Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Fertigation
Mains level: Paper 3- Emissions from agriculture and related issues
Context
The UK is set to host the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (CoP26) in Glasgow from October 31 to November 12 with a view to accelerate action towards the Paris Agreement’s goals. The focus should be on climate finance and transfer of green technologies at low cost.
Cause of concern for India
- According to the Global Carbon Atlas, India ranks third in total greenhouse gas emissions by emitting annually around 2.6 billion tonnes (Bt) CO2eq, preceded by China (10 Bt CO2eq) and the United States (5.4 Bt CO2eq), and followed by Russia (1.7Bt) and Japan (1.2 Bt).
- India ranked seventh on the list of countries most affected due to extreme weather events, incurring losses of $69 billion (in PPP) in 2019 (Germanwatch, 2021).
- The fact that 22 of the 30 most polluted cities in the world are in India is a major cause of concern.
- Delhi is the world’s most polluted capital as per the World Air Quality Report, 2020.
Issues raised in global negotiation on climate change
- Nations are still quibbling about historical global emitters and who should take the blame and fix it.
- Global negotiations on climate change often talk about emissions on a per capita basis and the emission intensity of GDP.
- Per capita emission: Of the top five absolute emitters, the US has the highest per capita emissions (15.24 tonnes), followed by Russia (11.12 tonnes).
- India’s per capita emissions is just 1.8 tonnes, significantly lower than the world average of 4.4 tonnes per capita.
- If one takes emissions per unit of GDP, of the top five absolute emitters, China ranks first with 0.486 kg per 2017 PPP $ of GDP, which is very close to Russia at 0.411 kg per 2017 PPP $ of GDP.
- India is slightly above the world average of 0.26 (kg per 2017 PPP $ of GDP) at 0.27 kg, while the USA is at 0.25, and Japan at 0.21.
- In our Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) submitted in 2016, India committed to “reduce emission intensity of its GDP by 33 to 35 per cent by 2030 from 2005 level.”
Sector-wise emission and share of agriculture in it
- Global emissions show that electricity and heat production and agriculture, forestry and other land use make up 50 per cent of the emissions.
- But the emissions pie in India owes its largest chunk (44 per cent) to the energy sector, followed by the manufacturing and construction sector (18 per cent), and agriculture, forestry and land use sectors (14 per cent), with the remaining being shared by the transport, industrial processes and waste sectors.
- The share of agriculture in total emissions has gradually declined from 28 per cent in 1994 to 14 per cent in 2016.
- However, in absolute terms, emissions from agriculture have increased to about 650 Mt CO2 in 2018, which is similar to China’s emissions from agriculture.
- Agricultural emissions in India are primarily from the livestock sector (54.6 per cent) in the form of methane emissions due to enteric fermentation and the use of nitrogenous fertilisers in agricultural soils (19 per cent) which emit nitrous oxides; rice cultivation (17.5 per cent) in anaerobic conditions accounts for a major portion of agricultural emissions followed by livestock management (6.9 per cent) and burning of crop residues (2.1 per cent).
Way forward: Carbon policy for agriculture
- Reward farmers through carbon credit: A carbon policy for agriculture must aim not only to reduce its emissions but also reward farmers through carbon credits which should be globally tradable.
- Focus on livestock: With the world’s largest livestock population (537 million), India needs better feeding practices with smaller numbers of cattle by raising their productivity.
- Switch areas from rice to maize: While direct-seeded rice and alternative wet and dry practices can reduce the carbon footprint in rice fields, the real solution lies in switching areas from rice to maize or other less water-guzzling crops.
- Efficient fertiliser use: Agricultural soils are the largest single source of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions in the national inventory.
- Nitrous oxide emissions from use of nitrogen-fertiliser increased by approximately 358 per cent during 1980-81 to 2014-15.
- An alternative for better and efficient fertiliser use would be to promote fertigation and subsidise soluble fertilisers.
- Incentives and subsidies: The government should incentivise and give subsidies on drips for fertigation, switching away from rice to corn or less water-intensive crops, and promoting soluble fertilisers at the same rate of subsidy as granular urea.
Consider the question “Agriculture sector is one of the significant contributors to the greenhouse gas emissions. This underscores the importance of carbon policy for agriculture in India. In this context, suggest the steps needed to be taken under the policy.”
Conclusion
Carbon policy for agriculture in India would help it meet its goals in reducing emissions while making agriculture climate-resilient.
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Back2Basics: Anaerobic conditions
- An anaerobic process in which organic food is converted into simpler compounds, and chemical energy (ATP) is produced. Certain types use the electron transport chain system to pass the electrons to the final electron acceptor, which may be an inorganic or an organic compound, but not oxygen.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Bretton Wood Twins
Mains level: Transparency issues is International Organizations
This article discusses some inherent issues with the international organizations (IOs) i.e., the World Bank (Bank) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) (aka Bretton Woods Twins). This comes in the backyard of the WB decision to scrap its flagship publication, the ‘Doing Business’ report.
Issue over chair: A monopoly of the West
- Common individuals to head: The individuals which are common to them: Paul Wolfowitz, Jim-Kim, David Malpass, Rodrigo Rato, Dominique-Strauss Kahn, Christine Lagarde, and Kristalina Georgieva.
- Monopoly of US/EU: They have all become heads via a dual monopoly selection procedure: Only an American can head the Bank and only a European can head the IMF.
- Personal integrity: This has been called into question, the most recent being the revelations of malfeasance at the World Bank where data was apparently massaged to make at least two major countries — China and Saudi Arabia— look better than they would otherwise have been.
Issues with these heads: Hypocrisy
- Political accountability: Within countries, we expect reasonable standards of integrity from heads of important institutions, and democratic political accountability mechanisms exist to ensure that.
- Probity: The effectiveness and legitimacy of these individuals and indeed of the international institutions they head require personal qualities of probity.
- Non-virtuous preachers: These heads often go around the developing world, preaching the virtues of good governance, from arguing against the scourge of corruption to improving data integrity.
- Undue parameters: There are even World Bank indices to rank countries on those metrics.
How has this impacted these institutions?
Ans. The credibility of the institutions is lost.
- It is not just the charge of hypocrisy, but also the effect on the morale and motivation of the staff of these institutions.
- Many of them chose to work here because of a commitment to public service.
- The recent letter by more than 300 former World Bank staff, expressing their anguish at the recent revelations on the Doing Business index, captures this sentiment.
Why such issues grapple these institutions?
- Goal definition: International institutions operate in a grey zone of neither clearly being in or outside the realm of formal politics and hence have weaker mechanisms of accountability.
- Selection of heads: The selection procedure for choosing heads of the Bank and the Fund has been a dismal failure. Compromised heads are potentially more biased.
- Indoctrination: Contrast this with the growing alarm and anxiety that characterizes the rise of China and its attempts to place its own nationals in existing IOs as well as creating new ones.
Chinese has intruded even into these
- Countries place their nationals to head these institutions, both for prestige and to pursue their national interests.
