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  • Glacial Lake Outburst in Ladakh

    In August 2014, a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) hit the village of Gya in Ladakh, destroying houses, fields and bridges. Researchers now have mapped the evolution of Gya glacial lake and note the cause of the flood.

    What is glacial lake outburst flood?

    • A GLOF is a type of outburst flood that occurs when the dam containing a glacial lake fails.
    • An event similar to a GLOF, where a body of water contained by a glacier melts or overflows the glacier, is called a Jökulhlaup.
    • The dam can consist of glacier ice or a terminal moraine.
    • Failure can happen due to erosion, a buildup of water pressure, an avalanche of rock or heavy snow, an earthquake, volcanic eruptions under the ice, or glacier collapses into it.

     How did it happen in Ladakh?

    • It was not a spillover but rather a tunnelling of drainage process that caused GLOF in Gya lake.
    • Imagine a bucket full of water. It can overflow when you drop a stone, or the water can drain if there is a hole under the bucket.
    • Similarly, here the flooding did not happen due to the spillovers due to an avalanche or landslide, rather there was a thawing of the ice cores in the moraine.

    Back2Basics: Glacial Landforms

    Glacial landforms are landforms created by the action of glacier movements.

    As the glaciers expand, due to their accumulating weight of snow and ice they crush and abrade and scour surfaces such as rocks and bedrock.  The resulting erosional landforms include striations, cirques, glacial horns, arêtes, trim lines, U-shaped valleys, over-deepening and hanging valleys.

    • Cirque: Starting location for mountain glaciers
    • Cirque stairway: a sequence of cirques
    • U-shaped, or trough, valley: U-shaped valleys are created by mountain glaciers. When filled with ocean water so as to create anthe glacial action erodes through, a spillway (or col) forms
    • Valley step: an abrupt change in the longitudinal slope of a glacial valley

    When the glaciers retreated leaving behind their freight of crushed rock and sand (glacial drift), they created characteristic depositional landforms.  Examples include glacial moraines, eskers, and kames. Drumlins and ribbed moraines are also landforms left behind by retreating glaciers.

    • Esker: Built-up bed of a subglacial stream
    • Kame: Irregularly shaped mound
    • Moraine: Feature can be terminal (at the end of a glacier), lateral (along the sides of a glacier), or medial (formed by the merger of lateral moraines from contributary glaciers)
    • Outwash fan: Braided stream flowing from the front end of a glacier

  • UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ)

    In a significant victory for India at the United Nations, Indian diplomat Vidisha Maitra was elected to the U.N. Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ).

    Try this PYQ:

    Which one of the following is not related to the United Nations?
    (a) Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency
    (b) International Finance Corporation
    (c) International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes
    (d) Bank for International Settlements

    About UN- ACABQ

    • It is a subsidiary organ of the General Assembly. The 193-member Assembly appoints members of the Advisory Committee.
    • ACABQ consists of 16 members appointed by the Assembly in their individual capacity.
    • Members are selected on the basis of broad geographical representation, personal qualifications and experience.

    Its functions

    • ACABQ ensures that fund contributions to the U.N. system are put to good effect and that mandates are properly funded.
    • It examines, on behalf of the General Assembly, the administrative budgets of the specialised agencies and proposals for financial arrangements with such agencies; and to consider and report to the General Assembly on the auditors’ reports on the accounts of the UN and of the specialised agencies.

    Why is the seat given to India?

    • India has a stellar record of bringing professional auditing experience to the U.N. and contributing outstanding professionals to U.N. bodies.
    • With India’s rising obligations in both assessed as well as voluntary contributions to the U.N., India holds key responsibility of administrative and budgetary management of U.N.

    Significance of the move

    • The victory gives a strong display of support by U.N. member states for India.
    • It comes as India gets ready to sit in the U.N. Security Council as a non-permanent member for a two-year term beginning January 2021.

  • UPSC Mains 2020 Timetable released | 60 days daily answer writing starts on Habitat

    Dear aspirants,

    UPSC has released the timetable for the Mains exam 2020. Click here to download.

    With this, as a part of our Mains FLTs 2020 and Mains QEP 2020, we’ll be starting our daily answer writing practice on Habitat to build up your endurance and speed for UPSC mains.

