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  • Food Procurement and Distribution – PDS & NFSA, Shanta Kumar Committee, FCI restructuring, Buffer stock, etc.

    Budget’s big worry: the food subsidy

    | Agriculture | Mains Paper 3: Issues Related To Farm Subsidies & Msp,PDS, Buffer Stock & Food Security

    The article highlights the challenge of managing the procurement of wheat and rice at MSP by the FCI and maintaining its financial health.

    The problem of surplus in wheat and rice procurement

    • While MSP is declared for 23 crops, the biggest financial burden comes from wheat and rice.
    • Procurement has increased significantly with states like MP, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Odisha stepping up their efforts.
    • Overall procurement of rice and wheat has gone up to 52 million tonnes and 39 million tonnes, respectively.
    • The requirement of PDS and welfare schemes is about 60 million tonnes.
    • This leaves a surplus of about 30 million tonnes, in addition to the carry-over stock of about 42 million tonnes (current)—far above the buffer and strategic reserve norms.

    Cost of the surplus and its significance

    • The subsidy burden for rice and wheat (2020-21) is estimated to be Rs 1.8 lakh crore.
    • FCI procures wheat and rice at MSP (some states do so under the decentralised procurement & distribution scheme).
    • They incur costs like market fees, labour charges, packing costs, transport, storage charges, etc.
    • These are of the order of 9% for procurement, 9-11% for labour and transport, and 15-17% for distribution.
    • The sale price is fixed at Rs 2 and Rs 3 per kg for wheat and rice, respectively, under the National Food Security Act.
    • In addition, there are releases under LEAN (lower entitlements and higher costs compared to NFSA cards, but subsidised nonetheless) and Open Market Sales (OMSS).
    • Cost of holding the buffer for a year is about Rs 5,500 per tonne.
    • FCI is holding 39 million tonnes of rice and 55 million tonnes of wheat (July 2020) against the buffer/strategic reserve norm of 13.5 million tonnes of rice and 27.6 million tonnes of wheat, i.e., a surplus of 52 million tonnes.
    • The cost of holding this stock works out to Rs 29,000 crore per year.

    Financial burden on FCI

    • The finance ministry has not been able to allocate adequate funds to meet the full requirement of food subsidy.
    • Under-provisioning on this account has been going on, and FCI was being given loans at 8% interest from the National Savings Scheme Fund (NSSF) since 2016-17.
    • The outstanding loan on this account (October 31, 2020) is Rs 2,93,000 crore.
    • This has meant FCI getting zero budgetary support against current subsidy claims since 2017, thereby, postponing the problem year after year.
    • The subsidy burden is rising (with MSP increasing every year, quantities going up and prices under PDS fixed), and is likely to cross Rs 2 lakh crore.

    Conclusion

    Government need to bring in the reforms in the PDS and MSP regime to stop both the systems from collapsing under their own weights.

    Source:-

    https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/union-budget-2021-22-the-burgeoning-food-subsidy-bill-will-be-a-key-budget-worry/2155584/

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  • Climate Change Negotiations – UNFCCC, COP, Other Conventions and Protocols

    Five years since Paris Agreement, an opportunity to build back better

    op-ed snap | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia

    This article by the Ambassador of the European Union underscores the need for implementation and action on the commitments made in the Paris Agreement to deal with climate change.

    EU’s commitment to implement Paris Agreement

    • In December 2019, the European Commission launched the European Green Deal — roadmap to achieve climate neutrality in the EU by 2050.
    •  “Next Generation EU” recovery package and our next long-term budget earmark more than half a trillion euros to address climate change.
    • Recently  EU leaders unanimously agreed on the 2030 target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% compared to 1990 levels.

    Impact on low carbon technologies

    • These actions and commitments of the EU towards Paris Agreement will further bring down the costs of low carbon technologies.
    • The cost of solar photovoltaics has already declined by 82% between 2010 and 2019.
    • Achieving the 55% target will even help us to save €100 billion in the next decade and up to €3 trillion by 2050.

    EU working with India on climate actions

    • No government can tackle climate change alone.
    •  India is a key player in this global endeavour.
    • The rapid development of solar and wind energy in India in the last few years is a good example of the action needed worldwide.
    • India has taken a number of very significant flagship initiatives such as the International Solar Alliance, the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure and the Leadership Group for Industry Transition.
    • India and Team Europe are engaged to make a success of the forthcoming international gatherings: COP 26 in Glasgow on climate change and COP 15 in Kunming on biodiversity.

