PYQ Relevance
[UPSC 2022] Do you think India will meet 50 percent of its energy needs from renewable energy by 2030? Justify your answer. How will the shift of subsidies from fossil fuels to renewables help achieve the above objective? Explain.
Linkage: The question relates to India’s renewable energy transition and the feasibility of meeting its 2030 targets. The article links by emphasizing that without efficiency and subsidy realignment, rising renewable capacity alone cannot ensure a cleaner grid. |
Mentor’s Comment
India’s clean energy transition faces a paradox: even as renewable capacity doubles, the electricity flowing into homes is becoming dirtier. The rise in India’s grid emission factor despite record renewable expansion reveals deep systemic challenges, capacity-generation mismatch, demand peaks, and underutilization of renewables. This editorial decodes why energy efficiency, the “first fuel”, must become central to India’s decarbonisation strategy.
Introduction
India’s non-fossil fuel sources now account for about 50% of total installed capacity, yet its grid emission factor (GEF) has worsened from 0.703 tCO₂/MWh in 2020-21 to 0.727 tCO₂/MWh in 2023-24 (Central Electricity Authority). This anomaly highlights that while renewable capacity has expanded, fossil-fuel-based generation still dominates. To make India’s grid cleaner and more reliable, scaling up energy efficiency and flexibility is essential.
Why Is India’s Grid Getting Dirtier Despite More Renewables?
- Grid Emission Factor (GEF): This measure of carbon intensity has increased instead of falling, reflecting rising dependence on coal during peak demand hours.
- Installed capacity doesn’t always equate to generation: Renewables deliver less electricity annually compared to thermal or nuclear sources.
- Coal’s dominance: Fossil fuels continue to meet the marginal demand, making India’s grid more emission-intensive even with rising renewable capacity.
What Explains the Capacity-Generation Mismatch?
- Low capacity utilisation: Solar and wind plants run at only 15-25% utilisation, versus 65-90% for coal and nuclear.
- Temporal mismatch: Solar peaks during afternoon hours, while demand peaks at night, requiring fossil backup.
- System inflexibility: Lack of energy storage, flexible grids, and responsive pricing structures forces reliance on coal during non-solar hours.
- Data point: In 2023-24, renewables (including hydro) supplied only 22% of total electricity; the rest came from fossil fuels.
How Can Energy Efficiency Bridge the Gap?
- First fuel approach: Efficiency reduces demand before generation, lowering peak load, reducing reliance on coal during evening peaks.
- Economic benefit: Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) reports savings of 200 million tonnes of oil equivalent (MTOE) between FY2017-FY2023. This is equivalent to 1.29 GT of CO₂ and savings of ₹76,000 crore.
- Enabler of renewables: Efficiency flattens demand peaks, preventing renewable curtailment and enhancing integration of solar and wind.
- Preventing lock-in: Replacing old, inefficient technologies avoids long-term carbon lock-ins.
What Policy and Structural Changes Are Needed?
- Battery integration: Enabling homes and offices to connect storage systems for balancing demand.
- Appliance efficiency: Transition to 4-star and 5-star appliances with updated standards.
- Market mechanisms: Incentives for consumers to shift electricity usage to periods of high renewable availability.
- Scrappage policy: Phasing out inefficient fans, motors, and air conditioners through targeted rebates.
- RTC renewable procurement: Promote Round-the-Clock (RTC) renewable electricity, currently costing less than ₹5/kWh, to replace coal power.
Why Energy Efficiency Must Be at the Core of Decarbonisation Strategy
- Invisible yet indispensable: Efficiency is distributed and diffuse, but without it, India’s energy transition remains incomplete.
- Global comparison: Nations like France, Norway, and Sweden have achieved GEFs of 0.1-0.2 tCO₂/MWh via high efficiency and nuclear-hydro mix.
- India’s targets: National Electricity Plan (2023) projects India’s GEF to fall to 0.548 by 2026-27 and 0.430 by 2031-32.