    Everyday questions will be shared with you on Habitat. You have to write answers to them and post them on Habitat. These questions will be discussed in the evening.

    Instructions for joining Habitat

    1. Click here: Link for Habitat.
    2. Choose Web Application. (Mandatory)
    3. Click on ‘Register a new account’ and enter your details.
    4. Choose a username.
    5. That is it. Welcome to Habitat.

    For access through Mobile app:

    1. Install the Mobile application (click here) from your Appstore.
    2. Use the same email id and password as you used above.

    Should you encounter any issue in this process or you have a query, reach out to us at +91 89299 87787 or hello@civilsdaily.com

  • Taxes and the fundamental rights

    The article deals with the issue of a petition challenging the imposition of 5% GST on mobility aids used by disabled citizens.

    Background

    • The petitioner, in Nipun Malhotra vs. Union of India, argued in Supreme Court that the tax imposed on mobility aids used by disabled citizenswas patently discriminatory.
    • A decision to impose a tax, the Court said, was a matter of policy over which the judiciary ought not to ordinarily interfere.
    • In adjourning the case, it suggested that the petitioner exhaust his options by submitting his grievances to the GST Council, which is the governing body responsible for determining which products are taxed, and at what rate.

    Should the Courts test the legitimacy of the tax

    • It might be keen to ensure that the judiciary does not sit on judgment over matters that fall within the domain of legislative and executive competence.
    • There is nothing inherently distinct about taxing laws; they are in no way plenary and unamenable to judicial review.
    • Quite to the contrary, taxes have a direct bearing on how society is arranged.
    • The nature and rate of tax imposed on a product can impinge both on a person’s freedom and on a person’s right to be treated with equal care and concern.
    • Therefore, it ought to be well within an independent judiciary’s province — as the top courts in Canada and Colombia, among others, have recently held — to examine whether or not an imposition of a tax violates a fundamental right.

    Why government impose tax on mobility aids?

    • Until the advent of the GST, mobility aids were almost entirely immune from indirect taxes.
    • In virtually every State, exemptions were granted on the payment of value-added-tax on such goods.
    • However, under GST 18% tax was imposed on these devices and subsequently reduced to 5%.
    • The government claims that it cannot relieve mobility aids from taxation, because to do so will disincentivise domestic manufacturers.
    • Domestic manufacturers can claim “input tax credit” on taxes paid on raw material in the process of manufacturing when it remits the levy collected from the eventual purchaser of the product.
    •  The State’s argument is that in the absence of a levy of GST on the final product, the manufacturer will be burdened with input taxes.
    • Since it cannot claim any credit for those taxes paid, the prices of the final product would have to be concomitantly higher.
    • As a result, the manufacturer will be placed in a relative position of disadvantage to foreign makers.

    Issues with the government’s argument

    • This argument, though, suffers from at least two fallacies. First, a reading of the various notifications issued by the GST Council shows that many other products that are essential to human needs are exempt from tax.
    • Second, that the grant of an exemption in cases such as these would disentitle manufacturers from claiming input tax credit is a matter of legislative design.

    Way forward

    • Parliament can find other ways to ensure that domestic manufacturers are granted credit for the taxes that they pay on inputs.
    • A decision taken on exempting goods from taxation is a matter of classification.
    •  Given that the classification rests on a state of disability, it must be seen, on any sensible consideration of our equality jurisprudence, as, at least facially, inequitable.
    • The onus must, therefore, rest on the government to show the Court that it had cogent reasons for treating these goods as distinct from other commodities that are exempt from tax.
    • A failure to discharge this onus ought to render the levy illegitimate.
    • The GST Council can take a leaf out of the books of Canada and Australia, and grant a complete exemption on the levy imposed on mobility aids.

    Conclusion

    It is time we recognised that an unreasonable levy can deeply compromise fundamental human needs. To free taxing statutes from the ramparts of the Constitution is to risk the entrenching of inequality.

  • Sharing Indo-Pacific vision in the region

     Where do we geographically place the Indo-Pacific?