- China has its own nationals now head four of the 15 UN specialized agencies (it suffered a rare setback to head the World Intellectual Property Organisation last year).
Conclusion
- The contest between the West (and especially the US) and China to shape the global order is becoming manifest.
- China’s efforts, its success, and more broadly its influence in IOs should certainly raise deep concerns, most notably the suppression of the inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus.
- Looking ahead, if the US and Europe do not hold themselves to the standards they exhort to the rest of the world, their credibility and legitimacy will continue to degrade.
- This will cede ground and soft power to geopolitical rivals.
Way forward
- So, global political leaders convening next week for the annual meetings of the Bank and Fund must act with urgency and conviction to stem the rot.
- They must open the selection of the heads of these institutions to the best candidate, regardless of nationality.
- And to pave the way, they should clear up the current mess over the Doing Business saga.
Back2Basics:
International Org. | Part 7 | Bretton Woods Institutions – World Bank Group
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Air India
Mains level: Air India disinvestment
After 68 years, Air India is all set to return to the Tata fold.
What is the deal?
- The Tatas will own 100% stake in Air India, as also 100% in its international low-cost arm Air India Express and 50% in the ground handling joint venture, Air India SATS.
- Apart from 141 planes and access to a network of 173 destinations including 55 international ones, Tatas will also have the ownership of iconic brands like Air India, Indian Airlines and the Maharajah.
History of Air India
- Prominent industrialist JRD Tata founded the airline in 1932 and named it Tata Airlines.
- As India gained Independence, the government bought 49% stake in AI.
- In 1946, the aviation division of Tata Sons was listed as Air India, and in 1948, the Air India International was launched with flights to Europe.
- In 1953, Air India was nationalised and for the next over four decades it remained the prized possession for India controlling the majority of the domestic airspace.
Why was Air India sold?
- End of Monopoly: With economic liberalisation and the growing presence of private players, this dominance came under serious threat.
- Govt running an airline: Ideologically too, the government running an airline did not quite gel with the mantra of liberalisation.
- Continuous losses: By 2007, AI (which flew international flights) was merged with the domestic carrier, Indian Airlines, to reduce losses.
- Wastage of taxpayers money: But it is the mark of how poorly the airline was run that it has never made a profit since 2007.
Why wasn’t it sold earlier?
Ans. Fear over Operational Freedom
- The first attempt to reduce the government’s stake — disinvestment — was made in 2001 under the then NDA government.
- But that attempt — to sell 40% stake — failed.
- In 2018, the government made another attempt to sell the government stake — this time, 76%. But it did not elicit even a single response.
- In the latest attempt started in January 2020, the government has been able to finally conclude the sale.
So how was it managed this time?
- Govt gives up stakes: The mere fact that the government retained a partial stake. In other words, as long as the government kept a certain shareholding of AI, private players did not seem interested.
- Operational freedom: That’s because the mere idea of government ownership, even if it was as little as 24%, made private firms wonder if they would have the operational freedom needed.
- Debt sharing: In the past, the government expected the bidders to pick up a certain amount of the debt. This time, the government let the bidders decide the amount of debt they wanted to pick up.
Significance of the deal
[A] From the government’s perspective: A success
- Disinvestment: It underscores govt commitment to reducing the its role in the economy.
- Easing burden on taxpayers: This claims to have saved taxpayers from paying for daily losses of AI.
- Economic reforms: Given the historical difficulties in AI’s disinvestment, or any disinvestment at all this is a significant achievement.
[B] Business perspective: Still a failure
- Missing the target: Purely in terms of money, the deal does not result in as big a step towards achieving the government’s disinvestment target of the current year.
- Unresolved bankruptcy: The assets left with the government, such as buildings, etc., will likely generate Rs 14,718 crore. But that will still leave the government with a debt of Rs 28,844 crore to pay back.
[C] Value perspective: Success for Tatas
- Business success: From the Tatas’ perspective, apart from the emotional aspect of regaining control of an airline that they started, AI’s acquisition is a long-term bet.
- Investment boost: The Tatas are expected to invest far more than what they have paid the government if this bet is to work for them.
Conclusion
- Complete liberalization: The privatisation of Air India is a message from the Government to the markets and global investors that it has the political will to bite the reform bullet.
- Roadmap for economic reforms: The govt had to shed the “over-conservatism” that is typical of bureaucracy.
- Future disinvestments: A transaction as “tough and complex” as Air India’s in an open, transparent and competitive bidding process, will boost future privatisation.
Way forward
- Other loss-making PSUs continue to drain taxpayers’ hard-earned money and get abused and fleeced in the name of social welfare.
- The govt should imbibe this experience gained in future disinvestment biddings.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Free Trade Agreement
Mains level: India-ASEAN Relations
The Commerce and Industry Minister has called for a renegotiation of the India-ASEAN free trade agreement (FTA).
Why such move?
- The MCI aims to prevent its misuse by ‘third parties’ and remove trade restrictions as well as non-tariff barriers that he said had hurt Indian exports disproportionately since the pact was operationalized in 2010.
- The focus needed to be on new rules to eliminate misuse ‘by third parties outside ASEAN’, the minister said, hinting at China.
- India had to deal with several restrictive barriers on exports in the ASEAN region, particularly in the agriculture and auto sectors.
About ASEAN
- Members:
- Officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN is an economic union comprising 10 member states in Southeast Asia.
- It promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, military, educational, and sociocultural integration between its members and other countries in Asia.
India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement
- The initial framework agreement for ASEAN–India Free Trade Area (AIFTA) was signed on 8 October 2003 in Bali, Indonesia.
- The FTA came into effect on 1 January 2010.
- The FTA had emerged from a mutual interest of both parties to expand their economic ties in the Asia-Pacific region.
Background of the AIFTA
- India’s Look East policy was reciprocated by similar interests of many ASEAN countries to expand their interactions westward.
- After India became a sectoral dialogue partner of ASEAN in 1992, India saw its trade with ASEAN increase relative to its trade with the rest of the world.
- Between 1993 and 2003, ASEAN-India bilateral trade grew at an annual rate of 11.2%, from US$2.9 billion in 1993 to US$12.1 billion in 2003.
- Total Indian FDI into ASEAN from 2000 to 2008 was US$1.3 billion.
Acknowledging this trend and recognising the economic potential of closer linkages, both sides recognised the opportunities to pave the way for the establishment of an ASEAN–India Free Trade Area (FTA).
Structure of the AIFTA
- The signing of the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement paves the way for the creation of one of the world’s largest FTAs – a market of almost 1.8 billion people with a combined GDP of US$2.8 trillion.
- It sees tariff liberalisation of over 90 percent of products traded between the two dynamic regions, including the so-called “special products”.
- The products include palm oil (crude and refined), coffee, black tea and pepper.
Criticism
While there are many benefits to the ASEAN-India FTA, there is concern in India that the agreement will have several negative impacts on the economy.
- Opening-up its market: This FTA will allow them to increase the market access of their products.
- No specific gains: It is criticised, however, that India will not experience as great an increase in market access to ASEAN countries as ASEAN will in India.