- Integrated approach: A balance of renewable expansion, storage, and efficiency measures is key to achieving India’s Net Zero by 2070 target.
Conclusion
India’s clean energy paradox underscores that generation capacity alone cannot drive decarbonisation. Efficiency, flexibility, and policy coherence must shape the next phase of transition. Making energy efficiency the “first fuel” and embedding it across homes, industries, and infrastructure will determine how India powers its future while keeping its grid truly green.
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Introduction
India’s post-Green Revolution success ensured adequate food grain availability and established the foundation for food security through schemes like the Public Distribution System (PDS) and National Food Security Act (2013). However, caloric sufficiency has not translated into nutritional adequacy. Over 35% of Indian children remain stunted, and anaemia affects over half of women of reproductive age (NFHS-5). The Prime Minister’s address at ESTIC emphasizes the need for biofortified crops, sustainable fertilizers, and innovation-led solutions to make nutrition, not just food, accessible and affordable.
Why in the News
Prime Minister Modi’s call for a shift from food security to nutrition security at the first ESTIC represents a significant policy evolution. For the first time, a national scientific forum has explicitly linked agriculture, health, and technology to address malnutrition. This highlights India’s new priority: from ensuring “enough food for all” to ensuring “healthy food for all.”
What is Nutrition Security and How is it Different from Food Security?
- Food Security ensures availability and access to sufficient food to meet caloric needs.
- Nutrition Security ensures access to safe, diverse, and balanced diets that meet both energy and micronutrient requirements.
- Holistic scope: It includes food diversity, clean water, healthcare, and education, linking agriculture to overall well-being.
- Policy evolution: India’s focus must evolve from distributing cereals to promoting dietary quality, fortified foods, and local nutrition systems.
Why is Nutrition Security Critical for India?
- Persistent Malnutrition: Over three decades after economic liberalization, India still ranks low in the Global Hunger Index (111/125 in 2023).
- Hidden Hunger: Deficiencies of iron, vitamin A, zinc, and iodine affect productivity and cognitive growth.
- Economic cost: Malnutrition can cause an annual GDP loss of 2-3%, according to World Bank estimates.
- Demographic Dividend: Nutritional well-being determines the cognitive and physical potential of India’s young population.
What are the Major Challenges to Achieving Nutrition Security?
- Calorie-centric PDS: Current public distribution primarily ensures cereals (rice/wheat) with low nutritional diversity.
- Agricultural bias: Focus remains on yield maximization, not on nutrient content or crop diversification.
- Socio-cultural patterns: Poor dietary habits, gender-based food discrimination, and lack of nutrition awareness persist.
- Implementation gaps: Fragmented nutrition programmes (like ICDS, Poshan Abhiyan, Mid-day Meal) lack convergence and data monitoring.
- Climate stress: Rising temperatures affect micronutrient quality of crops and food affordability.
What Strategies Can Strengthen Nutrition Security in India
- Biofortification: Development of nutrient-rich crop varieties (e.g., iron-rich bajra, zinc wheat) to tackle hidden hunger.
- Crop diversification: Encouraging millets, pulses, and coarse grains through missions like the International Year of Millets 2023.
- Fortification of staples: Government’s push for fortified rice in all social schemes (PDS, ICDS, MDM) by 2024.
- Integrated policies: Poshan 2.0 integrates various nutrition initiatives under one umbrella for targeted delivery.
- Community-based models: Promoting local kitchen gardens and women SHGs for decentralized nutrition access.
- Nutrition-sensitive agriculture: Linking agriculture with public health goals via cross-sectoral planning and R&D.
How Can Science and Technology Catalyze Nutritional Transformation?
- Genomic mapping: Identifying crop genes that enhance micronutrient profiles and resilience.
- Low-cost fertilizers: Innovations for soil and plant health, directly impacting food nutrition levels.
- Digital nutrition monitoring: Use of AI for dietary tracking, malnutrition mapping, and localized health data.