    • Term “Indo-Pacific” has come into prominence in the past decade.
    • India has used it in joint statements with a series of partner countries, including but not limited to the United States, Australia, France, Indonesia, Japan, and of course the United Kingdom.
    • It figures in meetings with our ASEAN and has helped advance the Quad consultations.
    • Indian Foreign Ministry has recently set up an Indo-Pacific Division as well as an Oceania Division a sign of India’s commitment to this critical geography.
    • This has encouraged other countries to perceive and define the region in its full extent.
    • For India, the Indo-Pacific is that vast maritime space stretching from the western coast of North America to the eastern shores of Africa.
    • Today, more and more countries are aligning their definition of the Indo-Pacific with Indias.

    Historical background

    • During the Cold War, the Indo-Pacific was divided into different spheres of influence and military theatres.
    • Whether it was the monsoon winds– or our maritime and trading history, we found it impossible to see the Horn of Africa and the Straits of Malacca on the other as disconnected.
    • The first for this is that the Indian peninsula, which thrusts into the Indian Ocean and gives us two magnificent coasts and near limitless maritime horizons to both our east and our west.
    • Monks and merchants, culture and cargo have travelled from India on those waters, to our east, west and south.
    • India’s great religious traditions, such as Buddhism, spread far and wide in the Indo-Pacific.
    • These experiences are our past and are our future; these experiences determine our concept of the Indo-Pacific.

    Why is the Indo-Pacific crucial?

    • The interconnectedness of the Indo-Pacific is finally coming into full play.
    • A motivating factor is the region’s emergence as a driver of international trade and well-being.
    • The Indo-Pacific ocean system carries an estimated 65 per cent of world trade and contributes 60 per cent of global GDP.
    • Ninety per cent of India’s international trade travels on its waters.
    • For us, and for many others, the shift in the economic trajectory from the Atlantic to the Indo-Pacific has been hugely consequential.
    • The rise of China and the imperative for a global rebalancing have added to the mix.
    • A rules-based international order is achievable only with a rules-based Indo-Pacific.

    India’s Indo-Pacific strategy

    • India’s Indo-Pacific strategy was enunciated in 2018 as the SAGAR doctrine.
    •  SAGAR is an acronym for “Security and Growth for All in the Region”.
    • This aspiration depends on securing end-to-end supply chains in the region; no disproportionate dependence on a single country; and ensuring prosperity for all stakeholder nations.
    • An Indo-Pacific guided by norms and governed by rules, with freedom of navigation, open connectivity, and respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all states, is an article of faith for India.
    • Using this Initiative, India plans to support the building of a rules-based regional architecture resting on seven pillars. These are:1) Maritime security
      2) Maritime ecology
      3) Maritime resources
      4) Capacity building and resource sharing
      5) Disaster risk reduction and management
      6) Science, technology and academic cooperation
      7) Trade connectivity and maritime transport
    • We have sought to strengthen security and freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific by becoming a net security provider – in the Gulf of Aden.
    • Sharing what we can, in equipment, training and exercises, we have built relationships with partner countries across the region.
    • In the past six years, India has provided coastal surveillance radar systems to half a dozen nations – Mauritius, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Myanmar and Bangladesh.
    • All of these countries also use Indian patrol boats, as do Mozambique and Tanzania.
    •  Mobile training teams have been deputed to 11 countries.
    • Located just outside New Delhi, the Indian Navy’s Information Fusion Centre for the Indian Ocean Region has enhanced maritime domain awareness among partner countries.
    • India has also promoted and contributed to infrastructure, connectivity, economic projects and supply chains in the region.

    Humanitarian assistance and disaster relief

    • Notable humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) missions in the Indo-Pacific in recent years have included Operation Rahat in Yemen in 2015.
    • Whether it was the cyclone in Sri Lanka in 2016 or deaths and large-scale displacement of people that occurred in Madagascar in January this year, Indian assistance and an Indian ship have never been far away.
    • The Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI)is intrinsic to India’s regional and global commitment to taking on climate change.

    Conclusion

    Whatever the navigation map, the fact that the Indo-Pacific is the 21st century’s locus of political and security concerns and competition, of growth and development, and of technology incubation and innovation is indisputable.

  • What is Einstein’s Eclipse?

