Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not Much
Mains level: Concerns of farmers other than MSP
The standoff between farmers and the government continues even after a few rounds of discussion.
Un-timely reforms
- Currently, the country was struggling with novel coronavirus-caused lockdowns, supply disruptions, job losses and falling incomes in an economy.
- The reforms embedded in the three Acts are unlikely to help resolve the structural issues facing Indian agriculture, even their withdrawal is unlikely to change the ground reality.
Farmers protest continues
- The immediate trigger for the current protests is the enactment of the three Acts, on agricultural marketing, contract farming and stocking of agricultural produce, which deregulates the existing Acts on these.
- Farmer unions have rejected the proposal and continue to demand complete withdrawal of the three Acts along with making MSP a guarantee.
Government for negotiations
- The latest proposal by the government indicates its willingness to amend the three agriculture-related Acts passed in September.
- The government has proposed amendments which will empower the States to frame rules the contentious issues of registration of private traders, levy of taxes on trade outside the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) mandis.
- Similar assurances have been given on access to the judiciary for dispute resolution and continuation of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) mechanism.
Many protests, one thread
- The last four years have seen a series of large protests in most of the States.
- For example, a group of farmers from Tamil Nadu camped in Delhi for over 100 days, Maharashtra was witness to the ‘Kisan Long March’ of farmers on more than one occasion, protests erupted in Rajasthan, UP, Haryana and MP.
- The latest round of protests may have seen spirited protests from farmers from Punjab and Haryana but has found the support of farmers from the other States as well.
- The common thread in all these protests — of declining agricultural incomes, stagnant wages and withdrawal of state support to agriculture.
Changing faces of agriculture
- The real issue is the lack of remunerative prices for a majority of agricultural commodities, a sharp increase in price variability in recent years, and an unpredictable and arbitrary government policy regime.
- The other major problem is the changing nature of agriculture which has seen increased dependence on markets, increasing mechanization along with increasing monetization of the agrarian economy.
- The increased dependence on markets has contributed to increasing variability in output prices.
- Limited government intervention in protecting farmers’ income and stabilizing prices through MSP-led procurement operations made the increased variability in frequency as well as its spread.
- Other than rice and wheat — and to some sporadic instances, of pulses — most crops suffer from inadequate intervention from MSP operations.
- Even these procurement operations are unable to stabilize prices with falling demand and a slowing economy. For example, wheat has seen a steady decline in year-on-year inflation based on Wholesale Price Index (WPI).
- Uneven nature of procurement in some states is also responsible to arrest the decline in prices. Crops like paddy, maize have seen in many States significantly lower market prices than the MSP.
Factors behind vulnerability
- Increasing mechanization and monetization have led to an increase in the cash requirement.
- Most of these are met by non-institutional sources including middlemen which have contributed to the rising cost of cultivation and an increase in loan defaults.
- The demand for loan waivers is unlikely to subside with the rising cost of inputs.
- These trends have accentuated after 2010-11 when the Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) for fertilizers regime led to an increase in fertilizer prices.
- The withdrawal of diesel subsidy and a rise in electricity prices also contributed to making agriculture unviable.
- The government has declined the agricultural investment in the first four years which resulted in rising input costs and falling output prices.
- The shocks of demonetization and the lockdown only increased the uncertainty and vulnerability in the agricultural sector both on input and output prices.
What lies ahead?
- The demand for making MSP a guarantee for private trade is meaningless if the government is unable to ensure procurement for a majority of the 23 crops for which it announces MSP.
- Thus, the withdrawal of the three Acts by the government will only seem to offer a temporary truce.
Policy overhaul needed
- The existing policy framework with an excessive focus on inflation management and obsession with the fiscal deficit will likely lead to lower support from the government either in price stabilization or reduction in the cost of cultivation through fiscal spending.
- The agricultural sector needs a comprehensive policy overhaul to recognize the new challenges of agriculture which are diversifying and getting integrated with the non-agricultural sector.
- This not only entails a better understanding of the structural issues but also innovative thinking to protect farmers’ livelihood from the uncertainty of these changes.
- Above all, it requires financial support and institutional structures to support the agricultural sector and protect it. Only this can lead to the government’s dream of doubling the farmers’ income.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Hydroponics
Mains level: Hydroponics and its utility
This newscard is an excerpt from the original article published in TH.
Many questions related to agricultural techniques are being asked in the Prelims. UPSC has done away with traditional crop-related questions for the past two years.
For example, see this question from CSP 2020:
Q.What are the advantages of fertigation in agriculture?
- Controlling the alkalinity of irrigation water is possible.
2. Efficient application of Rock Phosphate and all other phosphatic fertilizers is possible.
3. Increased availability of nutrients to plants is possible.
4. Reduction in the leaching of chemical nutrients is possible.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1, 2 and 3 only
(b) 1,2 and 4 only
(c) 1,3 and 4 only
(d) 2, 3 and 4 only
What is hydroponics?
Hydroponics is the cultivation of plants without using soil.
- Hydroponic flowers, herbs, and vegetables are planted in inert growing media and supplied with nutrient-rich solutions, oxygen, and water.
- This system fosters rapid growth, stronger yields, and superior quality.
- When a plant is grown in soil, its roots are perpetually searching for the necessary nutrition to support the plant.
- If a plant’s root system is exposed directly to water and nutrition, the plant does not have to exert any energy in sustaining itself.
- The energy the roots would have expended acquiring food and water can be redirected into the plant’s maturation. As a result, leaf growth flourishes as does the blooming of fruits and flowers.
Why Hydroponics?
- Plants sustain themselves by a process called photosynthesis. But they do not need soil to photosynthesize.
- They need the soil to supply them with water and nutrients.
- When nutrients are dissolved in water they can be applied directly to the plant’s root system by flooding, misting, or immersion.
- Hydroponic innovations have proven direct exposure to nutrient-filled water can be a more effective and versatile method of growth than traditional irrigation.
How does hydroponics work?
- Hydroponic systems work by allowing minute control over environmental conditions like temperature and pH balance and maximized exposure to nutrients and water.
- It administers nutrient solutions tailored to the needs of the particular plant being grown.
- They allow you to control exactly how much light the plants receive and for how long.
