Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Creating safe digital spaces
Context
Various reports have indicated increased incidence of cyberbullying and online child sexual exploitation by adults.
Tackling cyberbullying
- School closures as a response to the COVID-19 lockdowns have led to an unprecedented rise in unsupervised screen time for children and young people, which in turn exposed them to a greater risk of online violence.
- In India, an estimated 71 million children aged 5-11 years access the Internet on the devices of their family members, constituting about 14% of the country’s active Internet user base of over 500 million
- There is growing scientific evidence which suggests that cyberbullying has negative consequences on the education, health and well-being of children and young people.
- Published in 2019 and drawing on data from 144 countries, UNESCO’s report ‘Behind the numbers: Ending school violence and bullying’ highlighted the extent of the problem, with almost one in three students worldwide reporting being bullied at least once in the preceding month.
- Therefore, cyberbullying prevention interventions should aim at tackling all types of bullying and victimisation experiences at the same time, as opposed to each in silo.
Cyberbullying prevention interventions
- Although online violence is not limited to school premises, the education system plays a crucial role in addressing online safety.
- To prevent and counter cyberbullying, the information booklet brought out by UNESCO in partnership with NCERT on Safe Online Learning in Times of COVID-19 can be a useful reference.
- Effective interventions also require gender-sensitive and targeted approaches that respond to needs of learners who are most likely to be the victims of online violence.
- Concerted efforts must be made to provide children and young people with the knowledge and skills to identify online violence so that they can protect themselves from its different forms, whether perpetrated by peers or adults.
- Teachers also play a critical role by teaching students about online safety, and thus supporting parental involvement.
Conclusion
It is imperative that digital and social media platforms are free of cyberbullying, if learners have to access quality education. More importantly, confidential reporting and redress services must be established.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- COP26 achievements and disappointments
Context
The Glasgow Climate Pact was adopted on Saturday and, as was to be expected, it is a mixed bag of modest achievements and disappointed expectations.
Transition away from fossil fuel
- The Pact is the first clear recognition of the need to transition away from fossil fuels, though the focus was on giving up coal-based power altogether.
- India introduced an amendment at the last moment to replace this phrase with “phase down” and this played negatively with both the advanced as well as a large constituency of developing countries.
- This amendment reportedly came as a result of consultations among India, China, the UK and the US.
- As the largest producer and consumer of coal and coal-based thermal power, it is understandable that China would prefer a gradual reduction rather than total elimination.
- India may have had similar concerns.
Recognition of Adaptation
- There is a welcome recognition of the importance of Adaptation and there is a commitment to double the current finance available for this to developing countries.
- Since this amount is currently only $15 billion, doubling will mean $ 30 billion.
- This remains grossly inadequate.
- According to UNEP, adaptation costs for developing countries are currently estimated at $70 billion annually and will rise to an estimated $130-300 billion annually by 2030.
- A start is being made in formulating an adaptation plan and this puts the issue firmly on the Climate agenda, balancing the overwhelming focus hitherto on mitigation.
Disappointment on the issue of finance
- The Paris Agreement target of $100 billion per annum between 2005-2020 was never met with the shortfall being more than half, according to some calculations.
- There is now a renewed commitment to delivering on this pledge in the 2020-2025 period and there is a promise of an enhanced flow thereafter.
- But in a post-pandemic global economic slowdown, it is unlikely these promises will be met.
- In any event, it is unlikely that India will get even a small slice of the pie.
- The same applies to the issue of compensation for loss and damage for developing countries who have suffered as a result of climate change for which they have not been responsible.
Initiatives on methane and deforestation
- Two important plurilateral outcomes could potentially develop into more substantial measures.
- The most important is an agreement among 100 countries to cut methane emissions by 30 per cent by 2030.
- India is not a part of this group.
- Cutting methane emissions, which is generated mainly by livestock, is certainly useful but there is a much bigger methane emergency around the corner as the earth’s permafrost areas in Siberia, Greenland and the Arctic littoral begin to melt due to global warming that has already taken place and will continue to take place in the coming years.
- Another group of 100 countries has agreed to begin to reverse deforestation by 2030.
- India did not join the group due to concerns over a clause on possible trade measures related to forest products.
Implications of US-China Joint Declaration on Climate Change for India
- Declaration was a departure for China, which had held that bilateral cooperation on climate change could not be insulated from other aspects of their relations.
- The declaration implies a shift in China’s hardline position.
- It appears both countries are moving towards a less confrontational, more cooperative relationship overall.
- This will have geopolitical implications, including for India, which may find its room for manoeuvre shrinking.