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

    Einstein’s Eclipse

    • Albert Einstein’s prediction of the bending of light by the gravity of the Sun, one of the components of his general theory of relativity, can be tested during a solar eclipse.
    • Following an unsuccessful attempt to validate this prediction during the Solar eclipse of June 8, 1918, two expeditions were made to measure positions of stars during this eclipse.
    • The eclipse presented a rare chance to verify one of the essential consequences of general relativity, the bending of light by gravity.
    • Einstein’s theory predicted that rays of light passing near a massive body in space would be visibly bent as they followed the curve in space-time created by the body’s mass.
    • In the case of a ray of light originating from a distant star and passing near the edge of the Sun, Einstein calculated a deflection of about 1.75 arc seconds.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Consider the following phenomena:

    1. Light is affected by gravity.
    2. The Universe is constantly expanding.
    3. Matter warps its surrounding space-time.

    Which of the above is/are the predictions of Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, often discussed in media?

    (a) 1 and 2 only

    (b) 3 only

    (c) 1 and 3 only

    (d) 1, 2 and 3

    What was studied during the eclipse?

    • Einstein published his theory and predictions in 1915, and in 1919 the British physicist Sir Arthur Eddington took advantage of a total solar eclipse to attempt to detect the shifting images of stars near the limb of the sun.
    • The problem was that during totality the sky does not get perfectly dark, and only a handful of stars were visible near the sun from which to make the measurement.
    • The darkness of an eclipse, though, would allow the astronomers to observe and photograph the field of stars around the Sun.
    • By comparing the photographs with reference images taken at night, it would be possible to measure how much the presence of the Sun had bent the stars’ light.
    • Conveniently, a cluster of bright stars known as the Hyades would appear near the Sun during the eclipse.

    Significance

    • After several months of analysis, researchers announced in November that their findings supported the theory of general relativity.
    • Media coverage tended to dwell on the recondite nature of Einstein’s work, emphasizing that there were only a handful of people in the world who could understand it.
    • It could be argued that 1919 was the year when Einstein’s name became a byword for superhuman intellectual ability—making possible the small industry of Einstein-themed merchandise that still exists today.

    Back2Basics: General Relativity

    • Einstein’s theory proposes that gravity is not an actual force, but is instead a geometric distortion of space-time not predicted by ordinary Newtonian physics.
    • The more mass you have to produce the gravity in a body, the more distortion you get.
    • This distortion changes the trajectories of objects moving through space, and even the paths of light rays, as they pass close-by the massive body.
    • Even so, this effect is very feeble for an object as massive as our own sun, so it takes enormous care to even detect that it is occurring.
    • General Relativity predicts how much of this bending of light you should see given the mass of the object.
    • Called ‘gravitational lensing’ it has been detected on the cosmological scale as entire clusters of galaxies distort the light from more distant galaxies behind them as this image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows.

  • State coverage ratios under NFSA

    The government has initiated the process of ascertaining the new State/UT-specific coverage ratios for rural and urban areas under the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA).

    Try this question:

    Q.In the ongoing crisis, maintaining the level of food security has become one of the most essential needs. In light of the above statement, critically examine the priority areas for maintaining food security in the country. Suggest measures to make accessibility and availability of food easier for all. (250W)

    National Food Security (NFS) Act

    • The NFS Act, 2013 aims to provide subsidized food grains to approximately two-thirds of India’s 1.2 billion people.
    • It was signed into law on 12 September 2013, retroactive to 5 July 2013.
    • It converts into legal entitlements for existing food security programmes of the GoI.
    • It includes the Midday Meal Scheme, Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme and the Public Distribution System (PDS).
    • Further, the NFSA 2013 recognizes maternity entitlements.
    • The Midday Meal Scheme and the ICDS are universal in nature whereas the PDS will reach about two-thirds of the population (75% in rural areas and 50% in urban areas).
    • Under the provisions of the bill, beneficiaries of the PDS are entitled to 5 kilograms per person per month of cereals at the following prices:
    1. Rice at ₹3 per kg
    2. Wheat at ₹2 per kg
    3. Coarse grains (millet) at ₹1 per kg.
    • Pregnant women, lactating mothers, and certain categories of children are eligible for daily free cereals.

    Why such a move?

    • At present, NFSA covers up to 75 per cent of the rural population and 50 per cent of the urban population in the country.
    • Based on this, state-wise coverage under NFSA was determined by the erstwhile Planning Commission—now NITI Aayog.
    • It was done by using the National Sample Survey Household Consumption Expenditure Survey data for 2011-12.
    • Since then, the state-wise coverage ratio has not been revised.

