Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NPAs and related terms
Mains level: NPA Crisis
Gross Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) of banks are expected to rise to 8-9% this fiscal from 7.5% as on March 31, 2021 but they would still remain below the peak of 11.2% seen at the end of fiscal 2018.
What are Non-Performing Assets?
- For a bank, the loans given by the bank is considered as its assets.
- Any asset which stops giving returns to its investors for a specified period of time is known as Non-Performing Asset (NPA).
- So, if the principle or the interest or both the components of a loan is not being serviced to the lender (bank), then it would be considered as NPA.
Classification of NPAs in India
- According to the RBI, a NPA is a loan or advance for which the principal or interest payment remained overdue for a period of 90 days.
- Banks are required to classify NPAs further into Substandard, Doubtful and Loss assets.
- Substandard Assets: Assets which has remained NPA for a period less than or equal to 12 months.
- Doubtful Assets: An asset would be classified as doubtful if it has remained in the substandard category for a period of 12 months.
- Loss Assets: As per RBI, loss asset is considered uncollectible and of such little value that its continuance as a bankable asset is not warranted, although there may be some salvage or recovery value.
NPAs of Agriculture Loans
In terms of Agriculture/Farm Loans, the NPA is defined as under:
- For short duration crop such as paddy, Jowar, Bajra etc. if the loan (instalment/interest) is not paid for 2 crop seasons, it would be termed as an NPA.
- For Long Duration Crops, the above would be 1 Crop season from the due date
Reasons for NPAs in India
Impact of NPA on Economy
- Depositors’ loss: Depositors do not get rightful returns and many times may lose uninsured deposits.
- High interest on lending: Banks may begin charging higher interest rates on some products to compensate NPA loan losses.
- Trust issues: Bad loans imply redirecting of funds from good projects to bad ones. Hence, the economy suffers due to loss of good projects and failure of bad investments
Steps taken to curb NPA
(A) By the Govt
- Mission Indradhanush:to make the working of public sector bank more transparent and professional in order to curb the menace of NPA in future.
- Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code: To make it easier for banks to recover the loans from the debtors.
- Stringent NPA recovery rules: The Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act or SARFESI Act of 2002 was amended in 2016.
(B) By RBI
RBI introduced number of measures in last few years which include:
- Corporate Debt Restructuring (CDR) mechanism,
- Setting up a Joint Lenders’ Forum, providing banks to disclose the real picture of bad loans, asking them to increase provisioning for stressed assets,
Other terms related to NPAs
Write-off effect
- A loan write-off is a tool used by banks to clean up their balance-sheets.
- If a loan turns bad on the account of the repayment defaults for at least three consecutive quarters, the exposure (loan) can be written off.
- A loan write-off sets free the money parked by the banks for the provisioning of any loan.
Twin Balance Sheet
- It deals with two balance sheet problems. One with Indian companies and the other with Indian Banks.
- Debt accumulation on companies is very high and thus they are unable to pay interest payments on loans.
Four Balance Sheet Challenge
- In his paper named ‘India’s Great Slowdown’, Arvind Subramanian (former Chief Economic Advisor) mentions the new ‘Four balance sheet challenge’.
- It includes the original two sectors – infrastructure companies and banks, plus NBFCs and real estate companies.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: World Economic Outlook (WEO), IMF
Mains level: Impact of COVID on employment and economic growth
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has unveiled its 2nd World Economic Outlook (WEO) Report.
About WEO Report
- The WEO is a report by the IMF that analyzes key parts of the IMF’s surveillance of economic developments and policies in its member countries.
- It also projects developments in the global financial markets and economic systems.
- The report comes out twice every year — April and October.
- It is based on a wide set of assumptions about a host of parameters — such as the international price of crude oil — and set the benchmark for all economies to compare one another with.
Key takeaways from the October 2021 WEO
- The central message was that the global economic recovery momentum had weakened due to the pandemic-induced supply disruptions.
- It is the increasing inequality among nations that IMF was most concerned about.
- The dangerous divergence in economic prospects across countries remains a major concern.
Reasons for the slowdown
There are two key reasons:
- Large disparities in vaccine access
- Differences in policy support
What about Employment?
Ans. There is a lag.
- Employment around the world remains below its pre-pandemic levels.
- This reflects a mix of negative output gaps, worker fears of on-the-job infection in contact-intensive occupations, childcare constraints, labour demand changes due to automation etc.
- The main concern is the gap between recovery in output and employment which is likely to be larger in emerging markets and developing economies than in advanced economies.
- Further, young and low-skilled workers are likely to be worse off than prime-age and high-skilled workers, respectively.
Implications for India
Ans. Reduce India’s growth momentum
- IMF has suggested that India’s economic recovery is gaining ground.
- Some sectors such as the IT-services sectors have been practically unaffected by Covid, while the e-commerce industry is doing brilliantly.
- However, the recovery in unemployment is lagging the recovery in output (or GDP).
- This matters immensely for India as it reflects jobless growth.
- India was already facing a deep employment crisis before the Covid crisis, and it became much worse after it.
- Lack of adequate employment levels would again drag down overall demand and affect the growth momentum.
Threats to growth momentum
- Usual unemployment: Even before the pandemic, India already had a massive unemployment crisis.
- Sector-wise recovery: India is witnessing a K-shaped recovery. That means different sectors are recovering at significantly different rates.
- Unorganized sector: A weak recovery for the informal/unorganized sectors implies a drag on the economy’s ability to create new jobs or revive old ones.
- Contact-based services: Such services which can create many more jobs, are not seeing a similar bounce-back.
How informal is India’s economy?
- A NSO report titled ‘Measuring Informal Economy in India’ gives a detailed account of informal Indian economy.
- It shows the share of different sectors of the economy in the overall Gross Value Added and the share of the unorganised sector therein.
- The share of informal/unorganised sector GVA is more than 50% at the all-India level, and is even higher in certain sectors.
- It creates a lot of low-skilled jobs such as construction and trade, repair, accommodation, and food services.
This is why India is more vulnerable.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: GM crops in India
Mains level: Issues with GM crops
The European Union has recalled some packaged food items which were made up of Indian GMO.
GM crops in India
The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) under Environment Ministry oversees the approval of GM Crops in India.
- Bt cotton: It is the only GM crop that has been approved for commercial cultivation in 2002.