- Clean energy for cold chains: Affordable storage systems to prevent nutrient loss post-harvest.
- Public-private R&D: Funding mechanisms like the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (₹1 lakh crore) can boost nutrition-focused innovation.
What are the Policy and Governance Interventions for Nutrition Security?
- National Nutrition Mission (Poshan Abhiyaan): Convergence-based approach using real-time monitoring and community mobilization.
- Food Fortification Policy: Fortified rice, edible oils, and milk distributed under welfare schemes.
- Mid-day Meal Scheme (PM POSHAN): Integration of eggs, fruits, and regional food habits into school nutrition.
- Anaemia Mukt Bharat & ICDS: Focused maternal and child health interventions.
- NFSA Reforms: Potential inclusion of nutrient-diverse baskets beyond rice and wheat.
- NITI Aayog’s SDG Localization: Linking nutrition with sustainable agriculture and local governance through district-level nutrition action plans.
Conclusion
India’s food story has been one of abundance without adequacy. As the nation aspires to become a developed economy by 2047, the focus must shift from feeding the population to nourishing it. Nutrition security integrates agriculture, health, gender equity, and science, symbolizing a mature, human-centered development vision. The future lies in a “Nutrition Revolution”, where innovation, inclusivity, and sustainability converge to ensure every Indian is not just fed, but well-nourished.
PYQ Relevance
[UPSC 2024] Poverty and malnutrition create a vicious cycle, adversely affecting human capital formation. What steps can be taken to break the cycle?
Linkage: It captures the core developmental challenge of transforming food sufficiency into nutrition sufficiency. It emphasizes how malnutrition erodes human capital and inclusive growth.
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Introduction
The High Seas Treaty, formally known as the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) agreement, establishes a legal framework to conserve and sustainably use marine biodiversity in areas outside national control. It covers nearly two-thirds of the ocean’s surface. Adopted under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), 1982, it aims to address threats from climate change, overfishing, and pollution through tools like Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs). Ratified by over 60 nations in 2024, it will come into effect in January 2026. This makes it one of the most comprehensive global conservation instruments after the Paris Agreement.
Why in the News?
The High Seas Treaty being ratified by 60+ nations represents a historic step in ocean governance, a domain previously beyond formal protection. For the first time, the international community has agreed on a legally binding mechanism to preserve marine life that exists outside any country’s jurisdiction. This is strikingly different from the earlier regime under UNCLOS, which lacked clear provisions for protecting biodiversity.
What is the High Seas Treaty About?
- Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ): Creates an all-inclusive framework to conserve and manage marine biodiversity beyond national boundaries.
- Marine Genetic Resources (MGRs): Recognised as a common heritage of humankind, ensuring equitable benefit-sharing between nations.
- Area-Based Management Tools (ABMTs): Establishes Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) to safeguard biodiversity and improve climate resilience and food security.
- Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs): Mandates prior assessment of projects with potential cross-border or cumulative ecological impact.
- Capacity Building and Technology Transfer: Facilitates scientific collaboration, especially for developing nations, combining modern science and indigenous knowledge.
Major Challenges with the High Seas Treaty
- Uncertainty over Core Principles
- Common Heritage vs. Freedom of High Seas: The “common heritage” principle promotes equitable access and benefit-sharing, while “freedom of the high seas” allows unrestricted navigation and resource use.
- Partial Application: The treaty applies the “common heritage” principle only partially, especially for MGRs, reflecting a compromise rather than resolution.
- Result: Creates ambiguity in rights and responsibilities of states in exploration, research, and benefit distribution.
- Ambiguity in Marine Genetic Resources (MGRs) Governance
- Undefined Governance Mechanism: Earlier, no clear framework existed for using or sharing MGRs.
- Biopiracy Concerns: Developing nations fear exploitation by developed countries, who could monopolize genetic discoveries and profits.
- Equity Gap: The lack of clarity risks excluding Global South nations from scientific and commercial benefits.