- pH levels can be monitored and adjusted. In a highly customized and controlled environment, plant growth accelerates.
Components of Hydroponics
To maintain a flourishing hydroponic system, we need to become acquainted with a few components that make it run efficiently.
(1) Growing media
- Hydroponic plants are often grown in inert media that support the plant’s weight and anchor its root structure.
- Growing media is the substitute for soil, however, it does not provide any independent nutrition to the plant.
- Instead, this porous media retains moisture and nutrients from the nutrient solution which it then delivers to the plant.
(2) Air stones and air pumps
- Plants that are submerged in water can quickly drown if the water is not sufficiently aerated. Air stones disperse tiny bubbles of dissolved oxygen throughout your nutrient solution reservoir.
- These bubbles also help evenly distribute the dissolved nutrients in the solution. Air stones do not generate oxygen on their own.
- They need to be attached to an external air pump via opaque food grade plastic tubing
(3) Net pots
- Net pots are mesh planters that hold hydroponic plants. The latticed material allows roots to grow out of the sides and bottom of the pot, giving greater exposure to oxygen and nutrients.
- Net pots also provide superior drainage compared to traditional clay or plastic pots.
Benefits
By controlling the environment of the plant in hydroponics, many risk factors are reduced:
- Plants grown in gardens and fields are introduced to a host of variables that negatively impact their health and growth. Fungus in the soil can spread diseases to plants.
- Wildlife like rabbits can plunder ripening vegetables from your garden.
- Pests like locusts can descend on crops and obliterate them in an afternoon. Hydroponic systems end the unpredictability of growing plants outdoors and in the earth.
- Without the mechanical resistance of the soil, seedlings can mature much faster.
- By eliminating pesticides, hydroponics produces much healthier and high-quality fruits and vegetables. Without obstacles, plants are free to grow vigorously and rapidly.
Various limitations
- A hydroponic system isn’t cheap
- Constant monitoring is required
- Micro-organisms that are water-based can creep in rather easily
- Growing a hydroponic garden demands an expertise
- Production is limited compared to field conditions
- If a disease appears, all plants in the system will be affected
- Without soil to serve as a buffer if the system fails plant death will occur rapidly
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Shola forests, Sky Islands
Mains level: Western Ghats and its biodiversity richness
Tropical montane grasslands (TMG) in the Shola Sky Islands of the Western Ghats have suffered big losses due to invasions by exotic trees.
Try this PYQ:
Q.In India, which type of forest among the following occupies the largest area?
(a) Montane Wet Temperate Forest
(b) Sub – tropical Dry Evergreen Forest
(c) Tropical Moist Deciduous Forest
(d) Tropical Wet Evergreen Forest
Sky Islands
- “Sky islands” are the tops of tall mountains that become environmentally isolated from each other even if they are close together, geographically speaking.
- The Western Ghats are a mountain chain in southwest India home to spectacular and unique sky islands.
- The peaks of the Western Ghats, ranging between 3,000 and 8,500 feet above sea level, host an almost unbelievable array of microclimates, looking like “patches of forests floating in a sea of grasslands.
What are TMGs?
- TMG are high elevation grasslands forming only 2% of all grasslands in the world.
- Among their functions is regulating the global carbon cycle and serving as a source of water to downstream communities.
- Researchers say grasslands do not benefit from conservation and restoration efforts afforded to tropical montane forests, possibly due to limited information.
Treasures of Shola
- One of the specific habitats unique to the sky islands of this area is a type of low-temperature, high-humidity tropical cloud forest full of stunted trees mixed with grasslands called the Shola.
- The Shola forests of South derive their name from the Tamil word solai, which means a ‘tropical rain forest’.
- Classified as ‘Southern Montane Wet Temperate Forest’ the Sholas are found in the upper reaches of the Nilgiris, Anamalais, Palni hills, Kalakadu, Mundanthurai and Kanyakumari in the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
- These forests are found sheltered in valleys with sufficient moisture and proper drainage, at an altitude of more than 1,500 metres.
Various threats to them
- Loss of grasslands due to invasive exotic trees is a “novel threat” through the establishment and expansion of exotic tree plantations.
- These exotic trees include acacias, pines and eucalyptus, shrinking the range sizes of endemic species, including plants, birds, amphibians and mammals.
- In the Western Ghats, 23% of montane grasslands were reportedly converted into invasive exotic tree cover over a period of 44 years.
- Attempts to manage invasive exotic trees in montane grasslands incorporated approaches that include prevention and mechanical, chemical and biological control.
- For invasive species such as Acacia mearnsii that grow rapidly and disperse seeds widely, removing mature trees is often ineffective.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Epigenetics
Mains level: Genetics and human health
Researchers have found the cause of vision impairment due to ageing as the accumulation of “epigenetic noise” that disrupts gene expression patterns leading to changes in inherent DNA function
Genetics is an all-time favourite of UPSC. Every year you can find a question in prelims. Try this one from CSP 2020:
Q.Consider the following statements:
- Genetic changes can be introduced in the cells that produce eggs or sperms of a prospective parent
- A person’s genome can be edited before birth at the early embryonic stage.
- Human-induced pluripotent stem cells can be injected into the embryo of a pig.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 2 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
What is Epigenetics?
- Epigenetics is the study of how your behaviours and environment can cause changes that affect the way your genes work.
- Unlike genetic changes, epigenetic changes are reversible and do not change your DNA sequence, but they can change how your body reads a DNA sequence.
- Environmental stimuli can cause genes to be turned off or turned on.
- This determines a cell’s specialization (e.g., skin cell, blood cell, hair cell, liver cells, etc.) as a fetus develops into a baby through gene expression (active) or silencing (dormant); and nurture.
- This normal epigenetic control on our genes can get altered during normal ageing, stress and disease conditions.
Cellular regulators
- The functioning of cells and tissues in our body are controlled by thousands of proteins that regulate various cellular functions.
- These proteins are in turn encoded by the respective genes which are a part of our genome or the cellular DNA.
- Any minor or major changes to our inherited DNA (addition or mutation) can result in altered protein production, which in turn leads to defective cellular functions.
- This forms the basis for many heritable genetic disorders affecting mankind.
