expenditure is around 1 to 1.22 per cent of GDP.
    •  The total cost of the three proposals would be Rs 4.9 lakh crore or 2.4 per cent of GDP.

    But the total cost could be lower

    •  As the Employment Guarantee Programme is a demand-based programme, the number of days availed could be lower.
    •  This is happening even now.
    • Second, on cash transfers, some women, particularly from richer classes, may voluntarily drop out of the scheme.
    • Alternatively, we can provide that everyone receiving cash transfer must declare that her total monthly income is less than Rs 6,000 per month.

    Where the additional money will come from

    • Removing all exemptions in our tax system would give enough money.
    • Tax experts advocate removing exemptions so that the basic tax rate can be reduced.
    • Perhaps, out of the Rs 4.2 lakh crore which is needed, Rs 1 lakh crore can come out of phasing out of some of the expenditures.
    • While another Rs 3 lakh crore must come out of raising additional revenue.
    • Some of the non-merit subsidies, another item of expenditure, can be eliminated.

    Consider the question “What are the issues non-universal schemes faces? Suggest the ways to do with the issue of identification which such schemes face.”

    Conclusion

    In the post-COVID-19 situation, we need to institute schemes to provide a minimum income for the poor and vulnerable groups and trying the mixed approach of cash transfer to women and modification of Employment Guarantee Acts could do that.

  • Biodiversity Governance: The agreements and laws that help enforce it

  • International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) Project

    The heavy engineering division of L&T dispatched a giant Cryostat lid, to International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) site in France from its Hazira unit in Gujarat.

    Try this MCQ:

    Q.With reference to International science projects, consider the following:

    1. Large Hadron Collider (LHC)– The God Particle
    2. Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT) – The World’s Most Advanced Telescope
    3. International-Thermonuclear-Experimental-Reactor (ITER) – Fusion Energy
    4. Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) – Antiproton and Ion Research

    Which of the above projects have India’s active participation?

    a) 1 only

    b) 2 and 3 only

    c) 1, 3 and 4 only

    d) All of them

    ITER Project

    • ITER is international nuclear fusion research and engineering megaproject, which will be the world’s largest magnetic confinement plasma physics experiment.
    • The goal of ITER is to demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion energy for peaceful use.

    Minutes of the project

    • The project is funded and run by seven member entities—the European Union, India, Japan, China, Russia, South Korea and the United States.
    • The EU, as host party for the ITER complex, is contributing about 45 per cent of the cost, with the other six parties contributing approximately 9 per cent each.
    • Construction of the ITER Tokamak complex started in 2013 and the building costs were over US$14 billion by June 2015.

    How does it work?

    • ITER is the most complex science project in human history. The ITER aims to use a strong electric current to trap plasma inside a doughnut-shaped enclosure long enough for fusion to take place.
    • Hydrogen plasma will be heated to 150 million degrees Celsius, ten times hotter than the core of the Sun, to enable the fusion reaction.
    • The process happens in a doughnut-shaped reactor, called a tokamak 1, which is surrounded by giant magnets that confine and circulate the superheated, ionized plasma, away from the metal walls.
    • The superconducting magnets must be cooled to -269°C (-398°F), as cold as interstellar space.
    • Scientists have long sought to mimic the process of nuclear fusion that occurs inside the sun, arguing that it could provide an almost limitless source of cheap, safe and clean electricity.
    • Unlike in existing fission reactors, which split plutonium or uranium atoms, there’s no risk of an uncontrolled chain reaction with fusion and it doesn’t produce long-lived radioactive waste.

    Back2Basics: Nuclear Fusion

    • Nuclear fusion is the process of making a single heavy nucleus (part of an atom) from two lighter nuclei. This process is called a nuclear reaction.
    • The nucleus made by fusion is heavier than either of the starting nuclei. It releases a large amount of energy.
    • Fusion is what powers the sun. Atoms of Tritium and Deuterium (isotopes of hydrogen, Hydrogen-3 and Hydrogen-2, respectively) unite under extreme pressure and temperature to produce a neutron and a helium isotope.
    • Along with this, an enormous amount of energy is released, which is several times the amount produced by fission.
    • Scientists continue to work on controlling nuclear fusion in an effort to make a fusion reactor to produce electricity.

    How it is different from nuclear fission?

    • Simply put, fission is the division of one atom into two (by neutron bombardment), and fusion is the combination of two lighter atoms into a larger one (at a very high temperature).
    • Nuclear fission takes place when a large, somewhat unstable isotope (atoms with the same number of protons but a different number of neutrons) is bombarded by high-speed particles, usually neutrons.