- Implementation and Enforcement Gaps
- Jurisdictional Complexity: The high seas lie beyond national boundaries, making monitoring and enforcement difficult.
- Institutional Limitations: While UNCLOS provides a broad legal foundation, there’s no dedicated global enforcement body to ensure compliance.
- Dependence on Voluntary Reporting: Could weaken accountability, especially in regulating corporate activities.
- Financial and Technological Inequities
- Unequal Capabilities: Developing countries lack access to marine technologies for monitoring and sustainable use.
- Technology Transfer Gap: The treaty mandates capacity-building, but without specific funding mechanisms, commitments may remain rhetorical.
- Risk: Could widen the North-South divide in ocean research and benefit sharing.
- Balancing Conservation and Development
- Sustainable Use vs. Conservation: Striking a balance between environmental protection and economic opportunities (like deep-sea mining or biotechnology) remains contentious.
- Unclear Prioritization: Without clear hierarchy between ecological and developmental objectives, policy conflicts may persist.
Conclusion
The High Seas Treaty represents a landmark effort to bring order and justice to the global commons. Yet, the true test lies in resolving philosophical ambiguities and ensuring equitable implementation. Without robust funding, technology sharing, and accountability mechanisms, it risks becoming another well-intentioned but weak global accord. For India, aligning its Blue Economy strategy with the treaty’s framework will be key to ensuring both ecological and economic dividends.
PYQ Relevance
[UPSC 2022] Discuss global warming and mention its effects on the global climate. Explain the control measures to bring down the level of greenhouse gases which cause global warming, in the light of the Kyoto Protocol, 1997.
Linkage: Both Kyoto Protocol and High Seas Treaty are UN-backed frameworks aimed at addressing global commons issues, air and ocean respectively.
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Why in the News?
In a historic first for India, the Madras High Court has recognized cryptocurrency as “property” under Indian law, providing judicial validation to digital assets long trapped in a regulatory grey zone.
What is Cryptocurrency?
- Overview: Cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency that uses cryptography for security, making it difficult to counterfeit or double-spend.
- Nature: It is decentralized, operating on blockchain technology — a distributed ledger maintained across a network of computers.
- Key Features: Pseudonymity, transparency, global accessibility, and independence from central banks.
- Examples: Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), and others.
- Function: Used as a medium of exchange, store of value, or investment asset, depending on its design and acceptance.
Case Details:
- Case Title: Rhutikumari vs Zanmai Labs Pvt. Ltd. (WazirX Operator) — Madras High Court, October 25, 2025.
- Context: WazirX froze the petitioner’s account after a $230 million crypto hack (July 2024), even though her assets (3,532 XRP) were unrelated to the theft.
- Petitioner’s Argument: Her cryptocurrency holdings constituted private property wrongfully frozen without due process.
- Respondent’s Defence: The freeze was a security measure, and disputes should be referred to Singapore arbitration.
- Court’s Decision: Justice N. Anand Venkatesh ruled that cryptocurrencies, though intangible, qualify as property since they can be owned, possessed, transferred, and enjoyed.
- Order: WazirX directed to deposit ₹9.56 lakh in escrow until arbitration concludes.
- Precedents Cited:
- Ruscoe v. Cryptopia Ltd (New Zealand): Crypto assets recognized as property held in trust.
- AA v. Persons Unknown (UK): Bitcoin acknowledged as an asset capable of ownership and protection.
Legal Implications of the Ruling:
- Recognition of Ownership Rights: Establishes that cryptocurrency holders have property rights enforceable under Indian civil law.
- Investor Protection: Enables crypto investors to seek injunctions, escrow relief, and proprietary claims in disputes with exchanges.
- Liability of Exchanges: Exchanges can be held accountable for wrongful freezing or security failures; “force majeure” cannot justify loss of investor assets.
- Insolvency Proceedings: Cryptocurrencies can now be treated as assets of an estate, strengthening recovery mechanisms in bankruptcy or liquidation.