Conclusion
As in the past, the can has been kicked down the road, except that the climate road is fast approaching a dead-end. What provides a glimmer of light is the incredible and passionate advocacy of urgent action by young people across the world. This is putting enormous pressure on governments and leaders and if sustained, may become irresistible.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Glasgow Agreement
Mains level: Success and failures of Glasgow COP
The Glasgow Agreement was finally adopted after a last-minute intervention by India to water down language on “phasing out” coal to merely “phasing down”.
Glasgow Agreement
- The Glasgow meeting was the 26th session of the Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, or COP26.
- These meetings are held every year to construct a global response to climate change.
- Each of these meetings produce a set of decisions which are given different names.
- In the current case, this has been called the Glasgow Climate Pact.
- Earlier, these meetings have also delivered two treaty-like international agreements, the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 and the Paris Agreement in 2015.
What was achieved?
[1] Mitigation:
- The Glasgow agreement has emphasised that stronger action in the current decade was most critical to achieving the 1.5-degree target.
- Accordingly, it has asked/decided:
- To strengthen their 2030 climate action plans, or NDCs (nationally-determined contributions), by next year
- Establish a work programme to urgently scale-up mitigation ambition and implementation
- To convene an annual meeting of ministers to raise ambition of 2030 climate actions
- Annual synthesis report on what countries were doing
- To convene a meeting of world leaders in 2023 to scale-up ambition of climate action
- Countries to make efforts to reduce usage of coal as a source of fuel, and abolish “inefficient” subsidies on fossil fuels
- Phase-down of coal, and phase-out of fossil fuels. This is the first time that coal has been explicitly mentioned in any COP decision.
[2] Adaptation:
- Most of the countries, especially the smaller and poorer ones, and the small island states, consider adaptation to be the most important component of climate action.
- They have been demanding that at least half of all climate finance should be directed towards adaptation efforts.
- As such, the Glasgow Climate Pact has:
- Asked the developed countries to at least double the money being provided for adaptation by 2025 from the 2019 levels.
- Created a two-year work programme to define a global goal on adaptation.
[3] Finance:
- Every climate action has financial implications. It is now estimated that trillions of dollars are required every year to fund all the actions necessary to achieve the climate targets.
- Developed countries are under an obligation, due to their historical responsibility in emitting greenhouse gases.
- They need to provide finance and technology to the developing nations to help them deal with climate change.
- In 2009, developed countries had promised to mobilise at least $100 billion every year from 2020.
- The 2020 deadline has long passed but the $100 billion promise has not been fulfilled.
- The developed nations have now said that they will arrange this amount by 2023.
[4] Accounting earlier failures
The pact has:
- Expressed “deep regrets” over the failure of the developed countries to deliver on their $100 billion promise.
- It has asked them to arrange this money urgently and in every year till 2025
- Initiated discussions on setting the new target for climate finance, beyond $100 billion for the post-2025 period
- Asked the developed countries to provide transparent information about the money they plan to provide
[5] Loss and Damage:
The frequency of climate disasters has been rising rapidly, and many of these caused largescale devastation.
- There is no institutional mechanism to compensate these nations for the losses, or provide them help in the form of relief and rehabilitation.
- The loss and damage provision in the Paris Agreement seeks to address that.
- Thanks to a push from many nations, substantive discussions on loss and damage could take place in Glasgow.
- One of the earlier drafts included a provision for setting up of a facility to coordinate loss and damage activities.
[6] Carbon Markets:
- Carbon markets facilitate the trading of emission reductions.
- They are considered a very important and effective instrument to reduce overall emissions.
- A carbon market existed under Kyoto Protocol but is no longer there because the Protocol itself expired last year.
- Developing countries like India, China or Brazil have large amounts of carbon credits left over because of the lack of demand as many countries abandoned their emission reduction targets.
- The Glasgow Pact has offered some reprieve to the developing nations.
- It has allowed these carbon credits to be used in meeting countries’ first NDC targets.
Parallel Processes announced
A lot of substantial action in Glasgow happened in parallel processes that were not a part of the official COP discussions.
- India announced a Panchamrita (a mixture of five elements) of climate actions.
- Brazil would advance its net-zero target year from 2060 to 2050.
- China promised to come out with a detailed roadmap for its commitment to let emissions peak in 2030, and also for its 2060 net-zero target. Israel announced a net zero target for 2050.
- Over 100 countries pledged to reduce methane emissions by at least 30 per cent from present levels by 2030.
- Another set of over 100 countries promised to arrest and reverse deforestation by 2030.
- Over 30 countries signed on to a declaration promising to work towards a transition to 100 percent zero-emission cars by the year 2040, at least in the leading car markets of the world.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: S-400 Triumf system
Mains level: India's assertion for Strategic Autonomy
The arrival of the $5.4-billion Russian long-range surface-to-air missile defence shield “S-400” is expected next month, which is likely to generate more international headlines.