A trigger for various inactivities
- Apart from DNA or protein sequence level alterations, there are other biochemical changes that influence and dictate if a gene should be active or inactive in a given cell type.
- For example, the gene that encodes for the insulin protein is present in the exact form, in every cell of the body.
- However, it is allowed to express only in the insulin-secreting beta cells of the pancreas and is kept inactive in the rest of the cells of the body.
- This phenomenon is tightly regulated by a combination of regulatory proteins that changes the expressivity of the gene.
- Also, the histone proteins that bind the DNA and help to compactly wrap it inside the chromosomes can undergo chemical modifications such as methylations and acetylations on different lysine amino acids within the protein.
- These modifications both on the DNA and its associated proteins alter the chromosomal conformations and regulate gene expression.
- These changes can either unwind the DNA and allow gene expression or can compact the DNA and render the genes in the region inactive or silent.
Epigenetics and the human eye
- The human (and mammalian) eye is a remarkable organ in the course of evolution which has allowed us to “see” the external world clearly and in colour.
- Earlier forms, such as microbes and plants, reacted to light in other ways (for absorption and use, such as photosynthesis).
- The front part of the human eye (cornea, lens and the vitreous humour gel) is transparent, colourless and helps focus the incoming light into the retina, helping us see colour.
- It is the retina that sends the message to the brain.
- Its main component, called the retinal ganglion cells (RGC) are the ones that help in this process of sending the message in the form of electrical signals, called neurons or nerve cells.
- Thus, RGCs are the ones that convert optics into electronics.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ICDS, Matru Sahyogini Samitis Scheme
Mains level: Not Much
The MP government has issued an order for the appointment of committees led by mothers to ensure better monitoring of services delivered at Anganwadi or day-care centres across the State.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Which of the following are the objectives of ‘National Nutrition Mission’?
- To create awareness relating to malnutrition among pregnant women and lactating mothers.
- To reduce the incidence of anaemia among young children, adolescent girls and women.
- To promote the consumption of millets, coarse cereals and unpolished rice.
- To promote the consumption of poultry eggs.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 1, 2 and 3 only
(c) 1, 2 and 4 only
(d) 3 and 4 only
Matru Sahyogini Samitis
- Called ‘Matru Sahyogini Samiti’ or Mothers’ Cooperation Committees, these will comprise 10 mothers at each Anganwadi centres.
- They would be representing the concerns of different sets of beneficiaries under the Integrated Child Development Services, or National Nutrition Mission.
- Beneficiaries’ would include children between six months to three years, children between three years and six years, adolescent girls and pregnant women and lactating mothers.
- These mothers will keep a watch on weekly ration distribution to them as well as suggest nutritious and tasteful recipes for meals served to children at the centres.
- The move is being taken as per the mandate of the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA).
Its’ functioning
- The committees will include mothers of beneficiary children as well as be represented by pregnant women and lactating mothers who are enrolled under the scheme.
- The Anganwadi scheme includes a package of six services delivered at the centres, including supplementary nutrition, health services including vaccination, early education, among others.
- The Committees will also include a woman panch, women active in the community and eager to volunteer their support to the scheme, teachers from the local school, and women heads of self-help groups (SHG).
Why such a move?
- This is in a move that is aimed at strengthening community response to the problem of hunger and malnutrition in the State.
- With the help of mothers, we will be able to turn anganwadis into a community health system, a nutrition management centre, and spread awareness against social evils.
- These will turn into a model for local governance as well as allow for greater engagement between communities and the State government.
Back2Basics: Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)
- The ICDS aims to provide food, preschool education, primary healthcare, immunization, health check-up and referral services to children under 6 years of age and their mothers.
- The scheme was launched in 1975, discontinued in 1978 by the government of Morarji Desai, and then relaunched by the Tenth Five Year Plan.
- The tenth FYP also linked ICDS to Anganwadi centres established mainly in rural areas and staffed with frontline workers.
- The ICDS provide for anganwadis or day-care centres which deliver a package of six services including:
- Immunization
- Supplementary nutrition
- Health checkup
- Referral services
- Pre-school education (Non-Formal)
- Nutrition and Health information
Implementation
- For nutritional purposes, ICDS provides 500 kilocalories (with 12-15 grams of protein) every day to every child below 6 years of age.
- For adolescent girls, it is up to 500-kilo calories with up to 25 grams of protein every day.
- The services of Immunisation, Health Check-up and Referral Services delivered through Public Health Infrastructure under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Myristica Swamp Treefrog
Mains level: Western Ghats and its biodiversity richness
Myristica swamp treefrog, a rare arboreal (living on trees) species endemic to the Western Ghats has been recorded for the first time in Kerala’s Thrissur district.
Again, a stand-alone peculiar species is in the news. Make a special note here. Usually, note the species and its habitat location (IUCN status if available), in the purview of a generic prelims question.
Myristica Swamp Treefrog
- It bears the scientific name Mercurana myristicapalustris.
- The frog was first spotted in 2013 in the Myristica swamps of Arippa, near the Kulathupuzha Reserve Forest, in the western foothills of Agasthyamalai, in Kollam district.
- Unlike the Myristica swamp treefrog found in the foothills of the Agasthyamalai, these frogs were found to be active throughout June and early July.
Unique traits
- These frogs are rare and elusive for the reason that they are arboreal and active only for a few weeks during their breeding season.
- During this season, there is a large aggregation of males that descend from the high canopy of the trees.
- The breeding season, unlike for other frogs, starts in the pre-monsoon season (May) and ends before the monsoon becomes fully active in June.
- Before the end of the breeding season, the female frogs along with their male counterparts descend on the forest floor. The female digs the mud and lays eggs in shallow burrows in mud.
- After breeding and egg-laying, they retreat back to the high canopies of the tree and remain elusive till next breeding season.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ATAGS
Mains level: India's capacity building for high mountain warfare
User trials of the indigenous Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS) developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will be held very soon.
Try this question for mains:
Q.Discuss why high-altitude warfare is challenging. Also, discuss India’s preparedness for a long-term war.
ATAGS System
- The ATAGS is a 155-mm, 52-calibre artillery gun jointly developed by the DRDO in partnership with Bharat Forge of the Kalyani Group and the Tata Power SED.