- Bt Brinjal: Resistant to brinjal shoot fly, it was approved by GEAC in 2009. However due to 10 years moratorium imposed on GM crops by the Technical Expert Committee (TEC) appointed by the Supreme Court of India, its commercialization has stalled.
- GM Dhara Mustard Hybrid 11: DMH 11 developed by Delhi University is pending for commercial release as GEAC has advised to generate complete safety assessment.
However, unauthorized HtBt Cotton and Bt Brinjal are being grown commercially, with hundreds of growers blatantly defying the governmental ban.
What about GM Rice?
- GM rice is not grown commercially in India.
- However, multiple GM rice varieties have been approved for confined field trials.
- There seems a possibility of cross-contamination from such field trials directly or through seed leakages.
India’s rice exports
- India’s annual rice exports amount to 18 million tonnes worth ₹65,000 crore, and reach more than 75 countries.
What is the EU move?
- A European candy has recalled several batches of its product from the market due to the use of rice flour with genetically modified (GM) contamination that allegedly originated in India.
- The EU notification has identified the product as ‘Unauthorised genetically modified (p35S and tNos) rice flour from India’.
Impact of the EU move
- This has led to the loss of reputation of India and its agricultural market.
- With such a move by the EU, it is Indian farmers and exporters who have much to lose.
Threats posed by GM crops
- It is believed that consumption of genetically engineered foods can cause the development of diseases which are immune to antibiotics.
- Besides, as these foods are new inventions, not much is known about their long term effects on human beings.
- Genetically modified rice may potentially cause serious public health and environmental problems.
- Two major issues about GM rice are their tendencies to provoke allergic reactions and the uncertainty of gene transfers.
What can be done to reverse this?
- Ban on field trials of GM crops
- Slapping liability for illegal release of GMOs into the environment on developers
- Probe to identify the source of the GM rice contamination
Try answering this PYQ:
With reference to the Genetically Modified mustard (GM mustard) developed in India, consider the following statements:
- GM mustard has the genes of a soil bacterium that give the plant the property of pest-resistance to a wide variety of pests.
- GM mustard has the genes that allow the plant cross-pollination and hybridization.
- GM mustard has been developed jointly by the IARI and Punjab Agricultural University.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 and 3 only
(b) 2 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Post your answers here.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Mount Manipur
Mains level: Not Much
The Union government has rechristened Mount Harriet, a historical tourist spot in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, as ‘Mount Manipur’ to commemorate the1891 Anglo-Manipur war.
Manipur’s connection to Mount Harriet
- After the Anglo-Manipur War of 1891, several Manipuris who had fought the British in the war, including Maharaja Kulachandra Dhwaja Singh, were exiled to the British penal colony in the Andaman Islands.
- Since the cellular jail (Kalapani) was yet to be built, Kulachandra and the prisoners were kept on Mount Harriet, a hillock in what is now the Ferragunj tehsil of South Andaman district.
- 23 men, including King Kulachandra and his brothers, were “transported for life” to the Andamans.
- While some died there, Kulachandra was released and shifted elsewhere before his death.
This is why Mount Harriet is an important symbol of the Anglo-Manipur War of 1891.
About Anglo-Manipur War of 1891
- Considered an epoch in the history of Manipur, the Anglo-Manipur War was fought between the kingdom of Manipur and the British over a month in 1891.
- The battle was triggered by a coup in the palace of Manipur, which had been marked by internal factionalism in the years leading up 1891.
- The British government took advantage of the internal dissension among the princes of the royal family.
Battle for throne
- In 1886, when Surchandra inherited the throne from his father Chandrakirti Singh, the kingdom of Manipur was not under the British rule but had links with the crown through different treaties.
- However, Surchandra ascension to the throne was controversial and his younger brothers — Kulachadra, Tikendrajit — revolted against him.
- The1890 coup by the rebel faction deposed Surchandra, and proclaimed Kulachandra, the next oldest brother, the king.
- Surchandra fled to Calcutta seeking British help to reinstate him.
- Instead, the British dispatched James Quinton, the Chief Commissioner of Assam, with an army to Manipur.
- His mission was to recognise Kulachandra as the king under the condition that they be allowed to arrest the coup leader Crown Prince Tikendrajit and deport him from Manipur.
This aggressive imposition of British law in a sovereign state was rejected by the king, precipitating the Anglo-Manipuri War of 1891.
Its aftermath
- In the first phase of the war, the British surrendered and their officers — including Quinton — were executed in public.
- In the second phase, the British attacked Manipur from three sides, and finally capture the Kangla Fort in Imphal.
- Prince Tikendrajit and four others were hanged by the British, while Kulachandra, along with 22 others, were banished to the Andaman Islands.
Significance of the war
- Many say the war was described as a blow to British prestige.
- In India, it was viewed as being part of the general uprising against British rule in the country, soon after after the Revolt of 1857.
- The war led to Manipur officially becoming a princely state under the indirect rule of the British crown.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Coal shortage issue
Context
Normally, the power-generating companies maintain around 30 days of inventory of coal, but, currently, this has come down to three days.
Factors responsible for the crisis
- Supply side issue: On the supply side, because of low investment, coal cannot be mined more than the capacity which exists today. Hence, the increase in supplies will be gradual.
- High global prices: The global coal crisis has led to higher prices.
- Here, too, a sudden resurgence in demand after the pandemic has exposed the supply limitations.
- The international price has gone up by almost 40 per cent in the last month.
- China factor: China – a major producer and consumer – has also faced this problem as it has tried to save coal for the future and imposed restrictions on mining to go green.
- Emphasis on lowering the dependence on import: In India, coal imports have been traditionally high.
- Under its atmanirbharta drive, the government has voiced concerns on this issue and asked generators to be more self-reliant.
- Coal dependency came down over time, which also coincided with a lower phase of economic growth.
- The same has happened in China where the government has taken the greening concept seriously and asked coal producers to control production and power generators and move over to other greener fuels.
- This has made coal producers less willing to increase investment.
Why power companies are reluctant to import coal?
- Ideally, power companies should import coal.
- But that increases the cost of power production and power tariffs cannot be revised easily, like in the case of crops.
- The power sector, however, already has its woes.
- Distribution companies have been running losses due to their inability to cut down on transmission losses or increase tariffs.