About S-400
- The S-400 is known as Russia’s most advanced long-range surface-to-air missile defence system, capable of destroying hostile strategic bombers, jets, missiles and drones at a range of 380-km.
US reservations against S-400 purchase
- The US has made it clear that the delivery of the five S-400 systems is considered a “significant transaction”.
- Such deals are considered under its Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) of 2017.
- It could trigger sanctions against Indian officials and the Government.
About CAATSA
- The CAATSA is designed to ensure that no country is able to increase military engagement with Iran, North Korea and Russia without facing deterrent punitive action from the US.
- The sanctions are unilateral, and not part of any United Nations decision, and therefore no country is bound to accept them.
- Section 231 says the President shall impose no fewer than five different sanctions on any Government that enters into a significant defence or intelligence deal with Russia.
- Section 235 lists 12 options, including stopping credit lines from US and international banks such as the IMF, blocking sales of licensed goods and technology, banning banks, manufacturers and suppliers, property transactions and even financial and visa sanctions on specific officials.
- However, the law also empowers the President to waiver sanctions or delay them if the waiver is in the US’s “vital national security interests”.
Has the US used CAATSA before for S-400 sales?
- The US has already placed sanctions on China and Turkey for purchase of the S-400.
- The sanctions included denial of export licences, ban on foreign exchange transactions, blocking of all property and interests in property within the US jurisdiction and a visa ban.
Types of sanctions laid
- In 2020, the US sanctioned its NATO partner Turkey, which it had warned about CAATSA sanctions for years, besides cancelling a deal to sell Ankara F-35 jets.
- The sanctions on Turkey’s main defence procurement agency, also included a ban on licences and loans, and blocking of credit and visas to related officials.
Likely impacts after India’s purchase
- The Biden administration has no firm indication on where it leans on India’s case.
- However, several senators (US parliamentarians) have called upon the Biden administration to consider a special waiver for India.
- This is on account of India’s importance as a defence partner, and as a strategic partner on US concerns over China and in the Quad.
- Other US leaders thinks that giving a waiver to India would be the wrong signal for others seeking to go ahead with similar deals.
Why is the S-400 deal so important to India?
- Security paradigm: S-400 is very important for India’s national security considerations due to the threats from China, Pakistan and now Afghanistan.
- Air defence capability: The system will also offset the air defence capability gaps due to the IAF’s dwindling fighter squadron strength.
- Russian legacy: Integrating the S-400 will be much easier as India has a large number of legacy Russian air defence systems.
- Strategic autonomy: For both political as well as operational reasons, the deal is at a point of no return.
Conclusion
- The deal is a way for the Government to assert its strategic autonomy.
- India had earlier agreed to stop buying Iranian oil over the threat of sanctions in 2019, a move that caused India both financial and reputational damage.
- Not giving in to the US’s unilateral sanctions would be one way to restore some of that.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, RBI Retail Direct Scheme
Mains level: Not Much
The RBI has announced proposals for the Retail Direct Scheme for investors in government securities and the Integrated Ombudsman Scheme.
What is the Retail Direct Scheme?
- Under the scheme, small investors can buy or sell government securities (G-Secs), or bonds, directly without an intermediary like a mutual fund.
- It is similar to placing funds in debt instruments such as fixed deposits in banks.
- However, the same tax rules apply to income from G-Secs.
Benefits of RDS
- With the government being the borrower, there is a sovereign guarantee for the funds and hence zero risk of default.
- Also, government securities may offer better interest rates than bank fixed deposits, depending on prevailing interest rate trends.
- For example, the latest yield on the benchmark 10-year government securities is 6.366%.
How can individuals access G-Sec offerings?
- Investors wishing to open a Retail Direct Gilt account directly with the RBI can do so through an online portal set up for the purpose of the scheme.
- Once the account is activated with the aid of a password sent to the user’s mobile phone, investors will be permitted to buy securities either in the primary market or in the secondary market.
- The minimum amount for a bid is ₹10,000 and in multiples of ₹10,000 thereafter. Payments may be made through Net banking or the UPI platform.
Why was it necessary to introduce this scheme?
- Broader investor base: The scheme would help broaden the investor base and provide retail investors with enhanced access to the government securities market — both primary and secondary.
- Institutional investment: Accessing retail investors could free up room for companies to bring funds from institutional investors which may otherwise have been cornered by the government.
- Diverse borrowing for government: This scheme would facilitate smooth completion of the Government borrowing programme in 2021-22.
- Structural reform: It is a major structural reform placing India among select few countries which have similar facilities.
Why is the RBI setting up an Integrated Ombudsman?