    Statewise data

    • Currently, Manipur has the highest coverage in rural areas across the country (88.56 per cent), while Andaman & Nicobar Islands has the lowest (24.94 per cent).
    • Manipur is followed by Jharkhand (86.48 per cent), Bihar (85.12 per cent) and Chhattisgarh (84.25 per cent).
    • In urban areas too, Manipur has the maximum coverage ratio (85.75 per cent), while Andaman & Nicobar Islands has the lowest (1.70 per cent).
    • In urban areas, Manipur is followed by Bihar (74.53 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (64.43 per cent) and Madhya Pradesh (62.61 per cent).

  • Cyclonic storms during October

    October to December period is among the favourable months for the development of cyclones in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. This year, however, October passed without witnessing a cyclonic storm.

    Must read: [Burning Issue] Tropical Cyclones and India

    https://www.civilsdaily.com/burning-issue-tropical-cyclones-and-india/

    When do cyclones form and hit Indian coasts?

    • About 80 cyclones are formed around the world annually, out of which five are formed in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea, together known as the North Indian Ocean.
    • India’s east and west coasts are prone to cyclones with the maximum associated hazards—rain, heavy winds and storm surge— faced by coastal districts of West Bengal, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
    • Cyclones in the North Indian Ocean are bi-modal in nature, that is, they occur during two seasons— April to June (pre-monsoon) and October to December (post-monsoon).
    • Of these, May and November remain the most conducive for the development of cyclones.

    When have cyclones skipped October, previously?

    • Cyclonic disturbances— either in the form of a well-marked low pressure, depression or a deep depression— are common in October.
    • Ocean disturbances enter the Bay of Bengal from the South China seaside and head towards the Indian coast.
    • IMD officials have attributed it to the weak La Nina conditions along the equatorial Pacific Ocean.
    • Cooler than normal sea surface temperatures over this region—termed as La Nina— has been prevailing since August this year.

    Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO)

    • Because Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO) was positioned in a favourable phase, the low-pressure systems intensified maximum up to a deep depression.
    • MJO is kind of an eastward-moving cyclic weather event along the tropics that influences rainfall, winds, sea surface temperatures and cloud cover. They have a 30 to 60-day cycle.
    • Most importantly, there was the high wind shear noted between the different atmospheric levels, last month.
    • The vertical wind shear— created due to significant wind speed difference observed between higher and lowers atmospheric levels— prevented the low-pressure systems and depression from strengthening into a cyclone.

  • Ghogha-Hazira Ferry Service

    PM has virtually inaugurated the Ghogha-Hazira Ro-Pax ferry service in Gujarat.

    Try this question from CSP 2016:

    Q.Recently, which of the following States has explored the possibility of constructing an artificial inland port to be connected to the sea by a long navigational channel?

    (a) Andhra Pradesh

    (b) Chhattisgarh

    (c) Karnataka

    (d) Rajasthan

    Ghogha-Hazira Ferry Service

    • It will work as a Gateway to South Gujarat and Saurashtra region. It will reduce the distance between Ghogha and Hazira from 370 km to 90 km.
    • It has a load capacity of 30 trucks (of 50 MT each) on the main deck, 100 passenger cars on the upper deck and 500 passengers plus 34 crew and hospitality staff on the passenger deck.
    • The reduced cargo travel time from 10 to 12 hours to about four hours will result in huge savings of fuel (approx 9,000 litres per day) and lower the maintenance cost of vehicles drastically.
    • The ferry service, while making three round trips per day on the route, would annually transport about 5 lakh passengers, 80,000 passenger vehicles, 50,000 two-wheelers and 30,000 trucks.

    Benefits

    • It will reduce the fatigue of truck drivers and enhance their incomes by giving them more opportunity to do extra trips.
    • It will give an impetus to the tourism industry with ease of access to the Saurashtra region and lead to the creation of new job opportunities.
    • With the onset of ferry services, the port sector, furniture and fertilizer industries in Saurashtra and Kutch region will get a big boost.
    • Eco-tourism and religious-tourism in Gujarat, especially in Porbandar, Somnath, Dwarka and Palitana will grow exponentially.
    • The benefits of enhanced connectivity through this ferry service will also result in increased inflow of tourists in the famous Asiatic lion wildlife sanctuary at Gir.