- As their losses mount, the amount overdue to the generators increases.
- Therefore, the producers are not willing to increase their costs.
How it would impact the economy?
- The economy has been showing signs of recovering and the October-December period is crucial because there are expectations of pent-up demand helping to accelerate growth.
- Any disruption in the power supply can push back this process.
- The challenge is that today all the three sectors, agriculture, industry and households, are equally important.
- A lot of business is being conducted from home after the pandemic, and power disruptions will come in the way of work.
- If power companies start revising their tariffs, inflation will shoot up.
Conclusion
The coal shortage problem is very serious as it affects power supply, which is the backbone of all economic activity. All stakeholders – the Centre, states, miners and power generators – must work together and plan the strategy going ahead.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Alternative foreign policy
Context
A document has emerged from the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) in the nature of an alternative to the present foreign and defence policies named ‘India’s Path to Power: Strategy in a world adrift’. It is authored by eight well-known strategists and thinkers.
Background of the document
- In 2012, many of the same authors had produced another document, ‘Non-alignment 2.0’, in the light of the global changes at that time, as a contribution to policymaking, without criticising the policies of the government.
- The present document, however, is in the nature of an alternative to the foreign and defence policies of the government, as some of its tenets are not considered conducive to finding a path to power for India in the post-pandemic world.
Change in foreign policy
- The first term of the Modi government was remarkable for its innovative, bold and assertive foreign policy, which received general approbation.
- After his unconventional peace initiatives with Pakistan failed, he took a firm stand and gained popularity at home.
- His wish to have close relations with the other neighbours did not materialise, but his helpful attitude to them even in difficult situations averted any crisis.
- He brought a new symphony into India-U.S. relations and engaged China continuously to find a new equation with it. India’s relations with Israel and the Arab countries became productive.
- In its second term, the government dealt with some of the sensitive matters, which were essentially of a domestic nature such as Article 370, citizenship issues and farming regulation.
- The external dimensions of these matters led to a challenge to the government’s foreign policy.
Suggestions in the Centre for Policy Research report
- Impact of domestic issues on foreign policy: The finding of the report is that domestic issues have impacted foreign policy and, therefore, India should set its house in order to stem the tide of international reaction.
- This assertion at the beginning of the report is the heart of the report and it is repeated in different forms.
- Importance of globalisation: The report rightly points out that “it would be incorrect and counterproductive for India to turn its back on globalisation…”
- Revival of SAARC: The report also suggests that SAARC should be revived and that India should rejoin the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and continue its long-standing quest for membership in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.
- Strategic autonomy: The report also stresses the importance of strategic autonomy in today’s world where change is the only certainty.
- Relations with the US and China: As for the India-U.S.- China triangle, the report makes the unusual suggestion that India should have better relations individually with both the U.S. and China than they have with each other.
- The report concludes that since China will influence India’s external environment politically, economically and infrastructurally, there is no feasible alternative to a combination of engagement and competition with China.
- Pakistan policy: The report asserts, “as long as our objectives of policy towards Pakistan are modest, resumption of dialogue and a gradual revival of trade, transport and other links are worth pursuing.”
Conclusion
The significance of the report is that it reveals the end of the era of consensus foreign policy and presents a shadow foreign policy for the first time in India. It remains to be seen whether any of the opposition parties will adopt it and fight the next election on the platform provided by the report.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NLM
Mains level: Paper 3- Rashtriya Gokul Mission and National Livestock Mission (NLM)
Context
The revised version of the Rashtriya Gokul Mission and National Livestock Mission (NLM) proposes to bring focus on entrepreneurship development and breed improvement in cattle, buffalo, poultry, sheep, goat, and piggery.
Livestock breeding and challenges
- Unorganised in nature: Livestock breeding in India has been largely unorganised.
- Lack of linkages: Because of this unorganised nature there have been gaps in forward and backward integration across the value chain.
- Impact on quality: The above scenario impacts the quality of livestock that is produced and in turn negatively impacts the return on investment for livestock farmers.
- Roughly 80% bovines in the country are low on productivity and are reared by small and marginal farmers.
Entrepreneurship development through NLM and Rashtriya Gokul Mission
- The revised version of the Rashtriya Gokul Mission and National Livestock Mission (NLM) proposes to bring focus on entrepreneurship development.
- Breed improvement infrastructure: It seeks to provide incentives to individual entrepreneurs, farmer producer organisations, farmer cooperatives, joint liability groups, self-help groups, Section 8 companies for entrepreneurship development and State governments for breed improvement infrastructure.
- The breed multiplication farm component of the Rashtriya Gokul Mission is going to provide for capital subsidy up to ₹200 lakh for setting up breeding farm with at least 200 milch cows/ buffalo using latest breeding technology.
- Moreover, the strategy of incentivising breed multiplication farm will result in the employment of 1 lakh farmers.
- The grassroots initiatives in this sphere will be further amplified by web applications like e-Gopala that provide real-time information to livestock farmers.
- Poultry: The poultry entrepreneurship programme of the NLM will provide for capital subsidy up to ₹25 lakh for the setting up of a parent farm with a capacity to rear 1,000 chicks.
- Under this model, the rural entrepreneur running the hatchery will be supplying chicks to the farmers.
- This is expected to provide employment to at least 14 lakh people.
- Sheep and goat entrepreneurship: In the context of sheep and goat entrepreneurship, there is a provision of capital subsidy of 50% up to 50 lakh.
- An entrepreneur under this model shall set up a breeder farm, develop the whole chain will eventually sell the animals to the farmers or in the open market.
- This model is projected to generate a net profit of more than ₹33 lakh for the entrepreneur per year.
- Piggery: For piggery, the NLM will provide 50% capital subsidy of up to ₹30 lakh.
- Each entrepreneur will be aided with establishment of breeder farms with 100 sows and 10 boars, expected to produce 2,400 piglets in a year.
- This model is expected to generate a profit of ₹1.37 crore after 16 months and 1.5 lakh jobs.
Conclusion
The revised scheme of NLM coupled with the Rashtriya Gokul Mission and the Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund has the potential to dramatically enhance the productivity and traceability standards of our livestock.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Abraham Accord
Mains level: India-Israel-Gulf Trilateral
The first-ever meeting between the foreign ministers of India, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States is being widely perceived as a new QUAD group.
