Despite efforts from several levels, air pollution is getting worse day by day. The article suggests the strategy to deal with the issue of air pollution.
Solvable problem
Pollution is very much a solvable problem but it cannot be solved on an emergency basis.
It has to be dealt with firmly and gradually.
Why gradually? Because there are many sources of pollution and it would be prohibitively costly to stop them or even significantly reduce them all at once.
Replacing existing technologies with existing technology
The biggest sources air polltion nationally are cooking fires, coal-fired power plants, various industries, crop residue burning, and construction and road dust. Vehicles are further down on the list.
Dealing with all these sources will require a gradual replacement of existing technologies with new technologies.
Cooking fires must be replaced with LPG, induction stoves, and other electric cooking appliances.
Old coal power plants must be closed and replaced with wind and solar power and batteries while newer plants must install new pollution control equipment.
No new coal-fired power plants should be built — with renewables being cheaper, coal is obsolete for power generation.
Other industries that use coal will have to gradually switch over to cleaner fuel sources such as gas or hydrogen while becoming more energy-efficient at the same time.
Farmers will have to switch crops or adopt alternative methods of residue management.
Diesel and petrol vehicles must gradually be replaced by electric or hydrogen fuel cell vehicles running on power generated from renewables.
Legal measures and issues
Governments can make clean investments more profitable and dirty investments less profitable by taxing polluting activities and subsidising clean investments.
The judiciary is more powerful but has far less scientific and technical competence.
It tends to act only during crises and focus on past mistakes rather than planning to prevent new ones.
Reforms in regulatory agency
Our existing laws do not allow the central and state pollution boards to levy pollution fee or cess based on pollution emissions.
Since closing down an industry is a drastic step, it almost never happens.
We need a regulatory agency that can levy pollution fee or cess, is that the regulatory decision need not be an all-or-nothing decision.
Pollution fees can start small, and the EPA can announce that they will rise by a certain percentage every year.
The regulatory agency should be given some independence,like
1) a head appointed for a five-year term removable only by impeachment.
2) a guaranteed budget funded by a small percentage tax on all industries.
3) autonomy to hire staff and to set pollution fees after justification through scientific studies.
Three advantages of the regulator with such powers would be-
1) Politicians in power can pass on the blame for decisions on pollution fees to the EPA.
2) Pollution fees raise revenue for the government.
3) If the law establishing an independent EPA is written to require that changes to pollution fees and regulations must be published in advance, and cannot involve abrupt changes, then surprises are avoided.
Industry opposition will be muted, especially if industry gets a piece of the revenue to invest in new technologies.
Conclusion
Our pollution problem has taken decades to grow into the monster that it is. It can’t be killed in a day. We need the scientific and technical capacity that only a securely funded independent EPA can bring to shrink pollution down to nothing.
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The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a mega trade bloc comprising 15 countries led by China has come into existence.
Try answering this:
Q.Signing the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement would have given more substance to India’s Act East policy. Analyse.
About RCEP
Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a free trade agreement (FTA) between –
The 10 members of ASEAN
Additional members of ASEAN +3 = China, Japan, South Korea
Members with which ASEAN countries have FTA = Australia, New Zealand
The group is expected to represent at least 30% of the global GDP and will emerge as the largest free trade agreement in the world.
It includes more than 3 billion people, has a combined GDP of about $17 trillion, and accounts for about 40 per cent of world trade.
India’s reluctance
India’s ties with China in recent months have been disturbed by the military tension in eastern Ladakh along the LAC.
In the meantime, India has also held a maritime exercise with Japan, Australia, and the United States for the “Quad” that was interpreted as an anti-China move.
However, these moves did not influence Japanese and Australian plans regarding RCEP.
Leverage for China
Despite the pandemic, the RCEP is certainly leverage for China and shows the idea of decoupling from China is not a substantive issue in a regional sense.
The agreement means a lot for China, as it will give it access to Japanese and South Korean markets in a big way, as the three countries have not yet agreed on their FTA.