  • [Burning Issue] India’s push for a Gas-based Economy

    The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has last month approved ‘Natural Gas Marketing Reforms’, taking another significant step to move towards a gas-based economy.

    What is Natural Gas?

    • Natural gas is a fossil fuel source consisting primarily of methane. It is the cleanest fossil fuels among the available fossil fuels.
    • It is used as a feedstock in the manufacture of fertilizers, plastics and other commercially important organic chemicals as well as used as a fuel for electricity generation, heating purpose in industrial and commercial units.
    • Natural gas is also used for cooking in domestic households and a transportation fuel for vehicles.

    Natural gas scenario in India

    The share of domestic gas and imported RLNG was about 48% & 52% respectively. The City Gas Distribution (CGD) accounts for the largest consumption of natural gas followed by fertilizers, power and other industrial sectors.

    (1) Domestic Gas Sources

    • The domestic gas in the country is being supplied from the oil & gas fields located at western and southeastern areas viz. Hazira basin, Mumbai offshore & KG basin as well as North East Region (Assam & Tripura).

    (2) Import of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)

    • In order to meet the gas demand, LNG is imported through the Open General License (OGL) in the country.  At present, India is having six operational LNG regasification terminals at Dahej, Kochi, Mundra, Ennore etc.

    Gas Pipelines

    • Gas Pipeline infrastructure is an economical and safe mode of transporting natural gas by connecting gas sources to gas-consuming markets.
    • An interconnected National Gas Grid has been envisaged to ensure the adequate availability and equitable distribution of natural gas in all parts of the country.

    Why go for Natural Gas?

    • Energy Efficient: Natural gas produces more energy than any of the fossil fuels in terms of calorific value.
    • Cleaner fuel: Natural gas is a superior fuel as compared with coal and other liquid fuels being an environment-friendly, safer and cheaper fuel.
    • Economy of use: Natural Gas (as CNG) is much cheaper compared with petrol or Diesel.
    • Emission commitments: India made a commitment to COP-21 Paris Convention in December 2015 that by 2030, it would reduce carbon emission by 33%-35% of 2005 levels.
    • Diverse applications: Natural gas can be used as domestic kitchen fuel, fuel for the transport sector as well as a fuel for fertilizer industries and commercial units.
    • Supply-chain convenience:  Natural Gas is supplied through pipelines just like we get water from the tap. There is no need to store cylinders in the kitchen and thus save space.
    • Pacing up the progress line: On the global front, switching to natural gas is bringing commendable results. The latest report released by IEA shows that the electricity produced by natural gas worldwide was more than that of coal for the first time ever.

    Various govt. initiatives

    India’s quest to increase the share of natural gas in the overall energy mix hinges crucially on two factors: (1) Development of pipelines and (2) Hassle free exploration. In this regard, the govt. has taken several measures.

    • The Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP) is a policy indicating the new contractual and fiscal model for the award of hydrocarbon acreages towards exploration and production (E&P).
    • The govt. has envisaged developing and expanding the National Gas Grid. At present about 16,788 Km natural gas pipeline is operational and about 14,239 Km gas pipelines are being developed.
    • The Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga (PMUG) pipeline project currently under will provide connectivity to another flagship project, the North-East Gas Grid.
    • The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, which aims to provide free cooking gas connections to poor families is also a roaring success.
    • Moreover, India is constantly moving to revive the 1,814 kilometre-long Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) transnational gas pipeline which is in shamble for years.

    What are the Natural Gas Marketing Reforms?

    • Gas-based economy implies gas as the main commercial energy source in the energy mix of an economy.
    • The reforms aim to provide a standard procedure for the sale of natural gas in a transparent and competitive manner to discover market price by issuing guidelines for sale by the contractor through e-bidding.
    • This will bring uniformity in the bidding process across the various contractual regimes and policies to avoid ambiguity and contribute towards ease of doing business.

    Components of the policy

    • The objective of the policy is to prescribe standard procedure to discover market price of gas to be sold in the market by gas producers, through a transparent and competitive process.
    • It would permit affiliates to participate in bidding process for sale of gas and allow marketing freedom to certain Field Development Plans (FDPs) where Production Sharing Contracts already provide pricing freedom.