    Way forward

    • The international community should come forward with clear strategies for net-zero emissions and to enhance the global level of ambition for 2030.
    • Our global, regional, national, local and individual recovery plans are an opportunity to ‘build back better’.
    • We will also need to foster small individual actions to attain a big collective impact.

    Conclusion

    With climate neutrality as our goal, the world should mobilise its best scientists, business people, policymakers, academics, civil society actors and citizens to protect together something we all share beyond borders and species: our planet.

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  • Foreign Policy Watch: India-China

    The new League of Nations

    op-ed snap | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and agreements involving India

    Despite China’s rise, the world will remain committed to multi-polar order. The article highlights the emerging trends in the global order against the backdrop of a pandemic and explains how there could be an opportunity for India.

    Changing geopolitical landscape and choices India face

    • As the world is slowly recovering from the disruption caused by the pandemic, there are worrying intimations of other crises looming round the corner.
    • Geopolitics has been transformed and power equations are being altered.
    • There are a new set of winners and losers in the economic changes.
    • Technological advancement will magnify these changes.
    • India will need to make difficult judgements about the world that is taking shape and find its place in a more complex and shifting geopolitical landscape.
    • As the pandemic recedes, the world could draw the right lessons and proceed on a more hopeful trajectory.

    Unlearnt lessons: lack of international cooperation

    • Most challenges the world faces are global, like the pandemic.
    • However, international cooperation in either developing an effective vaccine or responding to its health impacts has been minimal.
    • The pre-existing trend towards nationalist urgings, the weakening of international institutions and multilateral processes continues.
    • Even in the distribution of vaccines, we are witnessing a cornering of supplies by a handful of rich nations.

    Need for a collaborative solution

    • Global challenges such as climate change, cybersecurity, space security, terrorism, drug trafficking, money laundering and ocean and terrestrial pollution demand collaborative, not competitive solutions.
    • The challenges require some display of statesman-like leadership to mobilise action on a global scale.
    • The nation-state will endure but its conduct will need to be tempered by a spirit of internationalism and a sense of common humanity.

    Role of China and Asia

    • The pre-pandemic shift in the centre of gravity of the global economy and political power and influence, from the trans-Atlantic to the trans-Pacific, has been reinforced under the impact of the crisis.
    • East Asian and South-East Asian countries are the first to register the green shoots of recovery.
    • China has been the first large economy to witness a significant rebound in its growth rate.
    • The regional supply chains centred on China have been reinforced rather than disrupted.
    • China will emerge in pole position in the geopolitical sweepstakes commencing in 2021.
    • The power gap with its main rival, the US, will shrink further.

    Why should India prefer multi-polar world order

    • As the power gap between India and China is expanding, the threat from China will intensify and demand asymmetrical coping strategies.
    • Despite China emerging a relative gainer from the pandemic the trend towards multi-polarity is here to stay.
    • Neither the US nor China can singly or as a duopoly manage a much more diffused distribution of economic and military capabilities across the globe.
    • This is only possible through multilateral approaches and adherence to the principle of equitable burden-sharing.
    • But a multipolar order can only be stable and keep the peace with a consensus set of norms, managed through empowered institutions of international governance and multilateral processes.
    • India’s instinctive preference has been for a multipolar order as the best assurance of its security and as most conducive to its own social and economic development.
    • India now has the opportunity to make multipolar order as its foreign policy priority as this aligns with the interests of a large majority of middle and emerging powers.
    • This will be an important component of a strategy to meet the China challenge.

    The favourable geopolitical moment for India

    • Due to China’s aggressive posture across the board and its unilateral assertions of power, there is a significant push-back even from smaller countries, for example, in South-East Asia and Africa.
    • China’s blatant “weaponisation of economic interdependence” such as action against Australia, has made its economic partners increasingly wary.
    • In this context, India is seen as a potential and credible countervailing power to resist Chinese ambitions.
    • The world wants India to succeed because it is regarded as a benign power wedded to a rule-based order.
    • India can leverage this propitious moment to encourage a significant flow of capital, technology and knowledge to accelerate its own modernisation.

    Consider the question “Though it may sound counterintuitive, India which is dealing with pessimism about its economic prospect in the wake of the pandemic, may be located at favourable geopolitical moment” Comment.