The recent violence and tension on the Assam-Mizoram border underline the differences the two States have had since 1972 when Mizoram was carved out of Assam as a Union Territory.
Try answering this:
Q.Assam has had boundary problems with almost all of its north-eastern neighbours. Discuss.
*Also note the states bordering Assam.
What is the Dispute?
Mizoram was carved out of Assam as a Union Territory in 1972. In 1987, it became a full-fledged state.
The two states have sparred over where the border lies in the past, leading to the occasional violence.
The disagreement stems from differing views on which border demarcation to follow.
Mizoram’s perception of the border is based on an 1875 notification that flows from the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation Act of 1873.
The Act demarcated the Lushai Hills from the plains and valleys in the North East, restricting free travel between the two zones. The hills were deemed to be “excluded areas”.
Assam, for its part, goes by a 1933 notification by the state government that demarcated the Lushai Hills, as Mizoram was then known, from the province of Manipur.
The Assamese problem
Assam has had boundary problems with all its north-eastern neighbours, except Manipur and Tripura that had existed as separate entities.
The primary reason is that the other States, a part of Assam during the British rule, have contested the boundaries since they became States, beginning with Nagaland in 1963.
Assam has accepted several recommendations of border commissions set up by the Supreme Court, but other States have been sticking to “historical boundaries” that go back to the period before 1826.
However, the border residents have to bear the brunt of the unrest unless an acceptable solution is arrived at.
A 2018 report on “vital statistics of India based on the Civil Registration System” shows crucial data of sex ratios of major states in India.
Sex Ratio
Sex ratio at birth is the number of females born per thousand males.
Sex ratios are among the most basic of demographic parameters and provide an indication of both the relative survival of females and males and the future breeding potential of a population.
Try this PYQ
Q.Consider the following specific stages of demographic transition associated with economic development:
Low birth rate with a low death rate
High birth rate with a high death rate
High birth rate with a low death rate
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
(a) 1, 2 and 3 only
(b) 3, 2 and 1 only
(c) 2, 3 and 1 only
(d) 3, 2 and 1 only
Statewise data
Arunachal Pradesh recorded 1,084 females born per thousand males, followed by Nagaland (965) Mizoram (964), Kerala (963) and Karnataka (957).
The worst was reported in Manipur (757), Lakshadweep (839) and Daman & Diu (877), Punjab (896) and Gujarat (896).
Delhi recorded a sex ratio of 929, Haryana 914 and Jammu and Kashmir 952.
The number of registered births increased to 2.33 crore in 2018 from 2.21 crore registered births the previous year.
The United Arab Emirates will extend its “golden” visa system — which grants 10-year residency in the West Asian nation — to certain professionals, specialised degree-holders and others.
Do you know?
India is the world’s top recipient of remittances with its diaspora sending a whopping $79 billion back home in 2018 a/c to the World Bank.
Golden Visa Programme
The “Golden Card” programme is open to investors and “exceptional talents” such as doctors, engineers, scientists, students and artists.
The visa categories include:
General investors who will be granted a 10 years visa
Real estate investors, who can get a visa for 5 years Visa
Entrepreneurs and talented professionals such as doctors, researchers and innovators: 10 years Visa
Outstanding students — will also be permitted residency visas for 5 years
All categories of visas can be renewed upon expiry.
Benefits for India
The Indian expatriate community is reportedly the largest ethnic community in the UAE, constituting roughly about 30 per cent of the country’s population of around nine million.
Though most of the Indians living in the UAE are employed, about 10 per cent of the Indian population constitutes dependent family members, according to the Indian Embassy.
The isolated UK Overseas Territory of Tristan da Cunha, the world’s most remote human settlement, has been declared the largest fully protected marine reserves in the Atlantic Ocean at 687,000 square kilometres.
Note the location of Tristan da Cunha Islands in the Atlantic.