- Export driven ASEAN: The economies of the ASEAN countries are largely export-driven. Considering India’s expansive domestic market, the ASEAN countries will look eagerly towards India as a home for its exports.
- Huge trade deficit: Since the early 2000s, India has had an increasing trade deficit with ASEAN. It is feared that a gradual liberalisation of tariffs and a rise in imported goods into India will threaten several sectors of the economy.
- Inaccessible Markets: As a dominant exporter of light manufacturing products, ASEAN has competitive tariff rates that make it difficult for India to gain access to the industry market in ASEAN countries.
- Cheaper imports: The state of Kerala is an important exporter in the national export of plantation products. It fears that cheap imports of oil palm, rubber, coffee, and fish would lower domestic production, adversely affecting farmers and ultimately its economy.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Open Market Operations (OMO)
Mains level: NA
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to halt its bond-buying under the G-Sec Acquisition Programme (GSAP).
Why such move?
- The GSAP had succeeded in ensuring adequate liquidity and stabilising financial markets.
- Coupled with other liquidity measures, it facilitated congenial and orderly financing conditions and a conducive environment for the recovery.
What is GSAP?
- The G-Sec Acquisition Programme (G-SAP) is basically an unconditional and a structured Open Market Operation (OMO), of a much larger scale and size.
- G-SAP is an OMO with a ‘distinct character’.
- The word ‘unconditional’ here connotes that RBI has committed upfront that it will buy G-Secs irrespective of the market sentiment.
What are Government Securities?
- These are debt instruments issued by the government to borrow money.
- The two key categories are:
- Treasury bills (T-Bills) – short-term instruments which mature in 91 days, 182 days, or 364 days, and
- Dated securities – long-term instruments, which mature anywhere between 5 years and 40 years
Note: T-Bills are issued only by the central government, and the interest on them is determined by market forces.
Why G-Secs?
- Like bank fixed deposits, g-secs are not tax-free.
- They are generally considered the safest form of investment because they are backed by the government. So, the risk of default is almost nil.
- However, they are not completely risk-free, since they are subject to fluctuations in interest rates.
- Bank fixed deposits, on the other hand, are guaranteed only to the extent of Rs 5 lakh by the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC).
Other decisions
- The RBI, however, remained ready to undertake G-SAP as and when warranted by liquidity conditions.
- It would also continue to flexibly conduct other liquidity management operations including Operation Twist (OT) and regular open market operations (OMOs).
Answer this PYQ in the comment box:
Q.Consider the following statements:
- The Reserve Bank of India manages and services the Government of India Securities but not any State Government Securities.
- Treasury bills are issued by the Government of India and there are no treasury bills issued by the State Governments.
- Treasury bills offer are issued at a discount from the par value.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 3 Only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Post your answers here:
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Back2Basics: Open Market Operations (OMO)
- OMOs is one of the quantitative monetary policy tools which is employed by the central bank of a country to control the money supply in the economy.
- It is a part of the Market Stabilization Scheme (MSS) by the RBI.
- OMOs are conducted by the RBI by way of sale or purchase of government securities (g-secs) to adjust money supply conditions.
- The central bank sells g-secs to remove liquidity from the system and buys back g-secs to infuse liquidity into the system.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Palk Bay Scheme
Mains level: Fisheries development
The Union Government is considering increasing the unit cost of deep-sea fishing vessels under the Palk Bay scheme to make it more attractive to fisherfolk.
Palk Bay Scheme
- The Palk Bay Scheme is the official scheme for diversification of trawl fishing boats from Palk Strait into deep sea fishing boats.
- It is aimed at encouraging fishermen to take up deep-sea fishing and put an end to disputes arising between the India and Sri Lanka.
- The project helps fishermen in the Palk Straits, who are not exposed to deep-sea fishing, to venture deep into the Indian Ocean, Arabian sea and other deep-sea areas to look for fish like tuna that are in high demand.
Why need such a scheme?
- Bottom trawling, an ecologically destructive practice, involves trawlers dragging weighted nets along the sea-floor, causing great depletion of aquatic resources.
Key components of the scheme
- The project aims to replace all trawler boats and introduce over 2,000 deep sea fishing boats in a course of five years.
- The scheme, under the aegis of Blue Revolution scheme – is funded by the Centre – 50 per cent and state government – 20 per cent for a boat costing Rs 80 lakh.
- Of the balance 30 per cent, 10 per cent is contributed by the beneficiary (fisherman), and the remaining 20 per cent is funded by banks.
Must read:
[Burning Issue] India- Sri Lanka Fishermen Issues
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Tejas LCA
Mains level: Paper 3- Challenges ahead for Indian Air Force
Context
A host of challenges greets India’s new Air Chief.
Challenges
- The challenges include the rewiring of India’s military into new theatre commands, the reservations expressed by the IAF about its “support” role and the visible depletion in operational air assets due to obsolescence and lack of new platforms.
- The decline in platforms is stark and from a strength of 42 combat squadrons in 2002, the IAF now operates barely 30.
- This shortfall in numbers would remain through this decade.
- Even as there are plans to create new theatre commands and allocate existing air assets to the new formations, the depletion in numbers merits urgent review.
Steps taken
- The purchase of 83 Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) will be a fillip even as the sturdy MIGs are finally phased out.
- In the next decade, the IAF hopes to induct the indigenous fifth-generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) and the Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) — a new platform that would be built in India with a foreign entity, the “original equipment manufacturer” (OEM), and thereby move up to 35 squadrons.
- Issues: The AMCA is “under design” and India’s track record in the design and manufacture of indigenous fighter aircraft is cost- and time-intensive.
- As regards the MRFA, the request for information for 114 jets has just been issued.
- The Rafale experience and the long delays associated with it would suggest that speedy selection of an OEM will be elusive.
Way forward
- Air power is becoming technologically more refined with unmanned platforms, cyber-space linkages and AI advances.
- The inherent trans-border nature of this military capability needs astute professional and political husbanding.
- Acquiring credible aerospace power with a meaningful degree of indigenisation will need a greater degree of national resolve, professional integrity and resource allocation than is the case now.
- China has demonstrated the degree of suasion and intimidation that airpower can bring to bear in relation to Taiwan.
Conclusion
A reality check about the quantity and quality of India’s air power and the roles it can undertake should precede its disaggregation to theatre commands in the run-up to India@75.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Digitization of Agriculture
In June this year, two significant documents relating to the Indian agriculture sector were released.
What are the reports about?
- The first is a consultation paper on the India Digital Ecosystem of Agriculture (IDEA) and the second on Indian Agriculture: Ripe for Disruption from a private organisation, Bain and Company.
- Through their work, these reports have depicted the agriculture reforms announced by the union government as a game-changer in the agriculture sector.
Challenges highlighted
The major challenges of the agriculture sector are:
- Food Sufficiency but Nutrition Deficiency
- High import of edible oil and oilseeds
- Yield plateaus
- Degrading soil, Water stress
- Inadequate market infra/linkages
- Unpredictable, volatile prices
- Post-harvest losses, wastages
- Lack of crop planning due to information asymmetry
Key takeaway: Way for doubling farmers income
- These reports in short argues that benefiting from the huge investments into the agri-ecosystem, doubling farmers’ income targets can be achieved in near future.