    Conclusion

    India should seize the opportunity and make multi-polar world order a pillar of its foreign policy to counter China threat while trying to leverage the moment to attract the flow of capital, technology and knowledge to accelerate its own modernisation.

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  • Foreign Policy Watch: India-China

    Tibetan Policy and Support Act (TPSA)

    IOCR | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: Effect Of Policies & Politics Of World On India’S Interests

    The US and China sparred over Tibet and the South China Sea over the passing of the Tibetan Policy and Support Act (TPSA).

    Do you think that India’s support for the Tibetan cause is the root cause of all irritants in India-China relations?

    About TPSA

    • The TPSA once signed into law would make it the official policy of the US Government to oppose any effort by the govt. of the People’s Republic of China to select, educate, and venerate Tibetan Buddhist religious leaders in a manner inconsistent with Tibetan Buddhism.
    • The proposed legislation will empower the US Government to impose sanctions on China who might try to interfere in the process of selecting the next incarnation of the Dalai Lama.

    Why such a law?

    • Tibetans were concerned over the possibility of the Chinese Government making an attempt to install someone loyal to it as the 15th Dalai Lama after the death of the incumbent.
    • The PRC could use him as a puppet to fizzle out the global campaign against its occupation of Tibet.
    • The incumbent and the 14th Dalai Lama have been living in exile in India ever since his 1959 escape from Tibet, which had been occupied by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in 1950-51.
    • He has been leading the movement for “genuine autonomy” for Tibet and the Tibetans.

    Significance of TPSA

    • The TPSA acknowledged the legitimacy of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile elected by the exiled community as well as the CTA.
    • It seeks to introduce key provisions aimed at protecting the environment and water resources on the Tibetan Plateau.
    • In an aggressive move, the PRC government has forced resettlement of the nomads from grasslands.
    • TPSA recognizes the importance of traditional Tibetan grassland stewardship in mitigating the negative effects of climate change in the region.
    • In addition, it calls for greater international cooperation to monitor the environment on the Tibetan plateau.

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  • Health Sector – UHC, National Health Policy, Family Planning, Health Insurance, etc.

    No need for a Two-Child Policy

    | | Mains Paper 1: Population & Associated Issues

    The latest data from the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5) proves that the country’s population is stabilizing and fears over a “population explosion” and calls for a “two-child policy” is misguided.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Economic growth in country X will necessarily have to occur if

    (a) There is technical progress in the world economy

    (b) There is population growth in X

    (c) There is capital formation in X

    (d) The volume of trade grows in the world economy

    Two-Child Policy

    • The two-child policy is a state-imposed limit of two children allowed per family or the payment of government subsidies only to the first two children.
    • A two-child policy has previously been used in several countries including Iran, Singapore, and Vietnam.
    • In British Hong Kong in the 1970s, citizens were also highly encouraged to have two children as a limit (although it was not mandated by law), and it was used as part of the region’s family planning strategies.
    • Since 2016, it has been re-implemented in China replacing the country’s previous one-child policy.

    Present status in India

    • There is no national policy mandating two children per family.
    • A parliamentarian had tabled a Bill in the Rajya Sabha in 2019 on the matter, proposing incentives for smaller families.
    • PM in 2019 had appealed to the country that population control was a form of patriotism.
    • Months later, the NITI Aayog called various stakeholders for a national-level consultation on the issue, which was subsequently cancelled following media glare on it.
    • In 2020, the PM spoke about a likely decision on revising the age of marriage for women, which many stakeholders view as an indirect attempt at controlling the population size.

    Why doesn’t India need it?

    • The survey provides evidence of uptake in the use of modern contraceptives in rural and urban areas.
    • It gives an improvement in family planning demands being met and a decline in the average number of children borne by a woman.
    • The report stated that most States have attained replacement level fertility, i.e., the average number of children born per woman at whom a population exactly replaces itself from one generation to the next.

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  • Innovations in Sciences, IT, Computers, Robotics and Nanotechnology

    Why the universe has less ‘antimatter’ than matter?

    Prelims Only | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: Awareness in various sc and tech fields

    This newscard is an excerpt from the original article published in DownToEarth.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.The known forces of nature can be divided into four classes, viz, gravity, electromagnetism, weak nuclear force and strong nuclear force. With reference to them, which one of the following statements is not correct?