- ATAGS has greater than 95% of indigenous content. It set a world record for the longest unassisted projectile range of 48 kilometres.
Its features
- The gun consists of a barrel, breech mechanism, muzzle brake and recoil mechanism to fire 155 mm calibre ammunition with a firing range of 48 km.
- It has an all-electric drive to ensure reliability and minimum maintenance over a long period of time.
- It has advanced features like high mobility, quick deployability, auxiliary power mode, advanced communication system, automatic command and control system with night capability in direct fire mode.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Return on Equity
Mains level: Paper 3- 4 point agenda for banks to deal with the fallout of the pandemic successfully
The article suggest 4 imperatives to the banks in India to emerge successful from pain inflicted by the pandemic.
Impact of pandemic on banking industry
- Unlike other shocks, covid is not a banking crisis; it is, instead, a crisis of the real economy.
- Globally, the average return on equity (RoE) for banks could go below 1.5% in 2021 before recovering to the 2019 pre-crisis levels of 9% by 2024
- This is effectively a loss of five years for the banking industry.
- This will likely play out in two stages:
- 1) Loan loss provisions over a period of 12-18 months.
- 2) Followed by a period where banking revenue growth lags gross domestic product growth, or GDP.
Important role played by banks in pandemic
- India has entered this crisis well-capitalized.
- Their provision coverage ratios improved to 65% in 2019-20, compared to 41% in 2016-17, and RoE (return on equity) has turned positive to 2.5% after two years of negative readings.
- The banking system is playing a critical role in the economic recovery by supporting businesses and individuals.
- New challenges, however, continue to emerge. These, if left unmitigated, will lead to severe losses in efficiencies gained.
4 Imperative to tackle the emerging challenges to banking
1) Need to increase productivity
- Indian banks start at a materially higher cost-to-assets ratio of 2.2% versus 1.4% globally.
- Regaining pre-covid RoE levels and negating higher risk costs and margin compression will, however, require that Indian banks improve productivity by over 30%.
- The Indian banking sector lagged in efficiency improvements; other industrial peers have leveraged a combination of digital adoption and analytics, and strong governance.
Suggestions for productivity transformation
- The productivity transformation will comprise multiple agendas.
- To start with, there will be a branch format and network re-configuration for custormers who has shifted to online mode.
- To drive a permanent digital shift, banks will need to accelerate digital engagement via contact centre transformations.
- In conjunction, there will be the equally important need to create minimum viable support functions (zero-based operations, demand management across human resources, finance, marketing).
- And, finally, there will be the need to re-skill the workforce for digital operations.
2) Pre-emptive risk management
- The second imperative is pre-emptive risk management.
- Banks must rapidly rewire their policies and analytical models such that they reflect fast- moving indicators of risk.
- This means investing in self-serve channels, digital nudges and frictionless journeys across payments, settlements and recoveries.
- The overall collections strategy will have to be underpinned by micro-segmentation, and also leverage analytical models to drive efficiency.
3) Technology imperative
- The third is the technology imperative that must scale with demand and analytical complexity.
- Banks are required to handle high digital traffic and process enormous data sets, and regulators getting increasingly sensitive on downtimes.
- This will requires modernizing core banking platforms, creating the data architecture that supports the analytics life-cycle, instituting modern engineering practices and moving towards automated infrastructure.
4) Capital management
- Banks with exposure to hard-hit sectors will face more of a challenge.
- And existing risk models are unlikely to be tuned to the differentiated impact the pandemic has had on various sectors.
- Risk teams will need to review critical models and add overlays to account for different credit risk in each sector.
- Scenario planning, stress testing and balance sheet optimization will need to become core to planning and management decisions.
Conclusion
In its own way, the pandemic has given banks a glimpse into the art of the possible. Banks should take this opportunity to embed their newfound speed and agility, reinvent their business model, and collaborate with the communities they serve to recast their contract with society.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Various parliamentary committees and their functions
Mains level: Paper 2- Importance of scrutiny of the Bills at committee level
The article explains in detail the functioning of committees in the scrutiny of the Bills and underscores the importance of scrutiny of the Bills at the committee levels.
Growing trend of bypassing the scrutiny at committee level
- Data show that very few Bills are referred to the Parliamentary Committees now.
- Ministers are generally reluctant to send their Bills to the committees because they are in a hurry to pass them.
- They often request the Presiding Officers not to refer their Bills to the committees.
- But the Presiding Officers are required to exercise their independent judgment in the matter and decide the issue.
- They need to keep in mind the fact that the Bills which the government brings before the Houses often have serious shortcomings.
Why scrutiny by the House committee matters
- The demand for the repeal of the laws passed by Parliament only recently essentially points to a serious lapse in the management of the legislative work in Parliament.
- Parliament has put in place a large machinery of committees to scrutinise the Bills which are brought before it by the government as a part of its legislative programme.
- Rules of the Houses leave it to the Speaker or the Chairman to refer the Bills to the Standing Committees for a detailed scrutiny thereof.
- After such scrutiny, the committees send their reports containing their recommendations on improvements to be made in the Bills to the Houses.
- While undertaking such scrutiny, the committees invite various stakeholders to place their views before them.
- Only after elaborate consultation do the committees formulate their views and recommendations.
- Free India’s Parliament established a vast network of committees to undertake scrutiny of various aspects of governance including the Bills.
- Prior to the formation of Standing Committees, the Indian Parliament used to appoint select committees, joint select committees, etc. for detailed scrutiny of important legislative proposals of the government.
- With the formation of standing committees, the occasions for appointing select or joint select committees are few.
Example of the Bills made better by suggestions of committe
- The Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Bill was introduced in 1999 in the Lok Sabha and was immediately referred to a joint committee of both Houses.
- This Bill was meant to develop new varieties of plants and protect the rights of farmers and breeders.
- The committee completed its work in eight months and made many improvements by way of bringing greater clarity into various terms and concepts.
- The Seeds Bill, 2004 was referred to the Standing Committee on Agriculture which obtained the views from diverse sources.
- Through the process of consultation with a wide range of experts and research organisations and farmers, the committee made significant improvements in the Bill; as a result, there was a better law on seeds.