- The Indian agriculture sector in future will encompass farm to fork and pave the way for a single national market with a national platform with better connection between producer and consumers.
The forecast
- The Bain report is a data-based prediction on agri-business scenarios, anchored to the agricultural set-up at present and predicting its future trajectories in another 20 years.
- It includes targeting the production of alternative proteins, and food cell-based food/ingredients and initiating ocean farming, etc.
- The report has a ‘today forward– future back approach’ and predicts a drastic investment opportunity development by 2025.
- The agriculture sector (currently worth $370 billion), is estimated to receive an additional $35 billion investment.
The two enabling conditions for such investment opportunities are:
- Changes in the regulatory framework, especially recent changes in the Farm Acts and
- Digital disruption
The IDEA of integration
- Digital disruption: The blueprint of “digital agriculture” is similar to the digital disruption mentioned in the Bain report.
- Integration: Eventually, the farmer and the improvement of farmers’ livelihood is the aim of the IDEA concept and it is proposed to happen through tight integration of agri-tech innovation and the agriculture industry.
- Enabling conditions: To be precise, the IDEA concept profounds the creation of second enabling conditions (which is described in the Bain report).
- Openness of data: The IDEA principles explicitly talk about openness of data, which means open to businesses and farmers, indicating the kind of integration it aims at.
- Value-added innovative services: by agri-tech industries and start-ups are an integral part of the IDEA architecture.
- Data architecture: The services listed in the document (to be available on the platform) are equally important data for farmers and businesses.
A thread of digital disruption
- The IT industry has opposition to IDEA mainly due to the ethics of creating a Unique Farmer ID based on one’s Aadhaar number and also the potential for data misuse.
- Beyond the news coverage about the prospects of achieving the goal of Doubling Farmers Income on which the present government has almost lost its hope.
Issues with these reports
- The Bain report has not been widely discussed — at least in the public domain.
- The assumptions used by authors especially for its ‘future back approach’, need more or less focusing on widespread food production in controlled environments.
- The emission, energy, and other resource footprints and sustainability issues around these techniques are not adequately studied.
Yet these reports are important
- The report has convincingly demonstrated the business opportunity available in supply chains between farm to APMC mandi and mandi to the customer.
- This can be realised with the support of digital disruption and the latest agriculture reforms.
- Both these reports heavily rely on digital disruption to improve farmers’ livelihoods, without discussing how much farmers will be prepared to benefit from the emerging business.
An unconvincing ‘how’
- Digital divide: The fact is that a majority of small and marginal farmers are not technology-savvy.
- No capacity building: That most of them are under-educated for capacity building is ignored amidst these ambitious developments.
- Unrealistic assumptions: The Bain report relies on the general assumption that more investments into the agriculture sector will benefit farmers; ‘but how’ has not been convincingly answered.
- Overemphasis on technology: Similarly, how the technology fix will help resolve all the issues of Indian agriculture listed at the beginning of the report is unclear in the IDEA concept.
- Reluctance by farmers: These reports ignore the protest of farmers against the reforms without considering it as a barrier or risk factor resulting in a repealing of these new farm laws.
Way ahead: Focus on the farmer
- A data revolution is inevitable in the agriculture sector, given its socio-political complexities.
- However, we cannot just count on technology fixes and agri-business investments for improving farmers’ livelihoods.
- There need to be immense efforts to improve the capacities of the farmers in India – at least until the educated young farmers replace the existing under-educated small and medium farmers.
- This capacity building can be done through a mixed approach through FPOs and other farmers’ associations where technical support is available for farmers.
Conclusion
- Considering the size of the agriculture sector of the country this is not going to be an easy task but would need a separate program across the country with considerable investment.
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More than half of the country’s 135 coal-fired power plants are running on fumes – as coal stocks run critically low. They have fuel stocks of less than four days, government data shows.
Coal shortage in India
- In a country where 70% of the electricity is generated using coal, this is a major cause for concern as it threatens to derail India’s post-pandemic economic recovery.
- Utilities are scrambling to secure coal supplies as inventories hit critical lows after a surge in power demand from industries and sluggish imports due to record global prices push power plants to the brink.
How did the crisis escalate?
- As India’s economy picked up after a deadly second wave of Covid-19, demand for power rose sharply.
- Power consumption in the last two months alone jumped by almost 17%, compared to the same period in 2019.
- At the same time global coal prices increased by 40% and India’s imports fell to a two-year low.
- India is the world’s second largest importer of coal despite also being home to the fourth largest coal reserves in the world.
- Power plants that usually rely on imports are now heavily dependent on Indian coal, adding further pressure to already stretched domestic supplies.
What is the likely impact?
- Experts say importing more coal to make up for domestic shortages is not an option at present.
- India has seen shortages in the past, but what’s unprecedented this time is coal is really expensive now.
- Businesses at the end of the day pass on these costs to consumers, so there is an inflationary impact – both direct and indirect that could potentially come from this.
- If the crisis continues, a surge in the cost of electricity will be felt by consumers.
- Retail inflation is already high as everything from oil to food has become more expensive.
Other reasons for this crisis
- In recent years, India’s production has lagged as the country tried to reduce its dependence on coal to meet climate targets.
- Prices of power-generation fuels are surging globally as electricity demand rebounds with industrial growth, tightening supplies of coal and liquefied natural gas.
- India is competing against buyers such as China, the world’s largest coal consumer, which is under pressure to ramp up imports amid a severe power crunch.
- Rising oil, gas, coal and power prices are feeding inflationary pressures worldwide and slowing the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Challenges posed
- The desire to cut its reliance on heavily polluting coal burning power plants has been a major challenge for the government in recent years.
- The question of how India can achieve a balance between meeting demand for electricity from its almost 1.4bn people has to be answered.
What can the government do?
- Experts advocate a mix of coal and clean sources of energy as a possible long-term solution.
- It’s not completely possible to transition and it’s never a good strategy to transition 100% to renewables without a backup.
- Long term investment in multiple power sources aside a crisis like the current one can be averted with better planning.
- There is need for closer coordination between Coal India Limited – the largest supplier of coal in the country and other stakeholders.
- For now, the government is working with state-run enterprises to ramp up production and mining to reduce the gap between supply and demand.
Way forward
- This is a global phenomenon, one not specifically restricted to India.
- It is unclear how long the current situation will last.
- With the monsoon on its way out and winter approaching, the demand for power usually falls.
- So, the mismatch between demand and supply may iron out to some extent.
Try answering this PYQ:
Consider the following statements:
- Coal sector was nationalized by the Government of India under Indira Gandhi.
- Now, coal blocks are allocated on lottery basis.
- Till recently, India imported coal to meet the shortages of domestic supply, but now India is self- sufficient in coal production.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Post your answers here.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Indus valley civilization
Mains level: Key developments on IVC
Researchers at the Central University of Kerala (CUK) have found that domestication of sheep had taken place in the Indian subcontinent, especially in the Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC) regions in the 6th or 7th millennium BC.