    (a) Gravity is the strongest of the four

    (b) Electromagnetism act only on particles with an electric charge

    (c) Weak nuclear force causes radioactivity

    (d) Strong nuclear force holds protons and neutrons inside the nuclear of an atom.

    What is Antimatter?

    • Antimatter is the opposite of normal matter. More specifically, the sub-atomic particles of antimatter have properties opposite those of normal matter.
    • The electrical charge of those particles is reversed.
    • Antimatter was created along with matter after the Big Bang, but antimatter is rare in today’s universe.
    • To better understand antimatter, one needs to know more about the matter.
    • The matter is made up of atoms, which are the basic units of chemical elements such as hydrogen, helium or oxygen.

    Their existence

    • The existence of antimatter was predicted by physicist Paul Dirac’s equation describing the motion of electrons in 1928.
    • At first, it was not clear if this was just a mathematical quirk or a description of a real particle.
    • But in 1932 Carl Anderson discovered an antimatter partner to the electron — the positron — while studying cosmic rays that rain down on Earth from space.
    • Over the next few decades’ physicists found that all matter particles have antimatter partners.
    • Scientists believe that in the very hot and dense state shortly after the Big Bang, there must have been processes that gave preference to matter over antimatter.
    • This created a small surplus of matter, and as the universe cooled, all the antimatter was destroyed, or annihilated, by an equal amount of matter, leaving a tiny surplus of matter.
    • And it is this surplus that makes up everything we see in the universe today.

    Studying the difference between matter and antimatter

    • A Quark is a type of elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter.
    • Quarks combine to form composite particles called hadrons, the most stable of which are protons and neutrons, the components of atomic nuclei.
    • The behaviour of quarks, which are the fundamental building blocks of matter along with leptons, can shed light on the difference between matter and antimatter.
    • Since they are unstable, they will “decay” — fall apart — into other more stable particles at some point during their oscillation.

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  • Wildlife Conservation Efforts

    Firefly Bird Diverters’ to save the Great Indian Bustard (GIB)

    Prelims Only | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia

    The Environment Ministry along with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) India has come up with a unique initiative a “firefly bird diverter” for overhead power lines in areas where Great Indian Bustard (GIB) populations are found in the wild.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Which one of the following groups of animals belongs to the category of endangered species?

    (a) Great Indian Bustard, Musk Deer, Red Panda, Asiatic Wild Ass

    (b) Kashmir Stag, Cheetah, Blue Bull, Great Indian Bustard.

    (c) Snow Leopard, Swamp Deer, Rhesus Monkey, Saras (Crane)

    (d) Lion Tailed Macaque, Blue Bull, Hanuman Langur, Cheetah

    Great Indian Bustard

    • The GIB is one of the heaviest flying birds and can weigh up to 15 kg which grows up to one metre in height.
    • In July 2011, the bird was categorised as “critically endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
    • It is considered the flagship grassland species, representing the health of the grassland ecology.
    • For long, conservationists have been demanding to secure this population, warning that the bird might get extinct in the coming decades.
    • It would become the first mega species to disappear from India after Cheetah in recent times.
    • Till the 1980s, about 1,500-2,000 Great Indian Bustards were spread throughout the western half of India, spanning eleven states.
    • However, with rampant hunting and declining grasslands, their population dwindled.

    Bird Diverters

    • The diverters are called fireflies because they look like fireflies from a distance, shining on power lines in the night.
    • GIBs are one of the heaviest flying birds in India. Therefore, when they encounter these wires, they are unable to change the direction of their flight.
    • Death is most cases is due to impact with the wires and not due to electrocution.
    • The diverter will not only save GIB but other species of large birds, including migratory birds.

    Why such a move?

    • GIB is one of the most critically threatened species in India, with less than 150 birds left in the wild.
    • A report has pointed out that power lines, especially high-voltage transmission lines with multiple overhead wires, are the most important current threat for GIBs in the Thar region.
    • They are causing unsustainably high mortality in about 15% of their population.

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  • Foreign Policy Watch: India – EU

    India’s new Europolitik

    | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and agreements involving India

    The article explains the shift in India’s foreign policy in its relations with the European middle powers against the backdrop of churn in the geopolitics.

    India’s changing perception of Europe

    • Three recent developments underline India’s changing perceptions of Europe.
    • 1) India’s support for France’s membership of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA).
    • 2) India’s backing for a larger European role in the Indo-Pacific.
    • Delhi has welcomed the interest of Germany and the Netherlands in building a new geopolitical architecture in the Indo-Pacific.
    • 3) Security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific is also emerging as an important theme in partnership between India and the U.K.