- It was the same case with the Companies (Amendment) Bill, the Information Technology Bill, and the Goods and Services Tax Bill.
- The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill which was introduced in the Lok Sabha in 2011, which was referred to the Committee, was again referred to a Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha when it was transmitted to that House after being passed by the Lok Sabha.
- Thus, this Bill underwent double security by two committees of Parliament.
Conclusion
Our Parliamentary Committees have a tradition of working in a non-party manner. The reports of these Committees are based on consensus. It may be a bit difficult for people to believe that the instrumentalities of Parliament could rise above parties. But that is how they function.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Paris Agreement
Mains level: Paper 3- Net zero emission targets and issues with it
Climate Ambition Summit was held on the 5th anniversary of the Paris Agreement. The article takes stock of the progress made on climate action in the last 5 years.
The Paris Agreement
- The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties at COP 21 in Paris, on 12 December 2015 and entered into force on 4 November 2016.
- Its goal is to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.
- To achieve this long-term temperature goal, countries aim to reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible to achieve a climate-neutral world by mid-century.
- It is a landmark process because, for the first time, a binding agreement brings all nations into a common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects.
How does it function?
- Implementation of the Paris Agreement requires economic and social transformation, based on the best available science.
- The Agreement works on a 5- year cycle of increasingly ambitious climate action carried out by countries.
- By 2020, countries submit their plans for climate action known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs).
NDCs
- In their NDCs, countries communicate actions they will take to reduce their Greenhouse Gas emissions in order to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement.
- Countries also communicate in the NDCs actions they will take to build resilience to adapt to the impacts of rising temperatures.
Long-Term Strategies
- To better frame the efforts towards the long-term goal, the Paris Agreement invites countries to formulate and submit by 2020 long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategies (LT-LEDS).
- LT-LEDS provide the long-term horizon to the NDCs. Unlike NDCs, they are not mandatory.
- Nevertheless, they place the NDCs into the context of countries’ long-term planning and development priorities, providing a vision and direction for future development.
Progress made after 5 years
- All states have submitted their national contributions to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
- However, these contributions are radically insufficient to reach the “well below 2 degrees Celsius” limit and are even further from the “1.5 degrees Celsius” temperature limit identified in the Paris Agreement.
- This initial shortfall was expected — the logic of the Paris Agreement relied on iterative scaling up of national targets over time to bridge the gap.
Are countries scaling up the targets
- Although 151 states have indicated that they will submit stronger targets before December 31, only 13 of them, covering 2.4 per cent of global emissions, have submitted such targets.
- While states have been slow to update their national contributions for 2025-2030, several have announced “net zero” targets in the recent past.
- All G-7 states except the US and 11 G20 members have mid-century (2050 or 2060) net zero targets -carbon dioxide or other GHGs.
- The Joe Biden administration is also expected to join this group.
Issues in Net Zero targets
1) Credibility of the commitments
- First, the credibility check — are these long-term net zero goals aligned with short-term actions, policies and measures?
- The IPCC 1.5 degrees Celsius Report indicated that to stay within a reasonable chance of achieving 1.5 degrees Celsius, global carbon dioxide emissions have to fall by 45 per cent from the 2010 levels by 2030.
- Current national contributions are not on track for such a fall.
- For many there is a mismatch between short-term actions and long-term commitments.
- Further, there is a significant “overshoot” in terms of GHGs in the short and medium-term, and a reliance on negative emissions technologies to get there in the long-term.
2) Fixing accountability
- Many net zero goals have not yet been embedded in national contributions and long-term strategies under the Paris Agreement.
- In any case, accountability under the Paris Agreement is limited. States are not obliged to achieve their self-selected targets.
- There is no mechanism to review the adequacy of individual contributions.
- States are only asked to provide justifications for the fairness and ambition of their targets.
- The transparency framework does not contain a robust review function, and the compliance committee is facilitative and limited to ensuring compliance with a short list of binding procedural obligations.
- Accountability, therefore, has thus far been generated by non-state actors outside the UN regime rather than in the regime.
3) Fairness of climate action
- The issue of equity and fairness, side-stepped in the Paris Agreement, is emerging in climate litigation before national and regional courts.
- In the landmark Urgenda case (2019), the Dutch Supreme court considered “fair shares” when identifying benchmarks against which the Netherland’s national effort could be judged in the context of a collective action problem.
- Issues of fairness and justice, both between and within generations, are “unavoidable”.
India’s commitment
In 2015, ahead of the UN significant climate conference in Paris, India announced three major voluntary commitments called the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC):
- Improving the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33–35% by 2030 over 2005 levels
- Increasing the share of non-fossil fuels-based electricity to 40% by 2030 and
- Enhancing its forest cover, thereby absorbing 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide
A success (?)
- The Environment Minister said that we have achieved 21% of its emissions intensity reduction target as a proportion of its GDP in line with its pledge to a 33-35% reduction by 2030.
- India was the only major G20 country that was on track towards keeping to its nationally determined commitments to halt runaway global warming.
Conclusion
Credible short-term commitments, with a clear pathway to medium-term decarbonisation, that take into account the multiple challenges states face, such as on air pollution, and development, might well be the more defensible choice for some.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Paris Agreement
Mains level: Progress of global climate action
This week marks the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement, where formidable climate diplomacy ushered 196 rich and poor countries into a legally binding treaty seeking to hold global heating below 2°C at this century’s end.
Try this PYQ first, then head with the news:
Q.With reference to the Agreement at the UNFCCC Meeting in Paris in 2015, which of the following statements is/are correct?
- The Agreement was signed by all the member countries of the UN and it will go into effect in 2017.
- The Agreement aims to limit the greenhouse gas emissions so that the rise in average global temperature by the end of this century does not exceed 20C or even 1.50C above pre-industrial levels.
- Developed countries acknowledged their historical responsibility in global warming and committed to donate S 1000 billion a year from 2020 to help developing countries to cope with climate change.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
(a) 1 and 3 only
(b) 2 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
The Paris Agreement
- The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties at COP 21 in Paris, on 12 December 2015 and entered into force on 4 November 2016.
- Its goal is to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.