Animal domestication in IVC
A number of domesticated animal species have been found in excavations at the Harappan cities.
- The Indian humped cattle (Bos indicus) were most frequently encountered, though whether along with a humpless variety, such as that shown on the seals, is not clearly established.
- The buffalo (B. bubalis) is less common and may have been wild.
- Sheep and goats occur, as does the Indian pig (Sus cristatus).
- The camel is present, as well as the ass (Equus asinus).
- Bones of domestic fowl are not uncommon; these fowl were domesticated from the indigenous jungle fowl.
- Finally, the cat and the dog were both evidently domesticated.
- Present, but not necessarily as a domesticated species, is the elephant.
- The horse is possibly present but extremely rare and apparently only present in the last stages of the Harappan Period.
Key findings of the study
- The study has found genetic evidence that sheep had been domesticated in the region in contrast to the general belief that they were domesticated then in West Asia alone.
- India ranks second in terms of sheep population, represented by as many as 44 well-described breeds in addition to several nondescript species.
- It highlights that genetic diversity and phylogeography of Indian sheep breeds remained poorly understood, particularly the south Indian breed.
How was the classification held?
- Researchers retrieved the mitochondrial DNA sequences of another 11 breeds for analysis, which further strengthened their study.
- The researchers analysed these sequences along with published data of domestic and wild sheep from different countries, including India.
- The haplotype diversity observed was relatively high in Indian sheep, which were classified into the three known major mitochondrial DNA lineages namely A, B, and C.
Diversity among Indian Sheeps
- It was found that lineage A was predominant among Indian sheep, whereas lineages B and C were observed at low frequencies.
- Particularly lineage C was restricted to the breeds of northern and eastern India.
- The study examined the south Indian breeds, provided strong genetic evidence that the Indian subcontinent was one of the domestication centres of the lineage A sheep.
- When DNA sequences were compared with other breeds across the world, it was found that the Indian sheep haplotypes were unique and highly diverse.
- The high genetic diversity and statistical analysis suggest that sheep was domesticated in the country.
- The wild Sheep, O. vignei blanfordi in Mehrgarh [Pakistan], may be a potential progenitor of domestic sheep lineage.
Breeds studied
- Among the south Indian breeds, except for Mandya, all others, notably Bellary, Coimbatore, Hassan, Katchaikatty Black, Nilgri, Ramnad White, and Vembur, were fully encompassed with lineage A.
- However, Kenguri Kilakarsal, Madras Red, Mecheri, and Tiruchy Black breeds, had very low occurrences of lineage B mitochondria.
- In contrast, a majority of individuals of Mandya and Sonadi breeds carried a relatively high frequency of lineage B.
- In terms of the conservation of sheep genetic resources, these two breeds are important with respect to maternal lineages.
Try answering this PYQ:
With reference to the difference between the culture of Rigvedic Aryans and Indus Valley people, which of the following statements is/are correct?
- Rigvedic Aryans used the coat of mail and helmet in warfare whereas the people of Indus Valley Civilization did not leave any evidence of using them.
- Rigvedic Aryans knew gold, silver and copper whereas Indus Valley people knew only copper and iron.
- Rigvedic Aryans had domesticated the horse whereas there is no evidence of Indus Valley people having been aware of this animal.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Post your answers here.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NATO
Mains level: Not Much
NATO has withdrew the accreditation of eight Russian officials to the military alliance in response to a rise in malign activities by Moscow.
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
- The 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 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.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: River Ranching
Mains level: Fisheries development
The Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, is set to launch the River Ranching Programme in Uttar Pradesh under the Namami Gange Programme.
What is River Ranching?
- River Ranching is a form of aquaculture in which a population of a fish species (such as salmon) is held in captivity for the first stage of their lives.
- They are then released, and later harvested as adults when they return from the sea to their freshwater birthplace to spawn.
Objective
The key objectives of the program are:
- To sustain and conserve the biodiversity in the river.
- Facilitate regular stocking of fingerlings of cultivable carps to enhance productivity
- Increase fish production
- Enhance income and livelihood opportunities to communities’ dependent on these resources
Why need such a program?
- River ranching helps in achieving sustainable fisheries, reducing habitat degradation, conserving biodiversity, maximising social-economic benefits and would also remove factors causing pollution.
- In this activity, different species of fish are released in the river, which destroy factors that increase the level of nitrogen.
- These fishes will also aid in maintaining the cleanliness of the river as they feed on organic remnants.
Where is the scheme being launched?
- In Uttar Pradesh, about 15 lakh fish fingerlings of native carp species shall be simultaneously released into the river in 12 districts by the department.
- These districts include Bulandshahr/Hapur, Hardoi, Bijnor, Amroha, Fatehpur, Kanpur, Badayun, Kaushambi, Prayagraj, Mirzapur, Varanasi and Ghazipur.
- Four other states namely Uttarakhand, Orissa, Tripura and Chhattisgarh will also witness the launching of nationwide River Ranching program.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: National Digital Livestock Mission
Mains level: Not Much
The Union Minister of State Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying unveiled the National Digital Livestock Mission Blueprint.
National Digital Livestock Mission
- The NDLM would be a digital platform developed by Dept. of Dairy and Animal Husbandry on the foundation of the existing Information Network for Animal Productivity and Health (INAPH).
- It aims to create a farmer-centric, technology-enabled ecosystem where the farmers are able to realize better income through livestock activities with the right information.
- The bedrock of NDLM will be the unique identification of all livestock, which will be the foundation for all the state and national level programmes including domestic and international trade.
- The farmers will be able to effortlessly access the markets, irrespective of their location or holdings through this digital platform as a wide-range of stake-holders will be connected in this ecosystem.
- This system will also include robust animal breeding systems, nutrition, disease surveillance, disease control programmes and a traceability mechanism for animals and animal products.
Why need such mission?
- The livestock sector has a unique combination of being the backbone of rural livelihood.
- The growth would have been a lot better if there were concerted efforts to harmonise programmes across the country in order to create an ecosystem that is conducive for growth of the sector.
- This has been the main idea behind the deployment of NDLM, keeping the welfare of the farmer at the core.
Back2Basics: National Livestock Mission
- National Livestock Mission is an initiative of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.
- The mission, which commenced from 2014-15, has the objective of sustainable development of the livestock sector.
- NABARD is the subsidy channelising agency for following schemes, under Entrepreneurship Development & Employment Generation (EDEG) component of National Livestock Mission.
- Poultry Venture Capital Fund (PVCF)
- Integrated Development of Small Ruminants and Rabbit (IDSRR)
- Pig Development (PD)
- Salvaging and Rearing of Male Buffalo Calves (SRMBC)
- Effective Animal Waste Management
- Construction of Storage Facility for Feed and Fodder
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: High Ambition Coalition (HAC)
Mains level: NA
India has officially joined the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People, a group of more than 70 countries encouraging the adoption of the global goal to protect 30×30.