- Prior to the introduction of this scheme, the RBI had three different ombudsman schemes to aid dispute resolution with respect to banks, NBFCs, and non-bank pre-paid payment issuers (PPIs).
- They were operated by the RBI through 22 ombudsman offices.
- The RBI would now appoint the Ombudsman and a Deputy Ombudsman for three years.
- Complaints may be made either physically to the Centralised Receipt and Processing Centre or the RBI’s offices; or electronically through the regulator’s complaint management system.
Back2Basics: Government Securities
- These are debt instruments issued by the government to borrow money.
- The two key categories are:
- Treasury bills (T-Bills) – short-term instruments which mature in 91 days, 182 days, or 364 days, and
- Dated securities – long-term instruments, which mature anywhere between 5 years and 40 years
- T-Bills are issued only by the central government, and the interest on them is determined by market forces.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), Black Hole
Mains level: Not Much
A new research says that M87* which was imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) is not necessarily a black hole but could even be a naked singularity with a gravitomagnetic monopole.
About M-87*
- In 2019, astronomers of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) captured the first ever image of a supermassive black hole (M87*) which was located at the centre of a galaxy Messier 87.
- This black hole was calculated to be 6.5 billion times the Sun’s mass and is 55 million light years away from the Earth.
- The discovery set the world of astronomy on fire and also found a mention in the “popular information” section of the announcement of the Nobel Prize in physics for 2020.
- Andrea Ghez and Rheinhard Genzel were awarded half the share of the prize for their study of the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way galaxy, Sagittarius A*.
A black hole has two parts:
- Singularity at its core– a point that is infinitely dense, as all the remnant mass of the star is compressed into this point.
- Event horizon – an imaginary surface surrounding the singularity, and the gravity of the object is such that once anything enters this surface, it is trapped forever.
- Not even light can escape the pull of the singularity once it crosses the event horizon.
- That is why, we cannot see the singularity at the heart of a black hole but only see points outside the event horizon.
- Hence, all the physics happening within the black hole’s event horizon is indeed blocked from the view of the observer.
What is the recent explanation of M87*?
Ans. Naked Singularity
- When stars much more massive than the Sun reach the end of their lives, they collapse under their own gravity, and the product of this collapse is a black hole.
- In many scenarios of stellar collapse, the event horizon does not form, and the singularity is exposed to the outside, without any event horizon shielding it.
- This is called naked singularity.
Monopoles and gravity
- In the nineteenth century, James Clerk Maxwell unified electricity and magnetism as one combined phenomenon, showing that light is an electromagnetic wave.
- But there is an asymmetry between electricity and magnetism.
- While positive and negative electric charges can be found to exist independently, the poles of a magnet are always found in pairs, north and south bound together.
- There is an analogy between gravitational force and electromagnetism to say that mass is like electric charge and can exist independently, thus it can be called a “gravito-electric charge”.
But then, what is the gravito-magnetic charge?
- In 1963, Newman, Tamburino and Unti (NUT) proposed a theoretical concept called a “gravito-magnetic charge” also called a gravitomagnetic monopole.
- The new research has shown that M87* could be a black hole (with or without gravitomagnetic monopole) or a naked singularity (with or without gravitomagnetic monopole).
Try this PYQ:
Q. “Event Horizon” is related to:
(a) Telescope
(b) Black hole
(c) Solar glares
(d) None of the above
Post your answers here.
Back2Basics: Event Horizon Telescope (EHT)
- The EHT project is an international partnership formed in 2012.
- It is a network of 10 radio telescopes on four continents that collectively operate like a single instrument nearly the size of the Earth.
- Its main objective is to directly observe the immediate environment of a black hole.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Kaiser-i-Hind
Mains level: Not Much
An elusive swallowtail butterfly carrying ‘India’ in its name and found in next-door China will become the State butterfly of Arunachal Pradesh.
Kaiser-i-Hind
Protection status: Schedule II of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972
- Kaiser-i-Hind (Teinopalpus imperialis) literally means Emperor of India.
- This butterfly with a 90-120 mm wingspan is found in six States along the Eastern Himalayas at elevations from 6,000-10,000 feet in well-wooded terrain.
- The butterfly also flutters in Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and southern China.
- The move was made with a view to boosting butterfly tourism and saving the species from extinction in the State.
Other butterflies in news
- The Malabar Banded Peacock or the Buddha Mayoori which was recently declared the ‘State Butterfly’ of Kerala will have a dedicated butterfly park in Kochi.
- Tamil Nadu has also recently declared Tamil Yeoman (Cirrochroa Thais) as its state butterfly to symbolize its rich natural and cultural heritage.
- Other states to have state butterflies are Maharashtra (Blue Mormon), Uttarakhand (Common peacock), Karnataka (Southern birdwings).
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