Tristan da Cunha
Tristan da Cunha, which is inhabited by less than 300 humans is a small chain of islands over 6,000 miles from London in the South Atlantic and the water around the islands are considered to be the richest in the world.
The mountainous archipelago is home to tens of millions of seabirds and several unique land birds that are comparable to the Galapagos island finches.
The island group is also home to the World Heritage Site of Gough and Inaccessible Islands, which is one of the most important seabird islands in the world.
Significance of protection
After joining the UK’s Blue Belt Programme, it will become the largest no-take zone in the Atlantic and the fourth largest on the planet.
This will close over 90 per cent of their waters to harmful activities such as bottom-trawling fishing, sand extraction and deep-sea mining.
The almost 700,000 square kilometres of the Marine Protection Zone (MPZ) is almost three times the size of the UK and will safeguard the future of sevengill sharks, Yellow-nosed albatrosses and rockhopper penguins.
MPZs involve the management of certain natural areas for biodiversity conservation or species protection and are created by delineating zones with permitted and non-permitted areas within that zone.
The Leonid meteor showers are currently making their yearly appearance and will reach their peak in India on November 17 and 18. In August this year, there was another meteor called Perseids Shower.
Try this question from CSP 2014:
Q.What is a coma, in the content of astronomy?
(a) Bright half of material on the comet
(b) Long tail of dust
(c) Two asteroids orbiting each other
(d) Two planets orbiting each other
What is Leonid Meteor Shower?
Meteor showers are named after the constellation they appear to be coming from.
The Leonids originate from the constellation Leo the Lion– the groups of stars which form a lion’s mane.
They emerge from the comet Tempel-Tuttle, which requires 33 years to revolve once around the Sun.
These meteors are bright and among the fastest moving– travelling at speeds of 71 km per second.
During this year’s showers, peaks of around 10 to 15 meteors are expected to be seen every hour.
The Leonid showers include fireballs– bright and large meteors than can last longer than average meteors, and “earthgazers”– meteors which appear close to the horizon with colourful and long tails.
What is a meteor shower?
On its journey around the Sun, the Earth passes through large swathes of cosmic debris.
The debris is essentially the remnants of comets — great frigid chunks of matter that leave behind dirty trails of rocks and ice that linger long after the comets themselves have passed.
As the Earth wades through this cloud of comet waste, the bits of debris create what appears from the ground to be a fireworks display in the sky — known as a meteor shower.
Several meteor showers can be seen around the year. According to NASA, over 30 meteor showers occur annually and are observable from the Earth.
Reforms in power sector in the UK were extensive and offers some important lessons for India. This article elaborates on the issue of reforms the challenges in introducing such reforms in India.
Background of the power sector reforms in UK
After living with vertically integrated utilities till 1989, they unbundled.
Unbundling created markets both at generation and retail end.
Today, they are back to a situation where 70% of the power generated is sold outside the wholesale market.
The Electricity Act, 1989, which paved the way for the appointment of a regulator and thereafter, leading to unbundling, both vertical and horizontal.
Twelve distribution utilities were set up (called RECs) along with three-generation companies and also a national wires company (called NGC).
All of them were privatised barring Nuclear Electricity.
Retail competition was introduced in 1990 and was extended to all consumers in 1998.
A wholesale market was set up for generators.
The next major step was to fragment the generators because the regulator felt that they were colluding.
NETA in 2001 was primarily a tie-up between gencos and their consumers with long-term power purchase agreements.
The Energy Act, 2012, was enacted, which envisaged further changes.
Issues with Power sector reform in India
The Electricity Act, 2003 is a very cautious and timid exercise compared to what has been done in the UK.
Through the Act, we have merely unbundled and ring-fenced our utilities so that there is transparency in the accounts; this itself took us several years.
There has been no attempt to create a wholesale market or a full-fledged retail market where the consumer chooses the supplier.
Large consumers, having loads in excess of 1 MW, however, have the option of open-access where they can opt to receive supply from some other entity, instead of his incumbent utility.
The road to open access though has been bumpy, and discoms have opposed it tooth and nail.