High Ambition Coalition (HAC)
Aim: To promote an international agreement to protect at least 30 % the of world’s land and ocean by 2030
- The HAC is an informal group of approximately 61 countries within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
- It is committed to advancing progressive proposals on climate ambition.
- The HAC was founded by the Republic of the Marshall Islands in 2014 with the aim of ensuring the Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015, was as ambitious as possible.
- The Republic of the Marshall Islands serves as the convener and secretariat of the HAC.
- The global 30×30 goal is currently a centerpiece of the treaty.
Members
- HAC members currently include a mix of countries in the global north and south; European, Latin American, Africa and Asia countries are among the members.
- India is the first of the BRICS bloc of major emerging economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) to join the HAC.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: WTO
Mains level: Paper 3- Challenges facing WTO
Context
Created in 1995, during the heyday of neoliberalism, the World Trade Organization (WTO) became a shining example of triumphant free-market capitalism. Now, the WTO is facing a serious existential crisis.
Challenges facing WTO
1) Disfunctional appellate body
- The United States, which played a pivotal role in establishing the WTO, seems to have lost interest in it.
- The feeling in the US is that the WTO hasn’t served the American national interest by failing to stem China’s rise and regularly indicting the U.S. in several trade disputes.
- The continuation of the U.S. policy on the WTO is most evident in the sustained crippling of the Appellate Body (AB).
- Three out of seven AB members serve on any one case.
- However, since December 2019, the AB has stopped functioning due to rising vacancies.
- Countries now have an easy option not to comply with the WTO panel decisions by appealing into the void.
- If no solution is found soon, the WTO’s rules-based order will start crumbling.
2) Public stockholding for food security purposes
- No solution has been found to the public stockholding for food security purposes despite a clear mandate to do so in the 2015 Nairobi ministerial meeting.
- This is of paramount concern for countries like India that use Minimum Support Price (MSP)-backed mechanisms to procure foodgrains.
- With rising prices and the need to do higher procurement to support farmers and provide food to the poor at subsidised prices, India might breach the cap.
- Although countries have agreed that legal suits will not be brought if countries breach the cap (the so-called ‘peace clause’), it is imperative to find a permanent solution such as not counting MSP-provided budgetary support as trade-distorting.
3) Disagreement on TRIPS waiver for Covid-19
- The WTO member countries continue to disagree on the need of waiving the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement for COVID-19 related medical products.
- It was exactly a year back when India and South Africa proposed a TRIPS waiver to overcome intellectual property (IP)-related obstacles in increasing accessibility of COVID-19 medical products, including vaccines.
4) Regulating irrational subsidies provided for fishing
- Irrational subsidies provided for fishing that has led to the overexploitation of marine resources by countries like China, which is the largest catcher and exporter of fish.
- The WTO is close to signing a deal on regulating irrational subsidies
- This agreement should strike a balance between conserving ocean resources and the livelihood concerns of millions of small and marginal fishermen in countries like India.
5) Fragmentation of global governance due to plurilateral trade agreements
- The gridlock at the WTO has led to the emergence of mega plurilateral trade agreements like the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement.
- These mega plurilateral agreements not only fragment the global governance on international trade but also push the multilateral order to the margin, converting the WTO to what some call an “institutional zombie”.
Conclusion
Notwithstanding its flaws, the WTO is the only forum where developing countries like India, not party to any mega plurilateral trade agreements, can push for evolving an inclusive global trading order that responds to the systemic imbalances of extant globalisation. What is at stake is the future of trade multilateralism and not just an institution, in which India has a huge interest.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Distortions in the Global Order
This article discusses new situations prompted by the tectonic shifts in India’s internal and external environment to take another look at India’s path to power in a world between orders.
New global order: No Order
- Multipolarity: The world is today adrift. We are neither in a bipolar Cold War nor in a multipolar world, though perhaps tending towards a world of several power centres.
- Lack of cohesion: The lack of a coherent international response to the COVID-19 pandemic is proof of an absence of international order and of the ineffectiveness of multilateral institutions.
- Climate ignorance: So is the ineffective international response to climate change and other transnational threats.
What are the major shifts in global order?
- Secular stagnation
- Retreat from globalisation
- Regionalisation of trade
- Shifting balance of power
- Rise of China and others
- Structural China-United States strategic rivalry
All above factors have shifted the geopolitical and economic centres of gravity from the Atlantic to Asia.
Major Concerns
- Chauvinism: Inequality between and within states has bred a narrow nationalism and parochialism.
- Existential threats: We are entering a new polarised information age, and face ecological crises of the Anthropocene, making climate change an existential threat.
Asia as the nucleus: With focus on China
- Shift of focus by the US: Over the next decade we expect Asia to remain the cockpit of geopolitical rivalries, and that the US remains the most formidable power, though its relative power is declining.
- China at the centre: China sees a window of opportunity but acts in a hurry, suggesting that she believes that window may close or is already closing due to push back from the West and others.
China’s expansionism
- China’s crowded geography constrains her both on land and at sea.
- Hence it expects her profile and power to continue expanding, particularly in our periphery.
- The result is likely continued friction, some cooperation, and quasi-adversarial relations between India and China, which others will take advantage of.
- Overall, we do not expect conventional conflict between the great powers in Asia, though other forms and levels of violence and contention in the international system will rise, with Taiwan a special case.
Opportunities in disguise for India
- The uncertainty and changing geopolitical environment clearly pose considerable challenges to Indian policy.
- However, it also throws up certain opportunities, enhancing our strategic options and diplomatic space, if we adjust policies internally and externally, particularly in the subcontinent.
How can India reap the benefits?
- Enhancing ties with the US: Increasing security congruence with the US could enable growing cooperation in fields significant for India’s transformation: energy, trade, investment, education and health.
- Climate cooperation: Other areas in which India and the U.S. could increase cooperation are: climate change and energy, tech solutions for renewable energy, and on digital cooperation.
- Neighbourhood first: Several middle powers like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia in the neighbourhood are now India’s natural partners.
- Digital space: This time of transition between orders is also when new standards and norms are being developed, particularly in the digital space. India can and must be present at the creation.
- Maritime cooperation: At sea, the balance is today more favourable to us than before, possibly more so than on the continent. India must bat for the creation of a Maritime Commission in IOR.
Bottlenecks in India’s neighbourhood policy
- Over securitisation of policy: towards our neighbours has driven trade underground, criminalised our borders.
- Conducive environment for entry of China: This has enabled the large-scale entry of Chinese goods destroying local industry in the northeast.
- Lack of self-strengthening: While lessening dependence on China, and seeking external balancing, our primary effort has to concentrate on self-strengthening.
- Lack of socio-political enterprise: If there is one country which in terms of its size, population, economic potential, scientific and technological capabilities can match or even surpass China, it is India.
Way forward for India
(A) Bringing multipolarity in Asia.
- The way forward should be based on the core strategic principles in Non-Alignment 2.0 which are still relevant: independent judgement, developing our capacities, and creating an equitable and enabling international order for India’s transformation.