What is Abraham Accord?
- The Israel–UAE normalization agreement is officially called the Abraham Accords Peace Agreement.
- It was initially agreed to in a joint statement by the United States, Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on August 13, 2020.
- The UAE thus became the third Arab country, after Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994, to agree to formally normalize its relationship with Israel as well as the first Persian Gulf country to do so.
- Concurrently, Israel agreed to suspend plans for annexing parts of the West Bank.
- The agreement normalized what had long been informal but robust foreign relations between the two countries.
The idea of the Indo-Abrahamic Accord
- The idea of an accord between India, the UAE and Israel was first suggested by Mohammed Soliman, an Egyptian scholar based in Washington.
- The focus, then, was on India taking full advantage of the normalisation of relations between Israel and the Arabs.
Prospects of India joining the accord
- Adding “Indo” to the Abrahamic Accords — from think tank level to the policy domain underlines the extraordinary churn in the geopolitics of the Middle East.
- It also points to new openings for India in the region and ever-widening possibilities for Delhi’s strategic cooperation with Washington.
Significance for India
The new minilateral consultation with the US, Israel and the UAE should started breaking that political taboo by:
(1) Creating a minilateral in the Middle-East:
- Such events mark an important turning point in Delhi’s engagement with the Middle East.
- It suggests India is now ready to move from bilateral relations conducted in separate silos towards an integrated regional policy.
- As in the Indo-Pacific, so in the Middle East, regional coalitions are bound to widen Delhi’s reach and deepen its impact.
(2) India bridging the Arab-Israeli rift:
- Often the Arab nations and Israel are divided over Palestine.
- The simultaneous expansion of Delhi’s cooperation with Israel and the Arab world was considered impossible.
- However, India’s new foreign policy broke from that assessment and demonstrated the feasibility of a non-ideological engagement with the Middle East.
- This diplomatic pragmatism allows Delhi to reimagine its policies towards the Middle East.
(3) Extension of cooperation with the US:
- Thinking of the US as a partner in the Middle East is part of the reimagination.
- For long, India defined the US, and more broadly the West, as part of the problem in the Middle East.
- As a result, Delhi kept a reasonable political distance from the US in the region.
(4) Miscellaneous:
- India’s scale with Israeli innovation and Emirati capital could produce immense benefits to all three countries.
- Add American strategic support and you would see a powerful dynamic unfolding in the region.
Is it a new Quad in making?
- It is perhaps too early to call the new minilateral with the US, UAE and Israel the “new Quad” for the Middle East.
- It will be a while before this grouping will find its feet and evolve.
- After all, it took quite some effort to build the Quad in the east with Australia, India, Japan and the United States.
What is the kind of agenda that this group can develop?
Economic Cooperation: Like the eastern Quad, it would make sense for the new Middle Eastern minilateral to focus on non-military issues like trade, energy, and environment and focus on promoting public goods.
Technology cooperation: Beyond trade, there is potential for India, UAE and Israel to collaborate on many areas — from semiconductor design and fabrication to space technology.
A new geopolitical entity: The new “Quad” in the Middle East is likely to be India’s only new coalition in the region. It provides a thrust to new regionalism to the west involving India.
‘Extended’ neighborhood: This engagement will open the door for extending the collaboration with other common regional partners like Egypt (better call it Suez Canal), who will lend great strategic depth to the Indo-Abrahamic accords.
Conclusion
- This engagement has thus opened up a new opportunity for India to go for deeper engagement with Israel without risking its relations with the other Arab states of the Persian Gulf.
- In the evolving scenario, there seems much scope for a profitable trilateral synergy, but India cannot take its preponderance as a given.
- There is much to be done in realizing the full potential of the “Indo-Abrahamic Accords”.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: IMBL, EEZ, UNCLOS
Mains level: Fishermen issue in India-SL ties
The Tamil Nadu police have issued an alert on the possibility of an attack on fishermen crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) for fishing in Sri Lankan waters.
About International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL)
- A maritime boundary is a conceptual division of the Earth’s water surface areas using physiographic or geopolitical criteria.
- As such, it usually bounds areas of exclusive national rights over mineral and biological resources, encompassing maritime features, limits and zones.
- Generally, a maritime boundary is delineated at a particular distance from a jurisdiction’s coastline.
- Although in some countries the term maritime boundary represents borders of a maritime nation that are recognized by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
- The terminology does not encompass lake or river boundaries, which are considered within the context of land boundaries.
The delineation of maritime boundaries has strategic, economic, and environmental implications.
Classification
Maritime spaces can be divided into the following groups based on their legal status:
- Under the sovereignty and authority (exercising power) of a coastal State: internal waters, territorial sea, and archipelagic waters,
- With mixed legal regime, which fall under both the jurisdiction of the coastal State and under the international law: contiguous zone, the continental shelf and the exclusive economic zone, and
- That can be used by all States (including land-locked ones) on an equal basis: high seas.
Note: While many maritime spaces can be classified as belonging to the same group, this does not imply that they all have the same legal regime. International straits and canals have their own legal status as well.
Zones
The zones of maritime boundaries are expressed in concentric limits surrounding coastal and feature baselines.
- Inland waters—the zone inside the baseline.
- Territorial sea—the zone extending 12 nm. from the baseline
- Contiguous zone—the area extending 24 nm. from the baseline
- Exclusive Economic Zone—the area extending 200 nm from the baseline except when the space between two countries is less than 400 nm
Back2Basics: India-Sri Lanka Fisherman Issue
- There have been several alleged incidents of Sri Lankan Navy personnel firing on Indian fishermen fishing in the Palk Strait, where India and Sri Lanka are only separated by 12 nautical miles.
- The issue started because of Indian fishermen having used mechanized trawlers, which deprived the Sri Lankan fishermen (including Tamils) of their catch and damaged their fishing boats.
- The Sri Lankan government wants India to ban use of mechanized trawlers in the Palk Strait region, and negotiations on this subject are undergoing.
- So far, no concrete agreement has been reached since India favours regulating these trawlers instead of banning them altogether.
- It has been often a sensitive political issue in Tamil Nadu in the past decade.
About Katchatheevu Island
- Katchatheevu, an uninhibited off-shore island in the Palk Strait, is administered by Sri Lanka.