- To achieve this long-term temperature goal, countries aim to reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible to achieve a climate-neutral world by mid-century.
- It is a landmark process because, for the first time, a binding agreement brings all nations into a common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects.
How does it function?
- Implementation of the Paris Agreement requires economic and social transformation, based on the best available science.
- The Agreement works on a 5- year cycle of increasingly ambitious climate action carried out by countries.
- By 2020, countries submit their plans for climate action known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs).
NDCs
- In their NDCs, countries communicate actions they will take to reduce their Greenhouse Gas emissions in order to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement.
- Countries also communicate in the NDCs actions they will take to build resilience to adapt to the impacts of rising temperatures.
Long-Term Strategies
- To better frame the efforts towards the long-term goal, the Paris Agreement invites countries to formulate and submit by 2020 long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategies (LT-LEDS).
- LT-LEDS provide the long-term horizon to the NDCs. Unlike NDCs, they are not mandatory.
- Nevertheless, they place the NDCs into the context of countries’ long-term planning and development priorities, providing a vision and direction for future development.
India’s commitment
In 2015, ahead of the UN significant climate conference in Paris, India announced three major voluntary commitments called the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC):
- Improving the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33–35% by 2030 over 2005 levels
- Increasing the share of non-fossil fuels-based electricity to 40% by 2030 and
- Enhancing its forest cover, thereby absorbing 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide
A success (?)
- The Environment Minister said that we have achieved 21% of its emissions intensity reduction target as a proportion of its GDP in line with its pledge to a 33-35% reduction by 2030.
- India was the only major G20 country that was on track towards keeping to its nationally determined commitments to halt runaway global warming.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Indian Monsoon, ENSO, Planetary Winds
Mains level: Determinants of Indian Monsoon
Droughts in India have historically been associated with El Nino, anomalous warming of the equatorial Pacific, but Indian scientists have found some relevance in Rossby Waves.
Q.The determinants of Indian Monsoon are no more limited to the Pacific and the Indian Ocean. Discuss.
El-Nino alone do not cause drought
- The study says that nearly six out of 10 droughts, in non-El Nino years occurred during the Indian summer-monsoon season in the past century.
- They may have been driven by atmospheric disturbances from the North Atlantic region.
- In an El Niño year, abnormally warm equatorial Pacific waters pull moisture-laden clouds away from the subcontinent.
- But the IISc Bangalore study shows that in non-El Nino years, these droughts are a consequence of a sudden and steep drop in rainfall in late August.
Then, how were droughts induced?
- In an El Nino year, the rainfall deficit departure from a long-term average set in early around mid-June and progressively worsen.
- Researchers tried to trace this drought back to a forcing agent or system that influences the behaviour over India.
- They found, the winds that were prevalent in these non-El Niño drought years.
Another factor: The Rossby Waves
- The researchers noted that winds in the upper atmosphere are interacting with a deep cyclonic circulation above the abnormally cold North Atlantic waters.
- The resulting wave of air currents called a Rossby wave, curved down from the North Atlantic squeezed in by the Tibetan plateau and hits the subcontinent around mid-August.
- This has a suppressing effect on rainfall and throws off the monsoon that was trying to recover from the June slump.
Now scratch your basics on Planetary Winds. “Go back to the NCERTs !”
What are Rossby Waves?
- They are giant meanders in high-altitude winds that have a major influence on the weather.
- They are influenced by the Coriolis force and pressure gradient.
- The wave’s usual course is to go from west to east, but not towards the equator.
Points to be noted ……
- The Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean seem to be at the forefront of all discussions surrounding Indian monsoon droughts.
- Thus beyond looking at the Pacific Ocean it is important to consider other influences on the Indian monsoon from outside the tropics.
- It is perhaps time to focus just as much on mid-latitude influences, which might aid in getting a better handle on enhanced predictability of monsoon variability.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: 7th Schedule
Mains level: Federalism issue raised by the Agricultural Bills
Fifteenth Finance Commission chairman N.K. Singh has called for a fresh look at the Constitution’s Seventh Schedule, which forms the basis for allocating subjects to the Centre and States.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Which of the following provisions of the Constitution of India have a bearing on Education?
- Directive Principles of State Policy
- Rural and Urban Local Bodies
- Fifth Schedule
- Sixth Schedule
- Seventh Schedule
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 3, 4 and 5 only
(c) 1, 2 and 5 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 4 and 5
Why such calls by Mr NKS?
- Singh said these issues needed urgent consideration to reinforce trust in fiscal federalism.
- He urged a review of both the Seventh Schedule and Article 282 of the Constitution so as to give more flexibility to States in implementing centrally sponsored schemes.
- Many have argued that the trust between various forms of government is waning.
- Since the farmers’ agitation, these are seen through the prism of suspicion and mistrust.
Q. The federal organisation of powers under the Constitution’s Seventh Schedule needs review. In light of this, examine the problems faced by the distribution and suggest the challenge the review would face.
What is the Seventh Schedule?
- This Schedule of the Indian Constitution deals with the division of powers between the Union government and State governments.
- It defines and specifies the allocation of powers and functions between Union & States. It contains three lists; i.e. 1) Union List, 2) State List and 3) Concurrent List.
The Union List
- It is a list of 98 (Originally 97) numbered items as provided in the Seventh Schedule.
- The Union Government or Parliament of India has exclusive power to legislate on matters relating to these items.
The State List
- It is a list of 59 (Originally 66) items.
- The respective state governments have exclusive power to legislate on matters relating to these items.
The Concurrent List
- There are 52 (Originally 47) items currently in the list.
- This includes items which are under the joint domain of the Union as well as the respective States.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CITES
Mains level: Exotic species trade
Last month, the Supreme Court upheld an Allahabad High Court order granting immunity from investigation and prosecution if one declared illegal acquisition or possession of exotic wildlife species.
Q.What are Zoonotic Diseases? Discuss how the illicit trade in wildlife has resulted in the spread of zoonotic diseases of the scale of the ongoing COVID-19?
Voluntary disclosure scheme
- The MoEFCC has come out with an advisory on a one-time voluntary disclosure amnesty scheme.
- It allows owners of exotic live species that have been acquired illegally, or without documents, to declare their stock to the government between June and December 2020.