- Judicial Precedent: First Indian ruling to recognise crypto as legally protectable property, likely to influence future regulatory and tax interpretation.
Legal Status of Cryptocurrency in India (as of 2025):
- Legality: Cryptocurrencies are not legal tender but are legal to hold, trade, and invest within a regulated framework.
- Taxation:
- Classified as Virtual Digital Assets (VDAs) under the Finance Act, 2022.
- 30% tax on gains; 1% TDS on trades above threshold limits.
- Regulatory Oversight:
- RBI: Monitors systemic risk; does not recognize crypto as currency.
- SEBI: Supervises investment-related aspects.
- FIU-IND: Enforces anti–money laundering compliance under PMLA (2023 extension).
- Judicial Framework: Supreme Court (2020) struck down the 2018 RBI ban, enabling continued operation of exchanges.
- RBI Policy Direction:
- Promotes Digital Rupee (CBDC) as a regulated alternative.
- Allows limited banking access to compliant crypto entities under strict KYC/AML rules.
Conclusion:
- Crypto is legal to own and trade, taxable as VDA, non-tender, and subject to compliance norms.
- The Madras High Court ruling elevates its status from a digital asset to a judicially recognized form of property, filling a key legal gap in India’s crypto regulation.
| [UPSC 2020] Discuss how emerging technologies and globalisation contribute to money laundering. Elaborate measures to tackle the problem of money laundering both at national and international levels?
[UPSC 2019] What is Cryptocurrency? How does it affect global society? Has it been affecting Indian society also? |
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Why in the News?
In 2025, foreign investors have invested only about ₹69,000 crore ($7.8 billion) nearly half than expected, into Indian government bonds, even though the rules were made simpler and more flexible under the Fully Accessible Route (FAR) to attract more investment.
What is Fully Accessible Route (FAR)?
- Overview: A special investment framework launched by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in March 2020 to attract foreign investment in Indian government securities (G-secs).
- Purpose: Aims to liberalise India’s debt market, enhance foreign participation, and integrate it with global financial systems.
- Eligible Investors: Open to Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs), Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), and Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs) without investment caps.
- Key Feature: Permits unlimited foreign investment in designated government bonds with free buy–sell access and no quantitative ceiling.
- Liquidity & Integration: Designed to improve bond market depth, diversify funding sources, and boost India’s visibility in global debt indices.
- Repatriation Freedom: Allows investors to repatriate capital and profits freely to their home countries.
- Global Milestone: In June 2024, JP Morgan included 29 Indian G-secs under FAR in its Emerging Market Bond Index (EMBI), marking India’s debut in major global bond benchmarks.
Comparison with Other Routes:
- Medium Term Framework (MTF): Allows foreign investment in G-secs but with limits and conditions on exposure and tenure.
- Voluntary Retention Route (VRR): Permits FPIs to invest in G-secs provided they retain investments for a minimum period, ensuring stable long-term inflows.
Complementary Function: FAR, MTF, and VRR operate together, providing flexibility in investment terms and balancing market stability with foreign access. |
Why were higher inflows expected?
- Projected Inflows: Index inclusion in 2024–25 was expected to attract $20–25 billion from global institutional and index-tracking investors.
- Attractiveness Factors: India’s 7% stable yields, macroeconomic strength, and favourable risk–return ratio made it a promising destination for long-term capital.
- Actual Outcome: Only $10.7 billion flowed in during 2024-25: well below expectations.
- Key Reasons:
- Global monetary uncertainty: investors awaited clarity on the US Federal Reserve’s rate policy.
- Domestic caution: RBI removed 14- and 30-year bonds from FAR in 2024 to reduce volatility.
- Geopolitical tensions and FPI withdrawals from equities reduced investor appetite.
- Significance: Despite lower inflows, FAR remains a structural reform strengthening India’s position as a globally accessible and competitive bond market.
| [UPSC 2024] Consider the following statements:
1. In India, Non-Banking Financial Companies can access the Liquidity Adjustment Facility window of the Reserve Bank of India.