- Though the island was jointly managed by India and Sri Lanka allowing the fishermen of both countries to dry their nets there, it was ceded to Sri Lanka in 1974.
- Since then, Katchatheevu has remained an issue with some political parties in Tamil Nadu demanding that the island be returned to benefit the fishermen of India.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
Mains level: Russia Vs. Nato
Russia has decided that it would halt the activities of its diplomatic mission to NATO after it expelled eight Russian diplomats in a row over spying.
Why such move?
- NATO had set up a prohibitive regime for Russian diplomats in Brussels by banning them from its headquarters building.
- Relations between Moscow and the West have been strained for years, but the immediate impetus for the Russian move was a spy scandal.
- Military tensions have also escalated in recent years, including last spring when Russian troops massed along Ukraine’s border (probably for invasion).
Significance of the move
- The decision will end a post-Cold War experiment, never very successful, in building trust between Russia and the Western alliance.
- It was established decades ago to contain the Soviet Union, which officials in Moscow accused of later encroaching on former Soviet territory.
About North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
- NATO is a military alliance established by the North Atlantic Treaty (also called the Washington Treaty) of April 4, 1949.
- It sought to create a counterweight to Soviet armies stationed in Central and Eastern Europe after World War II.
- Its original members were Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
- NATO has spread a web of partners, namely Egypt, Israel, Sweden, Austria, Switzerland and Finland.
Why was it founded?
Ans. Communist sweep in Europe post-WWII and rise of Soviet dominance
- After World War II in 1945, Western Europe was economically exhausted and militarily weak, and newly powerful communist parties had arisen in France and Italy.
- By contrast, the Soviet Union had emerged from the war with its armies dominating all the states of central and Eastern Europe.
- By 1948 communists under Moscow’s sponsorship had consolidated their control of the governments of those countries and suppressed all non-communist political activity.
- What became known as the Iron Curtain, a term popularized by Winston Churchill, had descended over central and Eastern Europe.
Ideology of NATO
- NATO ensures that the security of its European member countries is inseparably linked to that of its North American member countries.
- It commits the Allies to democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law, as well as to the peaceful resolution of disputes.
- It also provides a unique forum for dialogue and cooperation across the Atlantic.
The Article 5
- The heart of NATO is expressed in Article 5, in which the signatory members agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all.
Why in news now?
- The relationship between NATO and Russia is at its lowest point since the end of the Cold War.
- The NATO (rather US) sees their aggressive actions, not least against Ukraine, but also the significant military buildup and violations of important arms control agreements.
- NATO suspended practical cooperation with Russia in 2014 after it annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Bengal Florican
Mains level: Not Much
Environmentalists have recently written to the Assam government on the urgent need to prevent land-use changes at Kokilabari Seed Farm in the state to protect Bengal floricans and other species.
Bengal Florican
- The Bengal florican also called Bengal bustard, is a bustard species native to the Indian subcontinent, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
- Fewer than 1,000 individuals were estimated to be alive as of 2017.
- It has two disjunct populations, one in the Indian subcontinent, another in Southeast Asia.
- The former occurs from Uttar Pradesh (India) through the Terai of Nepal to Assam (where it is called ulu mora) and Arunachal Pradesh in India, and historically to Bangladesh.
- It has a very small, rapidly declining population largely as a result of the widespread loss of its grassland habitat.
Conservation status
- IUCN Red List Status: Critically Endangered
- CITES: Appendix I
- Wildlife Protection Act of India, 1972: Schedule I
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: GIS Energy Map
Mains level: Not Much
The NITI Aayog has launched the Geospatial Energy Map of India.
What is the GIS Energy Map?
- NITI Aayog in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has developed a comprehensive Geographic Information System (GIS) Energy Map of India.
- The GIS map provides a holistic picture of all energy resources of the country.
- It enables visualization of energy installations such as conventional power plants, oil and gas wells, petroleum refineries, coal fields and coal blocks.
- It also provides district-wise data on renewable energy power plants and renewable energy resource potential, etc through 27 thematic layers.
Significance of the map
- The map attempts to identify and locate all primary and secondary sources of energy and their transportation/transmission networks.
- It is a unique effort aimed at integrating energy data scattered across multiple organizations and presenting it in a consolidated, visually appealing graphical manner.
- It leverages the latest advancements in web-GIS technology and open-source software to make it interactive and user-friendly.
Benefits offered
- The map would provide a comprehensive view of energy production and distribution in a country.
- It will be useful in planning and making investment decisions.
- It will also aid in disaster management using available energy assets.
- This may also help in resource and environmental conservation measures, inter-state coordination on infrastructure planning including different corridors of energy and road transport highways.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Ex Cambrian Patrol
Mains level: Not Much
A team from Gorkha Rifles which represented the Indian Army at the prestigious Cambrian Patrol Exercise at Brecon, Wales, UK, has been awarded a Gold medal.
Ex Cambrian Patrol
- Organized by the UK Army, this exercise is considered the ultimate test of human endurance, team spirit and is sometimes referred as the Olympics of Military Patrolling.
- The aim of The Cambrian Patrol is to provide a challenging patrols exercise in order to enhance operational capability.
- The event has evolved into a cost-effective, ready-made exercise that Commanding Officers can use to test the basic training standards of their soldiers, in preparation for future operations.
- It is mission-focused and scenario-based with role players used to enhance the training benefit.
How it is conducted?
- During the exercise, teams are assessed for their performance under harsh terrain and inclement cold weather conditions.
- They undergo various challenges in addition to the complex real-world situations painted to them so as to assess their reactions in combat settings.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Coal Mines Nationalisation Act (CMNA)
Mains level: Paper 3- Coal crisis
Context
In India, coal-based power plants have witnessed rapid depletion of coal stocks from a comfortable 28 days at the end of March to a precarious level of four days by the end of September. Coal India Ltd (CIL) has been unfairly attacked, even as it gears up to play a crucial role in fighting the power crisis.
Reasons for crisis
- The reasons for the crisis are structural as well as operational.
- The Coal Mines Nationalisation Act (CMNA) in 1993 enabled the government to take away 200 coal blocks of 28 billion tons from CIL and allocate them to end-users for the captive mining of coal.