    Reasons for India’s shift

    • India is looking beyond the bipolar geopolitical competition between the US and China.
    • Delhi also wants to insure against the inevitable volatility in the complex dynamic between Washington and Beijing.
    • To cope with the uncertain political trajectory of the US, Delhi is already supplementing its American partnership with a network of multilateral groups with other middle powers, such as the India-Australia-Japan forum and the trilateral dialogue with France and Australia.

    Rebuilding ties with Europe and challenges

    • Rebuilding ties with Europe needs a significant corrective to Delhi’s traditional strategic neglect of the continent.
    • The bipolar Cold War dynamic and the North-South framework developing world versus the developed prevented Delhi from taking a more nuanced view of Europe’s political agency after WWII.
    • Attempts to impart strategic momentum after the Cold War did not really succeed.
    • As the economic gap between China and India widened, so did the scale of European interest in both countries.
    • It is also true that the European ability to project military power into the Indo-Pacific is limited.
    • But in combination with Asian democracies, Europe can certainly make a difference.
    • It can mobilize massive economic resources, wield political influence, and leverage its significant soft power to shape the Indo-Pacific discourse.

    An exceptional relationship with Frace

    • France has been an exception in Europe in its connection with India.
    • India’s partnership with France now has a strong regional anchor — the Indo-Pacific as it has its territories in the Western Indian Ocean and the South Pacific.
    • France and Britain have lingering disputes leftover from the era of decolonization in parts of the Western Indian Ocean.
    • India will have to contribute to the amicable resolution of those problems.

    Consider the question “A strong coalition with the European middle powers should be the indispensable element of India’s foreign policy in the face of changing geopolitical circumstances. Comment.”

    Conclusion

    As China transforms the Eurasian landmass as well as the Indo-Pacific, it is abundantly clear that the US alone cannot redress the imbalance. A strong coalition of Asian and European middle powers must now be an indispensable element of the geopolitics of the East. Such a coalition can’t be built overnight. But India could push for a solid start in 2021.

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  • Telecom and Postal Sector – Spectrum Allocation, Call Drops, Predatory Pricing, etc

    Spectrum auction

    op-ed snap | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Effects Of Liberalization On The Economy, Changes In Industrial Policy and their effects on Industrial Growth,Indian Economy

    The article analyses the factors influencing the outcome of the spectrum auction and suggests the measures to ensure the success and avoid the repeat of 2016 auction.

    Details of the auction

    • Based on the recommendation of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the government is planning to auction spectrum in the sub GHz bands of 700, 800, and 900 MHz along with mid-band frequencies in bands of 1800, 2100, 2300, and 2500 MHz across the 22 Licensed Service Areas (LSAs) of the country.
    • The cumulative reserve price — and hence the potential revenue accrual to the government at reserve prices — is about $50 billion.
    • The total reserve price of spectrum put on auction in 2016 was about $90 billion while the realized value was just about one-tenth of that.
    • Hence, while the 2016 auction could be considered as a failure from the auctioneer’s point of view.

    Factors determining the success of  the spectrum auction

    1) Right reserve price

    • Research on a cross-country spectrum database shows that the reserve price significantly and positively correlated to the winning bid price.
    • However, a higher reserve price also inhibits bidders from bidding for more spectrum blocks.
    • If the quantity effect is more than the price effect, then it results in reduced revenues for the government exchequer, as happened in 2016.

    2) Role of Over The Top (OTT) provider

    • Over The Top (OTT) providers who are providing substitute goods such as Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP); and capturing a greater mind share of customers while remaining relatively invisible to government regulators.
    • The rise of VoIP subscribers could have a positive effect on winning bid prices.
    • However, the erosion of the position of telcos in the overall digital value network of devices, connectivity, and apps, could result in a lower willingness to pay.

    3) Allocation of unlicensed spectrum for WiFi

    • By off-loading mobile data, Wi-Fi supplements the carrier network and reduces the demand for mobile network capacity.
    • A number of countries including the United States have unlicensed the V-band spectrum in 60 GHz — pencil beam band.
    • Referred to as “wireless fiber”, the 60 GHz spectrum provides huge capacities in a limited area.
    • Wi-Fi 6 (a.k.a. IEEE 802.11 ax) that operates in the 2.4/5 GHz unlicensed band requires additional unlicensed spectrum allocation to provide Gigabit speeds.
    • The more the unlicensed spectrum allocation, the lower will be the demand for licensed spectrum.