- Today’s situation makes India’s strategic autonomy all the more essential.
(B) Making an issue-based coalition
- India must adjust to changing circumstances. We have no choice but to engage with this uncertain and more volatile world.
- One productive way to do so would be through issue-based coalitions including different actors, depending on who has an interest and capability.
(C) Reviving SAARC
- India must craft and reinvigorate regional institutions and processes in the neighbourhood, reviving the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) for instance.
- India could be the primary source of both prosperity and security in the neighbourhood — the subcontinent and the Indian Ocean Region.
Conclusion
- Economic policy must match political and strategic engagement.
- Globalisation has been central to India’s growth.
- A more active regional and international role for India is incompatible with a position on the margins of the global economy.
- Self-reliance in today’s world and technologies can only be realised as part of the global economy.
- We should not imitate China’s claims to being a civilisational state and its adoption of victimhood.
- Instead, we should affirm our own strength and historic national identity.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Judgments in the newscard
Mains level: Quota in Promotions
The Union government has urged the Supreme Court to do away with the requirement of collecting quantifiable data by the Centre and states to determine the representation of people belonging to Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) while implementing reservation in promotion.
Supreme Court directive on Quota in Promotions
Background
- The top court has called it “disturbing” that the Union government did not discontinue reservation in promotion for people belonging to SC/STs.
- It referred to their numbers exceeded the upper ceiling of 15% and 7.5% respectively, of positions in some classes of central government jobs.
Quota in Promotions: A timeline
What was the case?
- The Union government has been pressing for reservation in promotion proportionate to the population of SCs and STs as per a 1995 judgment by the top court in the RK Sabharwal case.
- It wants it to be left open to the Centre and states to decide on promotional avenues for SCs and STs.
- It claims that the condition regarding collection of quantifiable data to show inadequacy of representation of SCs/STs is “vague”.
- Advocates representing general category have contended that the reservation cannot be for an indefinite period and that it must stop as soon as the upper ceiling has been reached.
- Further, they have emphasised that reservation in promotion should be cadre-based only after quantifiable data is collected and the creamy layer has been excluded.
Defying the need for quantifiable data
- Attorney General sought to convince the court that the roster system, based on the proportionate population of SCs/STs, has been working quite well in all government departments.
- The condition of collecting quantifiable data on inadequacy of representation of SCs/STs may not be required at all.
- He urged that there is no need to verify any further or collect quantifiable data after the roster system.
Referring to the Nagraj Case
- Article 16(4A) of Indian Constitution allows reservations to SCs and STs in promotions, as long as the government believes that they are not adequately represented in government services.
- In 2006, a Constitution bench’s ruling in the M Nagaraj case made it incumbent upon the state to collect quantifiable data showing inadequacy of representation in public employment.
- This was to be done in addition to maintaining overall administrative efficiency.
Why such demand by the Centre?
- The Attorney General has said that it is tough for a member of the SC/ST to reach the ‘Group A’ category jobs.
- The time has come for the apex court to firm up and draw the basis for reservation in promotions for SC/ST candidates to fill up vacancies in top jobs.
- The Bench referred to records filed before it to note that there was low representation of SC/ST category in Group A jobs.
- Instead of improving the situation in the Group A ranks, the court said, efforts are on to ensure adequate representation in Groups B and C. This was not fair, it remarked.
Must read:
[Burning Issue] SC judgement on Reservation not being a Fundamental Right
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Nobel Price, BioCatalysts
Mains level: NA
(1) Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences, 2021
The 2021 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences has been awarded in one half to Canadian-born David Card and the other half jointly to Israeli-American Joshua D Angrist and Dutch-American Guido W Imbens.
- David Card has been awarded for his empirical contributions to labor economics. Joshua D Angrist and Guido W Imbens won the award “for their methodological contributions to the analysis of causal relationships.”
- The 2020 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences was awarded to Paul R Milgrom and Robert B Wilson “for improvements to auction theory and inventions of new auction formats”.
Contributions
- David Card: He has analyzed how minimum wages, immigration and education impact the labor market.
- One of the significant findings of this research was that“increasing the minimum wage does not necessarily lead to fewer jobs”.
- It also led to the understanding that“people who were born in a country can benefit from new immigration, while people who immigrated at an earlier time risk being negatively affected”.
- It also illuminated the role of resources available in school in shaping the future of students in the labor market.
- Joshua Angrist and Guido Imbens: They were rewarded for their “methodological contributions” to the research tool.
- Their work demonstrated “how precise conclusions about cause and effect can be drawn from natural experiments”.
(2) Nobel Prize for Chemistry, 2021
The 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Benjamin List and David MacMillan for the development of asymmetric organocatalysis.
- Last year, the honour went to Frenchwoman Emmanuelle Charpentier and American Jennifer Doudna, for developing the gene-editing technique known as CRISPR-Cas9 – DNA snipping “scissors”.
About the Development
- They have developed a new and ingenious tool for molecule building: organocatalysis.
- Many research areas and industries are dependent on chemists’ ability to construct molecules that can form elastic and durable materials, store energy in batteries or inhibit the progression of diseases. This work requires catalysts.
- According to researchers, there were just two types of catalysts available: metals and enzymes. Catalysts are any substance that increases the rate of a reaction without itself being consumed.
- In 2000, they, independent of each other, developed a third type of catalysis. It is called asymmetric organocatalysis and builds upon small organic molecules.
- Significance:
- Its uses include research into new pharmaceuticals and it has also helped make chemistry greener.
- Both these sets of catalysts (metals and enzymes) had limitations.
- Heavier metals are expensive, difficult to mine, and toxic to humans and the environment.
- Despite the best processes, traces remained in the end product; this posed problems in situations where compounds of very high purity were required, like in the manufacture of medicines.
- Also, metals required an environment free of water and oxygen, which was difficult to ensure on an industrial scale.
- Enzymes on the other hand, work best when water is used as a medium for the chemical reaction. But that is not an environment suitable for all kinds of chemical reactions.
Organocatalysis
-
- Organic compounds are mostly naturally-occurring substances, built around a framework of carbon atoms and usually containing hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulphur, or phosphorus.
- Life-supporting chemicals like proteins, which are long chains of amino acids (carbon compounds containing nitrogen and oxygen) are organic.
- Enzymes are also proteins, and therefore, organic compounds. These are responsible for many essential biochemical reactions.
- Organocatalysts allow several steps in a production process to be performed in an unbroken sequence, considerably reducing waste in chemical manufacturing.
- Organocatalysis has developed at an astounding speed since 2000. Benjamin List and David MacMillan remain leaders in the field, and have shown that organic catalysts can be used to drive multitudes of chemical reactions.
- Using these reactions, researchers can now more efficiently construct anything from new pharmaceuticals to molecules that can capture light in solar cells.
Asymmetric Organocatalysis
-
- The process called asymmetric organocatalysis has made it much easier to produce asymmetric molecules – chemicals that exist in two versions, where one is a mirror image of the other.
- Chemists often just want one of these mirror images – particularly when producing medicines – but it has been difficult to find efficient methods for doing this.