- These end-users, mostly in the private sector, failed to produce any significant quantity of coal.
- The cancellation of 214 blocks by the Supreme Court added to the problem.
- Commensurate to the captive mines allocated to the end-user industries, the coal production today should have been at least 500 million tonnes per annum (mtpa).
- In reality, this has never exceeded 60 mtpa.
- On the operational side, power plants are required by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) to maintain a minimum stock of 15 to 30 days of normative coal consumption.
- The compliance with this directive by power plants has been severely lacking.
- This enhances the vulnerability of power plants.
- The persistent non-payment of coal sale dues by power plants to coal companies has created a serious strain on their working capital position.
- A spurt in imported coal prices, mainly due to a major increase in coal imports by China, acted as a brake on imports of coal.
- This escalated the demand for domestic coal.
- The spurt in demand for coal is being linked to the post-Covid economic recovery.
CIL’s role in mitigating the shortage crisis
- Growth in production in short duration: Despite many constraining factors, it is to the credit of CIL that it has achieved a growth of 14 million tonnes (mt) or 5.8 per cent in coal production during the first half of 2021-22.
- Yet, the offtake was higher than the preceding year by 52 mt or 20.6 per cent.
- This was possible by drawing down on the opening inventory of coal from 100 mt to 42 mt during April to September.
- With the monsoons behind us and the onset of a good productive season, CIL has already stepped up coal offtake to more than 1.5 mt per day.
- With efforts on the part of the railways in moving the coal, the crisis should dissipate in the near future, at least for power plants that pay timely for coal supplies.
- Besides meeting the growing coal demand of power plants, CIL has been able to significantly replace the import of highly expensive thermal coal.
- Cheaper coal: Even after bearing the highest tax and transport cost globally, the landed cost of CIL coal continues to be much cheaper than imported coal at almost all destinations.
- Saving of foreign exchange: The resultant benefits are savings of foreign exchange, and generation of power at affordable tariffs.
- The coal price charged by CIL, expressed in energy units, is at a deep discount of 60-70 per cent of imported coal.
Conclusion
In brief, CIL has been unfairly blamed for the coal crisis. It has played a stellar role, standing like a solid rock between light and darkness. It is striving to build comfortable stocks at the power plants, not in default of payment.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Mains level: Paper 3- Issues with removing the interest rate ceiling for NBFC-MFIs
Context
In June 2021, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) published a “Consultative Document on Regulation of Microfinance”. The likely impact of the recommendations is unfavourable to the poor.
Background of microfinance in India
- Microfinance lending has been in place since the 1990s.
- In the 1990s, microcredit was given by scheduled commercial banks either directly or via non-governmental organisations to women’s self-help groups.
- But given the lack of regulation and scope for high returns, several for-profit financial agencies such as NBFCs and MFIs emerged.
- The microfinance crisis of Andhra Pradesh led the RBI to review the matter, and based on the recommendations of the Malegam Committee, a new regulatory framework for NBFC-MFIs was introduced in December 2011.
- A few years later, the RBI permitted a new type of private lender, Small Finance Banks (SFBs), with the objective of taking banking activities to the “unserved and underserved” sections of the population.
- Today, as the RBI’s consultative document notes, 31% of microfinance is provided by NBFC-MFIs, and another 19% by SFBs and 9% by NBFCs.
- These private financial institutions have grown exponentially over the last few years.
What are the recommendations in the document?
- The consultative document recommends that the current ceiling on rate of interest charged by non-banking finance company-microfinance institutions (NBFC-MFIs) or regulated private microfinance companies needs to be done away with.
- The paper argues that the interest rate ceiling is biased against one lender (NBFC-MFIs) among the many: commercial banks, small finance banks, and NBFCs.
- It proposes that the rate of interest be determined by the governing board of each agency, and assumes that “competitive forces” will bring down interest rates.
Comparison of rate of interest
- According to current guidelines, the ‘maximum rate of the interest rate charged by an NBFC-MFI shall be the lower of the following: the cost of funds plus a margin of 10% for larger MFIs (a loan portfolio of over ₹100 crores) and 12% for others; or the average base rate of the five largest commercial banks multiplied by 2.75’.
- A quick look at the website of some Small Finance Banks (SFBs) and NBFC-MFIs showed that the “official” rate of interest on microfinance was between 22% and 26% — roughly three times the base rate.
- How does this compare with credit from public sector banks and cooperatives?
- Crop loans from Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) in Tamil Nadu had a nil or zero interest charge if repaid in eight months.
- Kisan credit card loans from banks were charged 4% per annum (9% with an interest subvention of 5%) if paid in 12 months (or a penalty rate of 11%).
- Other types of loans from scheduled commercial banks carried an interest rate of 9%-12% a year.
- As even the RBI now recognises, the rate of interest charged by private agencies on microfinance is the maximum permissible, a rate of interest that is a far cry from any notion of cheap credit.
- The actual cost of microfinance loans is even higher for several reasons.
- An “official” flat rate of interest used to calculate equal monthly instalments actually implies a rising effective rate of interest over time.
- In addition, a processing fee of 1% is added and the insurance premium is deducted from the principal.
Violations of RBI guidelines
- In line with RBI regulations, all borrowers had a repayment card with the monthly repayment schedules.
- This does not mean that borrowers understood the charges.
- Further, contrary to the RBI guideline of “no recovery at the borrower’s residence”, the collection was at the doorstep.
Conclusion
The proposals in the RBI’s consultative document will lead to further privatisation of rural credit, reducing the share of direct and cheap credit from banks and leaving poor borrowers at the mercy of private financial agencies. This is beyond comprehension at a time of widespread post-pandemic distress among the working poor.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: GHI and its components
Mains level: Paper 2- Low ranking of India on GHI
Context
This year’s Global Hunger Index (GHI) ranks India 101 out of 116 countries for which reliable and comparable data exist.
Government’s stand
- Is India’s performance on hunger as dismal as denoted by the index or is it partly a statistical artefact?
- This question assumes immediacy, especially since the government has questioned the methodology and claimed that the ranking does not represent the ground reality.
- This calls for careful scrutiny of the methodology, especially of the GHI’s components.
Understanding the GHI methodology
- The GHI has four components.
- The first — insufficient calorie intake — is applicable for all age groups.