2. In India, Foreign Institutional Investors can hold the Government Securities (G-Secs).
3. In India, Stock Exchanges can offer separate trading platforms for debts.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Options: (a) 1 and 2 only (b) 3 only (c) 1, 2 and 3 (d) 2 and 3 only* |
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Why in the News?
At Pampadum Shola National Park, invasive Australian wattles are being removed and native grasslands restored naturally leading streams to flow again and biodiversity to rejuvenate.
About Pampadum Shola National Park:
- Location: Situated in Idukki district, Kerala, near the Tamil Nadu border, about 35 km from Munnar.
- Area & Status: Smallest NP in Kerala (11.753 sq km); declared in 2003 to protect the shola–grassland ecosystem.
- Landscape: Lies at 1,600–2,400 m elevation within the Anamalai–High Range landscape, part of the Anamudi Sub-cluster (UNESCO World Heritage Site).
- Hydrology: Serves as a watershed for the Pambar and Vaigai Rivers, vital to Tamil Nadu’s plains.
- Flora & Fauna: Features evergreen forests, moist deciduous patches, and montane grasslands; key species include Nilgiri Marten, Kerala Laughing Thrush, Nilgiri Tahr, and Indian Giant Squirrel.
- Restoration Efforts: Ecological restoration (2020–2024) underway, removal of invasive Australian wattles (Acacia mearnsii) has revived native grasslands and streams.
- Climate & Tourism: Experiences cool, misty weather (6°C–30°C) with dual monsoons; regulated trekking under Forest Department supervision.
What are Shola Forests?
- Overview: Tropical montane evergreen forests found above 1,600 m in the Western Ghats across Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka.
- Etymology: Derived from Tamil word “solai”, meaning sacred grove or thicket.
- Structure: Occur as a mosaic of stunted evergreen forests and grasslands, forming the shola–grassland ecosystem.
- Floral Composition: Dominated by Michelia nilagirica, Rhododendron, Eurya, Schefflera, and Elaeocarpus species with rich epiphyte growth.
- Ecological Role: Act as natural sponges, absorbing rain, recharging aquifers, and feeding perennial rivers like Cauvery, Bhavani, Vaigai, and Thamirabarani.
- Biodiversity: Support high endemism, harbouring Nilgiri Tahr, Lion-tailed Macaque, Nilgiri Pipit, and other rare fauna.
|
| [UPSC 2020] Which of the following Protected Areas are located in Cauvery basin?
1. Nagarhole National Park
2. Papikonda National Park
3. Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve
4. Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 and 2 only (b) 3 and 4 only (c) 1, 3 and 4 only * (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4 |
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Why in the News?
Researchers from Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, reported alarming levels of heavy metal pollution in the Cauvery River and its fish species, warning against excessive consumption.
Key Findings of the Study:
- Scope & Period: Conducted August 2023–February 2024, covering 18 sediment and 10 fish-sampling sites, analysing chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn).
- Contamination Levels: Several rivers stretches showed cadmium and lead concentrations exceeding international safety limits in both sediments and fish tissues.
- Pollution Hotspots: The Erode stretch emerged as the most polluted, influenced by textile dyeing, electroplating, tannery effluents, urban sewage, and agricultural runoff.
- Bioaccumulation Pattern: Metal concentration followed the trend, liver > gills > muscle, reflecting tissue-specific accumulation in aquatic species.
- Toxic Metal Dominance: Cadmium and lead were identified as the most toxic, persistent, and bioaccumulative, posing long-term ecological and health hazards.
Risks Associated:
- Ecological Impact:
- Heavy metals disrupt fish reproduction, growth, and survival, destabilising aquatic food webs.
- Sediment toxicity alters microbial and plankton communities, reducing biodiversity and ecosystem resilience.