- The scheme aims to address the challenge of zoonotic diseases and regulate their import. In its current form, however.
- It shall develop an inventory of exotic live species for better compliance under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
- However, the amnesty scheme is just an advisory, not a law
What kind of exotic wildlife is covered?
- The advisory has defined exotic live species as animals named under the Appendices I, II and III of the CITES.
- It does not include species from the Schedules of the Wild Life (Protection) Act 1972.
- So, a plain reading of the advisory excludes exotic birds from the amnesty scheme.
Why need such a scheme?
- The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), which enforces anti-smuggling laws, says India has emerged as a big demand centre for exotic birds and animals.
- There has been an increase in smuggling of endangered species from different parts of the world.
- Most of these exotic wildlife is imported through Illegal channels and then sold in the domestic market as pets.
- The long international border and air routes are used to source consignments from Bangkok, Malaysia and other top tourist destinations in South East Asia, as well as from Europe into India.
Back2Basics: CITES
- CITES stands for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
- It is as an international agreement aimed at ensuring “that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival”.
- It was drafted after a resolution was adopted at a meeting of the members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 1963.
- It entered into force on July 1, 1975, and now has 183 parties.
- The Convention is legally binding on the Parties in the sense that they are committed to implementing it; however, it does not take the place of national laws.
- India is a signatory to and has also ratified CITES convention in 1976.
CITES Appendices
- CITES works by subjecting international trade in specimens of selected species to certain controls.
- All import, export, re-exports and introduction from the sea of species covered by the convention has to be authorized through a licensing system. It has three appendices:
- Appendix I includes species threatened with extinction. Trade-in specimens of these species are permitted only in exceptional circumstances.
- Appendix II provides a lower level of protection.
- Appendix III contains species that are protected in at least one country, which has asked other CITES Parties for assistance in controlling trade.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: QKD
Mains level: Quantum Mechanics and its development in India
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully demonstrated communication between its two labs using Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) technology.
Q. What is Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) Technology? Discuss how it enables secure communication networks. (150W)
What is QKD Technology?
- Quantum key distribution (QKD) is a secure communication method which implements a cryptographic protocol involving components of quantum mechanics.
- It enables two parties to produce a shared random secret key known only to them, which can then be used to encrypt and decrypt messages.
- It gives the ability of the two communicating users to detect the presence of any third party trying to gain knowledge of the key.
- This is a result of a fundamental aspect of quantum mechanics: the process of measuring a quantum system, in general, disturbs the system.
- By using quantum superposition or quantum entanglement and transmitting information in quantum states, a communication system can be implemented that detects data leak.
How does it work?
- In the QKD, encryption keys are sent as qubits in a fibre optic cable. Time-bin encoding is used to encode qubit on a photon.
- Quantum computing uses qubits as basic resources, similar to how bits are used as basic resources in classical computing.
- The QKD is designed in a way that if an illegitimate entity tries to read the transmission, it will disturb the qubits – which are encoded on photons.
- This will generate transmission errors, leading to legitimate end-users being immediately informed.
Advantages of using QKD
- It allows the detection of data leak or hacking because it can detect any such attempt.
- It also allows the process of setting the error level between the intercepted data in dependence.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Plasmodium parasite
Mains level: Malaria in India
A not very common type of malaria, Plasmodium Ovale, has been identified in a jawan in Kerala.
Try this PYQ:
Q. Widespread resistance of malarial parasite to drugs like chloroquine has prompted attempts to develop a malarial vaccine to combat malaria.
Why is it difficult to develop an effective malaria vaccine?
(a) Malaria is caused by several species of Plasmodium
(b) Man does not develop immunity to malaria during natural infection
(c) Vaccines can be developed only against bacteria
(d) Man is only an intermediate host and not the definitive host
What is 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.
Plasmodium Ovale
- P ovale rarely causes severe illness and there is no need for panic.
- Symptoms include fever for 48 hours, headache and nausea, and the treatment modality is the same as it is for a person infected with P vivax.
- P ovale is no more dangerous than getting a viral infection.
- It is termed ovale as about 20% of the parasitised cells are oval in shape.
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: Digital Voter ID
Mains level: Election reforms
The Election Commission (EC) is keen to make the Elector’s Photo Identity Card or EPIC available in electronic form.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Regarding DigiLocker, sometimes seen in the news, which of the following statements is/are correct?
- It is a digital locker system offered by the Government under Digital India Programme.
- It allows you to access your e-documents irrespective of your physical location.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Digital Voter ID Card
- The digital voter card is not expected to look too different from its physical form.
- It will be available as a PDF file and can be downloaded on one’s phone or computer.
- The soft copy may also have a QR code that will carry the voter’s enrolment details such as name and date of birth and address.
- This is still just a proposal and needs to be approved by the Election Commission.
How to avail it?
- To avail this facility, an eligible voter will have to provide her mobile number or email address to the EC machinery at the time of applying for enrolment in the voters’ list.
- Once her name is included in the electoral roll, she will be intimated through an SMS or email.
- The new voter can then download the Voter Card through OTP (One Time Password) authentication.
- Existing voters may have to re-verify their details with the EC (similar to the Bank KYC process) and provide their email or mobile phone number to get their cards in the electronic form.
Benefits offered
- An electronic card will help the EC save costs on printing and distributing a hard copy of EPIC.
- The EC feels that voters too will find it useful to have the PDF file of her voter card on her phone.
- This will do away with the necessity of first producing a voter’s slip on the day of voting.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CERC
Mains level: Paper 3- Renewable energy markets
The article takes stock of the progress India made on renewable energy capacity and the steps taken for its trade through the creation of green markets.
India increasing share of renewable energy
- As a signatory to the Paris Climate Agreement, India is committed to increasing its share of renewable energy capacity to 450 GW by 2030.
- India has an installed renewable energy capacity of 89 GW.
- India has today become the most attractive destination for investment in the renewable sector.
- During the last six years, has attracted over Rs 4.7 lakh crore of investment, including FDI of about Rs 42,700 crore.
- India witnessed 20% CAGR growth in the renewable generation since FY16 while total electricity generation saw 4.3% growth in the same period.