Besides what was possible in the UK may not be possible in India.
The UK did not have a regime of cross-subsidies where the commercial and industrial sectors subsidise agriculture and low-end domestic consumers and also did not have high commercial loss levels.
Moreover, in the UK, all consumers were metered, unlike India.
There is yet another factor: ‘Power’ falls in the Concurrent List.
The Centre and states rarely see eye-to-eye on several issues concerning the sector, especially on matters relating to distribution.
Consequently, any major change does not get accepted.
Issues in introducing reform in India
The CERC floated a discussion paper in December 2018 about the creation of a wholesale market in India.
This amounts to retrofitting, and retrofitting in an existing architecture has its limitations.
But the issue is whether India should attempt creating a wholesale market or for that matter a full-fledged retail market in India, especially after the experience of the UK.
The UK is almost back to the era of vertically integrated utilities, and consumers barely switch their retailer.
Way forward
We need to privatise our distribution sector by creating joint ventures with the government.
the government will have to undertake initial hand-holding till such time commercial losses are wiped out.
This is the model which was followed in the case of Delhi and has proven successful.
Commercial losses have come down from 50% to single-digit figures within a span of 10 to 12 years.
Once we reach that stage, we can think of creating a full-fledged retail market where a consumer can choose her supplier.
Consider the question “Despite several reforms in the power sector, India still lacks full-fledged retail. What are the challenges in the creation of such a market. Suggest the ways to deal with the challenges.”
Conclusion
The Indian consumer is only interested in good quality power supply at a reasonable price. We only need to take policy measures so that the incumbent utilities can provide this, since, this will be the least costly path.
India and the US are the two largest democracies in the world but the electoral systems of the two countries are poles apart. While the Indian system is charmingly simple, the US system is extremely complex and confusing. Let’s have a look at that:
A Brief about the US parliamentary system
The senate of the US is the upper house of the legislature. This senate, together with the United States House of Representatives forms the United States Congress.
The Senate has several powers, which include confirming appointments of federal judges, cabinet secretaries, other federal officials, military officials and ambassadors.
The Senate is also known as the world’s greatest deliberative body.
Before the general election, most candidates for president go through a series of state primaries and caucuses. Though primaries and caucuses are run differently, they both serve the same purpose. They let the states choose the major political parties’ nominees for the general election.
In general, primaries use secret ballots for voting. Caucuses are local gatherings of voters who vote at the end of the meeting for a particular candidate.
Then it moves to nominating conventions, during which political parties each select a nominee to unite behind.
(2) National Convention
After the primaries and caucuses, most political parties hold national conventions.
Conventions finalize a party’s choice for presidential and vice-presidential nominees. To become the presidential nominee, a candidate typically has to win a majority of delegates.
This usually happens through the party’s primaries and caucuses. It’s then confirmed through a vote of the delegates at the national convention.
But if no candidate gets the majority of a party’s delegates during the primaries and caucuses, convention delegates choose the nominee. This happens through additional rounds of voting.
The candidates then campaign across the country to explain their views and plans to voters. They may also participate in debates with candidates from other parties.
(3) Electoral College
When Americans go to the polls in presidential elections they’re actually voting for a group of officials who make up the electoral college.
‘Electoral College’ is the term given to the body of individuals who are selected or elected to be “electors”.
These electors then vote for the president and vice president of the US.
The electoral college meets every four years, a few weeks after election day, to carry out that task.
To win, a presidential candidate has to just attain a simple majority of 270 electoral votes.
How does it work?
The number of electors from each state is roughly in line with the size of its population.
Each state gets as many electors as it has lawmakers in the US Congress (representatives in the House and senators).
California has the most electors – 55 – while a handful of sparsely populated states like Wyoming, Alaska and North Dakota (and Washington DC) have the minimum of three.
There are 538 electors in total.
Each elector represents one electoral vote, and a candidate needs to gain a majority of the votes – 270 or more – to win the presidency.