- The data on deficiency in calorie intake, accorded 33% weight, is sourced from the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Suite of Food Security Indicators (2021).
- The remaining three — wasting (low weight for height), stunting (low height for age) and mortality — are confined to children under five years.
- The data on child wasting and stunting (2016-2020), each accounting for 16.6% of weight, are from the World Health Organization, UNICEF and World Bank, complemented with the latest data from the Demographic and Health Surveys.
- Under-five mortality data are for 2019 from the UN Inter-Agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation.
Issues with GHI
- The GHI is largely children-oriented with a higher emphasis on undernutrition than on hunger and its hidden forms, including micronutrient deficiencies.
- The first component — calorie insufficiency — is problematic for many reasons.
- The lower calorie intake, which does not necessarily mean deficiency, may also stem from reduced physical activity, better social infrastructure (road, transport and healthcare) and access to energy-saving appliances at home, among others.
- For a vast and diverse country like India, using a uniform calorie norm to arrive at deficiency prevalence means failing to recognise the huge regional imbalances in factors that may lead to differentiated calorie requirements at the State level.
Understanding the connection between stunting and wasting and ways to tackling them
- India’s wasting prevalence (17.3%) is one among the highest in the world.
- Its performance in stunting, when compared to wasting, is not that dismal, though.
- Child stunting in India declined from 54.2% in 1998–2002 to 34.7% in 2016-2020, whereas child wasting remains around 17% throughout the two decades of the 21st century.
- Stunting is a chronic, long-term measure of undernutrition, while wasting is an acute, short-term measure.
- Quite possibly, several episodes of wasting without much time to recoup can translate into stunting.
- Effectively countering episodes of wasting resulting from such sporadic adversities is key to making sustained and quick progress in child nutrition.
- Way forward: If India can tackle wasting by effectively monitoring regions that are more vulnerable to socioeconomic and environmental crises, it can possibly improve wasting and stunting simultaneously.
Low child mortality
- India’s relatively better performance in the other component of GHI — child mortality — merits a mention.
- Studies suggest that child undernutrition and mortality are usually closely related, as child undernutrition plays an important facilitating role in child mortality.
- However, India appears to be an exception in this regard.
- This implies that though India was not able to ensure better nutritional security for all children under five years, it was able to save many lives due to the availability of and access to better health facilities.
Conclusion
The low ranking does not mean that India fares uniformly poor in every aspect. This ranking should prompt us to look at our policy focus and interventions and ensure that they can effectively address the concerns raised by the GHI, especially against pandemic-induced nutrition insecurity.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: AT and C losses
Mains level: Paper 3- Salient features of Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2020
Context
Most discoms are deep into the red as high aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses are chipping into their revenues. Against this backdrop, the Electricity (Amendment) Bill of 2020 is a game-changing reform.
Why the Electricity (Amendment) Bill of 2020 is a game-changing reform
- De-licensing power distribution: This will provide the consumers with an option of choosing the service provider, switch their power supplier and enable the entry of private companies in distribution, thereby resulting in increased competition.
- In fact, privatisation of discoms in Delhi has reduced AT&C losses significantly from 55% in 2002 to 9% in 2020.
- Open access for purchasing power: Open access for purchasing power from the open market should be implemented across States and barriers in the form of cross-subsidy surcharge, additional surcharge and electricity duty being applied by States should be reviewed.
- Issue of tariff revision: The question of tariffs needs to be revisited if the power sector is to be strengthened.
- Tariffs ought to be reflective of the average cost of supply to begin with and eventually move to customer category-wise cost of supply in a defined time frame.
- This will facilitate a reduction in cross-subsidies.
- Inclusion in GST: Electrical energy should be covered under GST, with a lower rate of GST, as this will make it possible for power generator/transmission/distribution utilities to get a refund of input credit, which in turn will reduce the cost of power.
- Use of smart meters: Technology solutions such as installation of smart meters and smart grids which will reduce AT&C losses and restore financial viability of the sector.
- The impetus to renewable energy: The impetus to renewable energy, which will help us mitigate the impact of climate change, is much needed.
- Despite its inherent benefits, the segment has shown relatively slow progress with an estimated installed capacity of 5-6 GW as on date, well short of the 2022 target.
- The Bill also underpins the importance of green energy by proposing a penalty for non-compliance with the renewable energy purchase obligations which mandate States and power distribution companies to purchase a specified quantity of electricity from renewable and hydro sources
- Strengthening the regulatory architecture: This will be done by appointing a member with a legal background in every electricity regulatory commission and strengthening the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity.
- This will ensure faster resolution of long-pending issues and reduce legal hassles.
- Authority for contractual obligation: Provision in the Bill such as the creation of an Electricity Contract Enforcement Authority to supervise the fulfillment of contractual obligations under power purchase agreement, cost reflective tariffs and provision of subsidy through DBT are commendable.
Conclusion
Early passage of the Bill is critical as it will help unleash a path-breaking reform for bringing efficiency and profitability to the distribution sector.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Bhutan-China Border Agreement
In a step towards resolving their boundary disputes, Bhutan and China signed an agreement on a three-Step roadmap to help speed up talks to “break the deadlock” in negotiations.
Bhutan-China Border Issues
Bhutan shares an over 400-km-long border with China.
- Doklam: China wants to exchange the valleys to the north of Bhutan with the pasture land to the west (including Doklam), totalling 269 square kilometres.
- Jakarlung and Pasamlung valleys: located near Tibet to Bhutan’s North, which measure 495 sq. kms.
- Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary Project: China claims this area (near to Arunachal Pradesh) in eastern Bhutan as its own.
What is the recent agreement?
- The roadmap “for Expediting the Bhutan-China Boundary Negotiations”, is expected to progress on the boundary talks process that has been delayed for five years.
- It was stalled due to the Doklam standoff in 2017, and then by the Covid Pandemic.
- Although China and Bhutan do not have official diplomatic relations they have engaged in 24 rounds of ministerial-level talks to resolve their border dispute.
Implications for India
The boundary issue between China and Bhutan is special because it not only relates to Bhutan but also has become a negative factor for China-India ties.
- China control much of the Doklam: Since the 2017 stand-off with India, Beijing has already strengthened its de facto control over much of the Doklam plateau, located strategically along the India-China-Bhutan trijunction.