    4) Clarity on the availability of spectrum for auction

    • While there is an indication by the government that the spectrum for the 5G auction, namely 3.4-3.6 GHz, will be held in late 2021, the amount of spectrum that will be made available is not clear.
    • There is still uncertainty about the release of 26 GHz by the Department of Space for mobile services.
    • With this limited visibility, the bidders will be in a quandary whether to acquire the spectrum now or wait for subsequent auctions.
    • Further, some part of the current spectrum holding of all the operators is coming up for renewal in mid-2021, and hence there is additional pressure on them to retain them in the forthcoming auction.

    Steps need to be taken

    • A re-visit of reserve prices and lower it further, especially that of 700 MHz which is the “golden band” for covering the hinterlands of the country.
    • Releasing more unlicensed spectrum in 2.4/5/60 GHz for proliferating Wi-Fi as a suitable complement to [the] carrier network.
    • This will also augment the deployments of the Public Wi-Fi project which the cabinet approved recently.
    • Provide visibility of future auctions, especially the quantum of the spectrum that can be put on the block in 3.3/3.6/26/28 GHz.
    • The government should release guidelines on how OTT platforms will be regulated and what will be regulated so that the telcos and OTTs can join hands to provide superior services for the benefit of the consumers.

    Conclusion

    The government should follow the steps mentioned here to make the auction of the spectrum a success.

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  • Global Geological And Climatic Events

    What is Winter Solstice?

    Prelims Only | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 1: Geographical Features & Their Location

    Yesterday, December 21, was Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, conversely, it was Summer Solstice, the year’s longest day.

    Try this MCQ:

    Q.On 21st June, the Sun

    (a) Does not set below the horizon at the Arctic Circle

    (b) Does not set below the horizon at Antarctic Circle

    (c) Shines vertically overhead at noon on the Equator

    (d) Shines vertically overhead at the Tropic of Capricorn

    Why are the hours of daylight, not the same every day?

    • The explanation lies in Earth’s tilt.
    • And it’s not just the Earth — every planet in the Solar System is tilted relative to their orbits, all at different angles.
    • The Earth’s axis of rotation is tilted at an angle of 23.5° to its orbital plane.
    • This tilt — combined with factors such as Earth’s spin and orbit — leads to variations in the duration of sunlight than any location on the planet receives on different days of the year.

    Impact of the tilted axis

    • The Northern Hemisphere spends half the year tilted in the direction of the Sun, getting direct sunlight during long summer days.
    • During the other half of the year, it tilts away from the Sun, and the days are shorter.
    • Winter Solstice, December 21, is the day when the North Pole is most tilted away from the Sun.
    • The tilt is also responsible for the different seasons that we see on Earth.
    • The side facing the Sun experiences day, which changes to night as Earth continues to spin on its axis.

    Un-impacted regions

    • On the Equator, day and night are equal. The closer one moves towards the poles, the more extreme the variation.
    • During summer in either hemisphere, that pole is tilted towards the Sun and the polar region receives 24 hours of daylight for months.
    • Likewise, during winter, the region is in total darkness for months.

    Celebrations associated with the Winter Solstice

    • For centuries, this day has had a special place in several communities due to its astronomical significance and is celebrated in many ways across the world.
    • Jewish people call the Winter Solstice ‘Tekufat Tevet’, which marks the start of winter.
    • Ancient Egyptians celebrated the birth of Horus, the son of Isis (divine mother goddess) for 12 days during mid-winter.
    • In China, the day is celebrated by families coming together for a special meal.
    • In the Persian region, it is celebrated as Yalda or Shab-e-Yalda. The festival marks the last day of the Persian month of Azar and is seen as the victory of light over darkness.
    • Families celebrate Yalda late into the night with special foods such as ajeel nuts, pomegranates and watermelon, and recite works of the 14th century Sufi poet Hafiz Shirazi.

    In Vedic tradition

    • In Vedic tradition, the northern movement of the Earth on the celestial sphere is implicitly acknowledged in the Surya Siddhanta.
    • It outlines the Uttarayana (the period between Makar Sankranti and Karka Sankranti). Hence, Winter Solstice is the first day of Uttarayana.

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