    Objectives of these reforms

    These reforms will build on a series of transformative reforms rolled out by the Government in last several years. These reforms in gas sector will further deepen and spur the economic activities in the following areas:

    • The whole eco-system of policies relating to production, infrastructure and marketing of natural gas has been made more transparent with a focus on ease of doing business.
    • These reforms will prove very significant for Atmanirbhar Bharat by encouraging investments in the domestic production of natural gas and reducing import dependence.
    • These reforms will prove to be another milestone in moving towards a gas-based economy by encouraging investments.
    • The increased gas production-consumption will help in the improvement of the environment.
    • These reforms will also help in creating employment opportunities in the gas-consuming sectors including MSMEs.
    • The domestic production will further help in increasing investment in the downstream industries such as City Gas Distribution and related industries.

    Making it happen 

    • The government brought a series of reforms in the Gas sector and as a result investment of more than Rs. 70,000 crore is being made on the East coast very recently.
    • Gas production from the East coast will contribute to Atmanirbhar Bharat by meeting the increasing energy needs of the country.
    • The domestic gas production has complete marketing and pricing freedom. All discoveries and field development plans approved after 28 Feb 2019 have a complete market and pricing freedom.

    Better done than said …… Overcoming challenges

    • Lack of infrastructure:  India has enough storage capacity of the current state of domestic consumption of natural gas. However, to fill the entire energy bucket, we need to increase energy storage.
    • Import dependence: Energy consumption in India is growing at 4.2 per cent per annum, which is the fastest among major economies of the world. Presently 52% of our domestic consumption relies on imported LNG. Moreover, the global disruptions in the import supply-chain can wreak havoc as the general hikes in Diesel prices do.
    • Safety concerns: The global oil and gas market remains vulnerable to a wide range of risk factors, including natural disasters, major technical accidents, and geopolitical tensions among others.
    • Domestic issues and delays: Petroleum including gas falls under the Union List. Pipeline laying has faced land acquisition challenges due to local farmers’ protest and unviable routes causing major project delays.
    • Underutilization: GAIL is getting hit over the scarcity of domestic natural gas leading to underutilization of its 11,500 km of the pipeline network. Its network is operating at an average of 47% capacity.
    • Less-feasible power alternative: Within the power sector, natural gas has received little traction primarily because the per-unit cost of electricity generated by a gas-fired power plant in India is higher than that from fossil fuels such as coal.
    • Ecological concerns: Offshore drilling operations can possibly affect fish, lead to a build-up of heavy water contaminants, disorient whales and sea life that rely on sonar for navigation and exacerbate the risk of oil spills.
    • Energy Trilemma: In order to build a strong basis for prosperity and competitiveness, India must balance the three core dimensions of the energy trilemma: affordability and access, energy security and environmental sustainability.

    Way forward

    • A shift to a gas-based economy has to ensure both availability and affordability. Availability may be ensured by increasing production or import, developing the requisite delivery infrastructure — terminals, stations and pipelines.
    • The current gas market is dominated by countries such as the US, Qatar and Russia. India must make use of these multiple gas production centres and ensure a balanced geographical portfolio of imports to ensure a robust and secure natural gas strategy as it does for Oil.
    • India will have to embark on a balanced approach to develop indigenous gas resources, maybe through technology-intensive deeper drilling techniques and large scale import tie-ups.

    Conclusion

    • It is evident that clean energy transitions are underway – and it’s also a signal that we have the opportunity to meaningfully move the needle on emissions through more ambitious policies and investments.
    • But the proof of the pudding is in the eating, as governments do play an important role in the growth of the energy sector in any country. Given the fact that the market in India is still nascent, there is always this concern of how effective these measures can be.
    • With domestic production of gas stagnating and consumption growing at a CAGR of 4.5 per cent, there’s still a long way to go for transforming the economy to a gas-based one.

    References

    http://petroleum.nic.in/natural-gas/about-natural-gas

    https://www.financialexpress.com/economy/modis-gas-based-economy-dream-to-help-cut-global-emissions-heres-how-india-can-end-coal-legacy/1865302/

    https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/how-india-is-unbottling-the-gas-economy/article32984963.ece

    https://www.indiainfoline.com/article/news-sector-oil-gas/great-business-opportunity-for-indian-industry-to-participate-in-making-gas-based-economy-120110500417_1.html

    https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/on-road-to-a-gas-based-economy/article25765361.ece

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