- Bhutan supports it: This agreement has been equally endorsed and appreciated by Bhutan and China.
- Deadlock at LAC talks: Its timing is particularly significant New, given India-China border talks on their 17-month-old standoff at the Line of Actual Control appear to have hit an deadlock.
- India’s strategic risks: This has big implications for India, since the Doklam swap would have given China access to the strategically sensitive “chicken neck” of the Siliguri corridor.
India’s interest
(a) Doklam
- The Doklam plateau remains hugely critical for India due to the Siliguri Corridor that lies to the south of Doklam.
- The corridor, also known as the ‘Chicken’s Neck’, is a 22-km wide major arterial road connecting mainland India with its northeastern states and thus it is a highly sensitive area for China.
(b) Sakteng: the hotspot
- The Sakteng sanctuary adjoins West Kameng district and Tawang disticts in India’s Arunachal Pradesh state.
- Its strategic value lies in its proximity to Arunachal Pradesh, where China claims around 90,000 sq km of Indian territory.
- Tawang, the major bone of contention between India and China in the eastern sector of their border dispute, lies to the northeast of the Sakteng.
Conclusion
- Bhutan has to balance its ties with India as well as China.
- We need to explore channels that India can activate with Bhutan when it comes to the highly sensitive matter of settling the boundary dispute between them and China.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CoP, UNFCCC
Mains level: Paris Agreement
The UK will host the COP 26 UN Climate Change Conference from October 31 to November 12.
Conference of Parties (CoP): A Backgrounder
- The CoP comes under the United Nations Climate Change Framework Convention (UNFCCC) which was formed in 1994.
- The UNFCCC was established to work towards “stabilisation of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.”
- It laid out a list of responsibilities for the member states which included:
- Formulating measures to mitigate climate change
- Cooperating in preparing for adaptation to the impact of climate change
- Promoting education, training and public awareness related to climate change
- The UNFCCC has 198 parties including India, China and the USA. COP members have been meeting every year since 1995.
COP1 to COP25: Key takeaways
COP1: The first conference was held in 1995 in Berlin.
COP3: It was held in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997, the famous Kyoto Protocol (w.e.f. 2005) was adopted. It commits the member states to pursue limitation or reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
COP8: India hosted the eighth COP in 2002 in New Delhi. It laid out several measures including, ‘strengthening of technology transfer… in all relevant sectors, including energy, transport and R&D, and the strengthening of institutions for sustainable development.
COP21: it is one of the most important that took place in 2015, in Paris, France. Here countries agreed to work together to ‘limit global warming to well below 2, preferably at 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.’
Significance of COP26
- The event will see leaders from more than 190 countries, thousands of negotiators, researchers and citizens coming together to strengthen a global response to the threat of climate change.
- It is a pivotal movement for the world to come together and accelerate the climate action plan after the COVID pandemic.
COP26 goals
According to the UNFCCC, COP26 will work towards four goals:
- Secure global net-zero by mid-century and keep 1.5 degrees within reach
- The UNFCCC recommends that countries ‘accelerate the phase-out of coal, curtail deforestation, speed up the switch to electric vehicles and encourage investment in renewables’ to meet this goal.
- Adapt to protect communities and natural habitats
- Countries will work together to ‘protect and restore ecosystems and build defences, warning systems and resilient infrastructure and agriculture to avoid loss of homes, livelihoods and even lives.’
- Mobilise finance
- To deliver on first two goals, developed countries must make good on their promise to mobilise at least $100bn in climate finance per year by 2020.
- Work together to deliver
- Another important task at the COP26 is to ‘finalise the Paris Rulebook’. Leaders will work together to frame a list of detailed rules that will help fulfil the Paris Agreement.
What India could do to reach its targets?
- Update NDCs: It is time for India to update its Nationally Determined Contributions or NDCs. (NDCs detail the various efforts taken by each country to reduce the national emissions)
- Effective planning: Sector by sector plans are needed to bring about development. We need to decarbonise the electricity, transport sector and start looking at carbon per passenger mile.
- Energy transition: Aggressively figure out how to transition our coal sector
- Robust legal framework: India also needs to ramp up the legal and institutional framework of climate change.
Try answering this PYQ:
With reference to the Agreement at the UNFCCC Meeting in Paris in 2015, which of the following statements is/are correct?
- The Agreement was signed by all the member countries of the UN and it will go into effect in 2017.
- The Agreement aims to limit the greenhouse gas emissions so that the rise in average global temperature by the end of this century does not exceed 2 degree Centigrade or even 5 degree Centigrade above pre-industrial levels.
- Developed countries acknowledged their historical responsibility in global warming and committed to donate dollar 1000 billion a year from 2020 to help developing countries to cope with climate change.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 and 3 only
(b) 2 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Post your answers here.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Zeolite
Mains level: NA
To meet the demand of oxygen supply in the country during the peak of pandemic, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) had chartered the Air India to import ‘Zeolite’ from different countries.
What are Zeolites?
- Zeolites are highly porous, 3-dimensional meshes of silica and alumina.
- In nature, they occur where volcanic outflows have met water.
- Synthetic zeolites have proven to be a big and low-cost boon.
Uses in Oxygen Concentrator
- One biomedical device that has entered our lexicon during the pandemic is the oxygen concentrator.
- This device has brought down the scale of oxygen purification from industrial-size plants to the volumes needed for a single person.
- At the heart of this technology are synthetic frameworks of silica and alumina with nanometer-sized pores that are rigid and inflexible.
- Beads of one such material, zeolite 13X, about a millimeter in diameter, are packed into two cylindrical columns in an oxygen concentrator.
How does it work?
- Zeolite performs the chemistry of separating oxygen from nitrogen in air.
- Being highly porous, zeolite beads have a surface area of about 500 square meters per gram.
- At high pressures in the column, nitrogen is in a tight embrace, chemically speaking, with the zeolite.
- Interaction between the negatively charged zeolite and the asymmetric nucleus (quadrupole moment) of nitrogen causes it to be preferentially adsorbed on the surface of the zeolite.
- Oxygen remains free, and is thus enriched.
- Once nitrogen is captured, what flows out from the column is 90%-plus oxygen.
- After this, lowering the pressure in the column releases the nitrogen, which is flushed out, and the cycle is repeated with fresh air.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now