Electing the ‘Electors’
Unlike India, it’s not just one election but a bunch of simultaneous elections in the US.
In many states, a voter will be choosing not just the US president but 20 different contestants on a single ballot.
These include the member of the US Senate and the House of Representatives, state senate, governor, state attorney general, Supreme Court judge, among others.
Election Management
There is no centralised election management body like the Election Commission in India.
All 50 states, and within these, more than 3,000 counties have different management bodies.
The date of the election is fixed — the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November — since 1845.
(4)General Elections
The General Election refers to the voting process in which every US citizen who is at least 18 years of age can vote to chose the President.
Unlike in most elections, the person who becomes president is not necessarily the candidate who wins the most votes on Election Day.
Instead, voting for the president of the United States takes place in two-steps.
First, voters cast ballots on Election Day in each state.
In nearly every state, the candidate who gets the most votes wins the “electoral votes” for that state, and gets that number of voters (or “electors”) in the “Electoral College.”
Second, the “electors” from each of the 50 states gather in December and they vote for president.
The person who receives a majority of votes from the “Electoral College” becomes President.
Winning the elections
To win the US presidential election, one needs 270 electoral college votes, an absolute majority of the 538 electors.
The complexity of the election process and the multiplicity of authorities is a perfect breeding ground for confusion.
This, however, is perhaps the first time that a candidate — Donald Trump — has cast aspersions on the legitimacy of the election even before the first vote has been cast.
A comparison with India
(1) Election Management
There is no centralised election management body like the Election Commission in India.
All 50 states, and within these, more than 3,000 counties have different management bodies.
The date of the election is fixed — the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November — since 1845.
(2) Electorates
Unlike India, it’s not just one election but a bunch of simultaneous elections in the US.
In many states, a voter will be choosing not just the US president but 20 different contestants on a single ballot.
These include the member of the US Senate and the House of Representatives, state senate, governor, state attorney general, Supreme Court judge, among others.
(3) Political parties
The most important aspect of the difference between electoral process in India and USA comes from the nature of their party systems.
It is common knowledge that there are two dominant parties in the USA political scene with polar different ideologies, viz. the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.
Although the Libertarian Party, Green Party, and other smaller parties exist, they are considered to be independent entities as they are outliers and cannot quite compete with the two major ones.
India, however, has many parties that operate on the state level and only a few that successfully operate on the national level.
(4) Electoral College
The onus to register as a voter lies on the voter and it is neither compulsory to register nor to vote.
The last date for registration varies from one month prior to the poll to the same day (polling day).
Any person turning 18 even on polling day is eligible to register.
The voter identification system varies too — from different photo identity proofs to self-authentication without a photo.
(5) Voting systems
The voting systems are diverse — voting at polling stations on poll day, early voting in person, absentee voting by mail.
The ballot design varies from state to state. Voting technology varies from direct recording electronic voting machines (like Indian EVMs) to paper ballots (marked by pencil or pen).
But scanning is invariably used to facilitate counting. Some states have the VVPAT — Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail.
The hours of voting are longer — 13 hours — as compared to minimum eight hours (usually nine) in India.
(6) Voters’ turnout
The turnout in the last presidential election was 61.8 per cent (compared to India’s 66.8 per cent). With low registration, this effectively means that less than 45 per cent of eligible Americans voted.
Voting demographics show that older people — 65 plus — tend to vote more than 18-24 year-olds by as much as 25 percentage points.
People with more education and income vote more than the less endowed.
Similarly, women vote in larger numbers. Blacks and Hispanics vote less because of lack of interest.
(7) Election regulation
The US has two federal bodies — the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and the US Election Assistance Commission (EAC).
But both of them together do not add up to anything as powerful or effective as the EC in India.
In fact, they have no control over the election administration. Its role is confined to federal campaign finance regulations.
The EAC was created back only in 2002 to provide funding to states for upgrading their registration and voting systems besides establishing minimum voter identification standards. Its decisions are, however, not binding.