- Human Health Risks:
- Consumption of contaminated fish can cause carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic effects, particularly from cadmium and lead.
- Cadmium affects kidneys and bones, while lead impairs nervous and cognitive functions, especially in children.
- Chronic exposure linked to liver dysfunction, hypertension, and cancer.
- Safe Consumption Limit:
- Researchers recommend ≤2 fish servings/week (250 g each) to minimise health risk.
- Continuous intake leads to cumulative toxicity and higher disease risk.
Back2Basics: Bioaccumulation and Biomagnification
What is Bioaccumulation?
- Overview: It is the gradual buildup of toxic substances, such as heavy metals or pesticides, in the tissues of living organisms over time.
- Mechanism: When uptake (from food, water, or sediment) exceeds the rate of excretion, contaminants accumulate within the organism’s body.
- Example: Fish in the Cauvery absorb cadmium and lead from contaminated sediments and water faster than they can eliminate them, leading to higher internal concentrations than in their environment.
What is Biomagnification?
- Overview: It refers to the progressive increase in the concentration of toxins as they move up the food chain.
- Process: Smaller aquatic organisms ingest pollutants → fish eat these organisms → humans consume contaminated fish, resulting in magnified exposure.
- Consequence: Top predators, including humans, end up with the highest toxin concentrations, making biomagnification a significant public health hazard in contaminated ecosystems.
|
| [UPSC 2024] With reference to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that are used in making many consumer products, consider the following statements:
1. PFAS are found to be widespread in drinking water, food, and food packaging materials.
2. PFAS are not easily degraded in the environment.
3. Persistent exposure to PFAS can lead to bioaccumulation in animal bodies.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Options: (a) 1 and 2 only (b) 2 and 3 only (c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1,2 and 3* |
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Why in the News?
The National Beekeeping and Honey Mission (2020–21 to 2025–26) is set to conclude this fiscal year.
About National Beekeeping & Honey Mission (NBHM):
- Overview: A Central Sector Scheme (2020) under Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, promoting scientific beekeeping and driving a “Sweet Revolution” for rural income enhancement.
- Implementing Agency: Executed by the National Bee Board (NBB) under the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare.
- Financial Outlay: ₹500 crore for FY 2020–21 to 2025–26.
- Core Aim: Boost honey production, pollination-based crop productivity, and farmers’ income through structured beekeeping and processing infrastructure.
- Technology & Quality Focus: Promotes traceability, quality assurance, and digital registration via the Madhukranti Portal.
- Implementation Structure:
-
- Mini Mission–I: Enhances honey and hive product production through scientific beekeeping and pollination.
- Mini Mission–II: Focuses on post-harvest management, collection, processing, storage, marketing, and value addition.
- Mini Mission–III: Supports research, innovation, and capacity building for technology-driven solutions.
- Institutional Network: Coordinated by NBB, involving NDDB, NAFED, TRIFED, ICAR, KVIC, SRLM/NRLM, and MSME bodies at national and state levels.
Achievements & Progress:
- Production & Exports: India produced 1.4 lakh MT honey (2024); exported 1.07 lakh MT worth USD 177.55 million (FY 2023–24), rising to 2nd globally from 9th in 2020.
- Infrastructure Development: Established 6 world-class labs, 47 mini labs, 6 diagnostic labs, 8 hiring centres, 26 processing units, 18 branding units, and 10 cold storages.
- Research Hub: National Centre of Excellence in Beekeeping set up at IIT Roorkee for innovation and training.
- Empowerment Initiatives: 167 SHG projects, 97 FPOs, 424 ha demonstrations, and 288 ha bee-friendly plantations sanctioned for livelihood diversification.
- Digital Integration: Madhukranti Portal hosts 14,859 beekeepers, 269 societies, 206 companies, with blockchain-based traceability for export-grade quality.
- Policy Support: Minimum Export Price (MEP) of USD 2,000/MT (till Dec 2024) set to curb dumping of inferior honey and safeguard domestic producers.
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