- Some molecules with mirror versions have different properties. An example is the chemical called carvone, which has one form that smells like spearmint and a counterpart that smells like the herb, dill.
- Different versions of the same molecule might have different effects when ingested. Then it becomes important to be able to make only the mirror image of a drug that has the desired physiological effect.
(3) Nobel Prize in Physics, 2021
The 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded with one half jointly to Syukuro Manabe, Klaus Hasselmann and the other half to Giorgio Parisi “for groundbreaking contributions to our understanding of complex physical systems.”
- This is the first time climate scientists (Manabe and Hasselmann) have been awarded the Physics Nobel. Last year, the award was given for the research into black holes.
Manabe and Hasselmann
- Awarded for work in physical modelling of Earth’s climate, quantifying variability and reliably predicting global warming.
- Demonstrated how increases in the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would increase global temperatures, laying the foundations for current climate models.
Parisi
- Awarded for “the discovery of the interplay of disorder and fluctuations in physical systems from atomic to planetary scales.”
- He “built a deep physical and mathematical model” that made it possible to understand complex systems in fields such as mathematics, biology, neuroscience and machine learning.
(4) Nobel Prize for Physiology/Medicine, 2021
Recently, two United States-based scientists, David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian have been awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize for Physiology/Medicine for their discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch.
- They have focused their work on the field of somatosensation, that is the ability of specialized organs such as eyes, ears and skin to see, hear and feel.
About the Discoveries
David Julius:
- He discovered TRPV1, a heat-sensing receptor.
- His findings on the skin’s sense of temperature was based on how certain cells react to capsaicin, the molecule that makes chili peppers spicy, by simulating a false sensation of heat.
Ardem Patapoutian
- He discovered two mechanosensitive ion channels known as the Piezo channels.
- The Piezo1 is named after the Greek word for pressure, ‘píesi’.
- He is credited for finding the cellular mechanism and the underlying gene that translates a mechanical force on our skin into an electric nerve signal.
Significance of Discoveries
-
- The findings have allowed us to understand how heat, cold and mechanical force can initiate the nerve impulses that allow us to perceive and adapt to the world around us.
- This knowledge is being used to develop treatments for a wide range of disease conditions, including chronic pain.
Back To Basics: About Nobel Prizes
- The will of the Swedish scientist Alfred Nobel established the five Nobel prizes in 1895.
- The Nobel Prizes are a set of recognition given to fields of Chemistry, Literature, Peace, Physics, and Physiology or Medicine by The Nobel Foundation.
- The Nobel Foundation is a private institution established in 1900, has ultimate responsibility for fulfilling the intentions in Alfred Nobel’s will.
- The prizes in Chemistry, Literature, Peace, Physics, and Physiology or Medicine were first awarded in 1901.
- In 1968, Sveriges Riksbank established the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Malaria and it vaccines
Mains level: Malaria menace in India
In a historic move, the World Health Organization (WHO) has endorsed the first anti-malarial vaccine, as mankind enters a key turning point in a battle waged relentlessly over decades between man and mosquito, the vector.
Mosquirix
- RTS,S/ASO1 (RTS.S), trade name Mosquirix acts against P. falciparum, the most deadly malaria parasite globally, and the most prevalent in Africa.
- The vaccine was able to prevent approximately 4 in 10 cases of malaria over a 4-year period in Africa.
- This is the first malaria vaccine that has completed the clinical development process.
- It is also the first malaria vaccine to be introduced by three national ministries of health through their childhood immunization programs — more than 800,000 children in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi.
- have been vaccinated, and are benefiting from the added protection provided by the vaccine as part of a pilot program.
How the vaccine can help?
- WHO’s recommendation is based on the advice of its two global advisory bodies, one for immunization and the other for malaria.
- WHO has recommended that in the context of comprehensive malaria control, the RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine be used for the prevention of P. falciparum malaria in children living in regions with moderate to high transmission as defined by it.
- The malaria vaccine should be provided in a schedule of 4 doses in children from 5 months of age for the reduction of malaria disease and burden.
Back2Basics: Malaria
- Malaria is caused by the bite of the female Anopheles mosquito if the mosquito itself is infected with a malarial parasite.
- There are five kinds of malarial parasites — Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium vivax (the commonest ones), Plasmodium malariae, Plasmodium ovale and Plasmodium knowlesi.
- Therefore, to say that someone has contracted the Plasmodium ovale type of malaria means that the person has been infected by that particular parasite.
- Malaria is treated with prescription drugs to kill the parasite. Chloroquine is the preferred treatment for any parasite that is sensitive to the drug.
Countries that have eliminated malaria
- Globally, the elimination net is widening, with more countries moving towards the goal of zero malaria.
- In 2019, 27 countries reported fewer than 100 indigenous cases of the disease, up from 6 countries in 2000.
- Countries that have achieved at least 3 consecutive years of zero indigenous cases of malaria are eligible to apply for the WHO certification of malaria elimination.
- 11 countries have been certified as malaria-free: United Arab Emirates (2007), Morocco (2010), Turkmenistan (2010), Armenia (2011), Sri Lanka (2016), Kyrgyzstan (2016), Paraguay (2018), Uzbekistan (2018), Algeria (2019), Argentina (2019), and El Salvador (2021).
Burden of Malaria in India
- In 2018, the National Vector-borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) estimated that approximately 5 lakh people suffered from malaria.
- 63% of the cases were of Plasmodium falciparum.
- The recent World Malaria Report 2020 said cases in India dropped from about 20 million in 2000 to about 5.6 million in 2019.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Jim Corbett NP
Mains level: Tiger Conservation
The Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change has recently proposed to change the name of Corbett National Park to Ramganga National Park.
Who was Jim Corbett?
- Born in Nainital in 1875, Edward James Corbett lived in India till Independence, after which he left for Kenya where he died in 1955.
- India’s best known hunter, Corbett earned fame after he tracked down and killed a number of man-eating tigers and leopards (he is said to have killed over a dozen).
- An ace shot, Corbett was called upon regularly by the government to track and shoot man-eaters in the villages of Garhwal and Kumaon in Uttarakhand.
Corbett National Park
- Jim Corbett National Park is a national park in India located in the Nainital district of Uttarakhand state.
- The first national park in India, it was established in 1936 during the British Raj and named Haily National Park after a governor of the United Provinces in which it was then located.
- It was renamed Ramganga National Park, named after the river that flows through it, shortly after Independence and was rechristened yet again as Corbett National Park in 1956.
- Jim Corbett had played a leading role in its establishment and had died the year before.
- The park was the first to come under the Project Tiger initiative.
The tiger reserve
- The national park along with the neighbouring 301-sq km-Sonanadi Wildlife Sanctuary together make the critical tiger habitat of the Corbett Tiger Reserve.
- With its hills, grasslands and streams, it is ideal tiger territory.
- The place from where Project Tiger was launched in 1973, with its tiger population at 163, it boasts of a single largest tiger population in a tiger reserve and one of the highest tiger densities in the country.
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