- The current levelised cost of energy (LCOE) for large scale solar in India is around Rs 2.5 per kWh, compared to ~Rs 12 in 2010.
Factor’s responsible
- Waiver of inter-state transmission charges for the sale of solar and wind power, the renewable purchase obligation (RPO) trajectories for states, focus on maintaining the sanctity of contracts, permitting FDI in the renewable sector have accelerated the progress.
Trading in renewable power
- Most renewable power generation companies in India are committed to selling their power to consumers—mostly discoms under the long-term Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs).
- It is also a matter of gratification that most generation companies have adopted a robust system of forecasting and scheduling of power.
- It is in this context, the CERC was approached for creating a market for green energy.
- Ultimately, the CERC approved trading of renewable energy contracts under Green Term Ahead Market (GTAM) on the energy exchange.
- The green market commenced trade on August 21, in day-ahead contingency (DAC) and intra-day contracts in both solar and non-solar segments.
- The green market has now launched two more options—daily and weekly.
- This will further strengthen the market and allow participants to buy green energy through contracts available for trade in all the segments.
- The energy will be delivered to the market participants leveraging the national, regional and state-level transmission and distribution network.
- With robust value proposition such as transparency, competitive prices, flexibility, and payment security and financial savings that the exchange market offers, a pan-India green market has the potential to drive and facilitate the country to meet its renewable energy targets.
- The green market will ultimately encourage green generators to adopt multiple models of sale and trading.
Conclusion
Going forward, the introduction of new segments such as green day-ahead market, long-duration green contracts, contract for difference (CfD), etc, will play a crucial role in furthering sustainability goals, and ensuring that all the renewable energy generated within the country is dispatched in the most efficient manner through a pan India wide exchange-based energy markets.
Source:-
https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/renewable-energy-generation-betting-on-the-green-power-market/2147657/
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Middle Easet
Mains level: The gulf and anti-semitism
Morocco has become the fourth Arab nation this year to recognise Israel after interventions by the US.
Must read:
Israel and Morocco
- After the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan, Morocco is the fourth Arab State since August to commit to establishing diplomatic relations with the Jewish State.
- Morocco and Israel had respectively maintained liaison offices in Tel Aviv and Rabat in the 1990s, before closing them in 2000.
- Israeli PM Netanyahu anticipated direct flights between the two countries soon.
- Palestinian officials condemned the agreement, saying it encouraged Israel’s denial of their rights.
For the sake of Western Sahara
- The White House said the US would recognise Morocco’s claim over Western Sahara as part of the deal with Israel.
- The US recognised Moroccan sovereignty over the entire Western Sahara territory.
- A former Spanish colony, it was annexed by Morocco in 1975.
- Since then it has been the subject of a long-running territorial dispute between Morocco and its indigenous Saharawi people.
- Morocco says it has always been part of its territory, while the African Union recognizes it as an independent state.
- A 16-year-long insurgency ended with an UN-brokered truce in 1991 and the promise of a referendum on independence, which has yet to take place.
Ground realities
- The latest move by the Trump administration will not necessarily have an immediate impact on the ground because the dispute is seen as greater than the whims of the American president.
- However, Trump’s backing of Morocco’s claim to sovereignty over Western Sahara is a big deal because it diminishes the hope of a people who have aspired for the independence of that territory for decades.
- The UN is still mandated to oversee a referendum for the independence of Western Sahara – although this hasn’t materialized since 1991.
Why Arab countries are normalizing their ties with Israel?
- Economics: The Gulf States see opportunities for trade and more. The deal helps the ambitious gulf, who has built themselves into military power as well as a place to do business.
- Common enemy: The UAE has used its already well-equipped armed forces in Libya and Yemen. But its most serious potential enemy is Iran, just on the other side of the Gulf.
- For the Iron wall: Normalizing its relations with gulf is a genuine achievement for the Israelis who is a believer in the strategy first described in the 1920s of an “Iron Wall” between the Jewish state and the Arabs.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: IoT , AI
Mains level: Internet based applications
In a first, BSNL launches world’s largest NB-IoT to provide connectivity for millions of unconnected machines, sensors and industrial IoT devices across the country.
What is NB-IoT?
- NB-IoT is a Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) technology that works virtually anywhere.
- It will connect many more devices to the Internet of Things and make many new applications a reality.
- It is optimized for applications that need to communicate small amounts of data over long periods of time.
- Since it operates in licensed spectrum, it is secure and reliable providing guaranteed quality of service.
- It connects devices more simply and efficiently on already established mobile networks and handles small amounts of fairly infrequent 2‑way data, securely and reliably.
And the best is, it provides-
- very low power consumption
- excellent extended range in buildings and underground
- easy deployment into the existing cellular network architecture
- network security & reliability
- lower component cost
Back2Basics: Internet of Things (IoT)
- The IoT describes the network of physical objects—“things”—that are embedded with sensors, software, and other technologies for the purpose of connecting and exchanging data with other devices and systems over the Internet.
- The definition of the IoT has evolved due to the convergence of multiple technologies, real-time analytics, AI, sensors, and embedded systems.
- In the consumer market, IoT technology is most synonymous with products pertaining to the concept of the “smart home”, including devices and appliances.
- It supports one or more common ecosystems and can be controlled via devices associated with that ecosystem, such as smartphones and smart speakers e.g. Alexa.
Remember this PYQ?
When the alarm of your smartphone rings in the morning, you wake up and tap it to stop the alarm which causes your geyser to be switched on automatically. The smart mirror in your bathroom shows the day’s weather and also indicates the level of water in your overhead tank. After you take some groceries from your refrigerator for making breakfast, it recognises the shortage of stock in it and places an order for the supply of fresh grocery items. When You step out of your house and lock the door, all lights, fans, geysers and AC machines get switched off automatically. On your way to office, your car warns you about traffic congestion ahead and suggests an alternative route, and if you are late for a meeting, it sends a message to your office accordingly.
In the context of emerging communication technologies, which one of the following terms best applies to the above scenario?
(a) Border Gateway Protocol
(b) Internet of Things
(c) Internet Protocol
(d) Virtual Private Network
Also read:
[Burning Issue] Internet of Things (IoT)
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