Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Lithium, Nucleosynthesis, Big Bang
Mains level: Formation of stars
A forty-year-old puzzle regarding the production of lithium in stars has been solved by Indian researchers.
Try this question from CSP 2013:
Q.Consider the following phenomena:
- Size of the sun at dusk
- Colour of the sun at dawn
- Moon being visible at dawn
- Twinkle of stars in the sky
- Polestar being visible in the sky
Which of the above are optical illusions?
(a) 1, 2 and 3
(b) 3, 4 and 5
(c) 1, 2 and 4
(d) 2, 3 and 5
Lithium nucleosynthesis in Stars
- Stars, as per known mechanisms of evolution, actually destroy lithium as they evolve into red giants.
- Planets were known to have more lithium than their stars — as is the case with the Earth-Sun pair.
- However, leading to a contradiction, some stars were found that were lithium-rich.
- The new work by an Indian researcher shows that when stars grow beyond their Red Giant stage into what is known as the Red Clump stage, they produce lithium.
- This is known as a Helium Flash and this is what enriches them with lithium.
Studying lithium-rich stars
- About 40 years ago, a few large stars were spotted that were lithium-rich.
- This was followed by further discoveries of lithium-rich stars, and that posed a puzzle — if stars do not produce lithium, how do some stars develop to become lithium-rich.
- The planet engulfment theory was quite popular. For example, Earth-like planets may increase the star’s lithium content when they plunge into [their] star’s atmosphere when the latter become Red Giants.
Findings of the Indian research
- Indian researchers have been working on this puzzle for nearly 20 years to devise a method of measuring lithium content using low-resolution spectra in a large number of stars.
- The study demonstrated that lithium abundance enhancement among low mass giant stars is common.
- Until now, it was believed that only about 1% of giants are lithium-rich.
- Secondly, the team has shown that as the star evolves beyond the Red Giant stage, and before it reaches the Red Clump stage, there is a helium flash which produces an abundance of lithium.
Back2Basics: Lithium
- Lithium is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the lightest metal and the lightest solid element.
- S light element commonly used today in communication device technology, it has an interesting story.
- It was first produced in the Big Bang, around 13.7 billion years ago when the universe came into being, along with other elements.
- While the abundance of other elements grew millions of times, the present abundance of lithium in the universe is only four times the original [Big Bang] value. It is actually destroyed in the stars.
- The Sun, for instance, has about a factor of 100 lower amount of lithium than the Earth.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Equalization Levy
Mains level: E-commerce and its taxation
The government is not considering extending the deadline for payment of Equalization Levy by non-resident e-commerce players, even though a majority of them are yet to deposit the first instalment of the tax.
Try this MCQ:
Q.The Equalization Levy sometimes seen in news is related to:
a) E-commerce
b) Air Travel
c) Imports Substitution
d) None of these
What is Equalization Levy?
- Equalization Levy was introduced in India in 2016, with the intention of taxing the digital transactions i.e. the income accruing to foreign e-commerce companies from India.
- It is aimed at taxing business to business transactions.
The following services are currently covered under the EL:
- Online advertisement;
- Any provision for digital advertising space or facilities/ service for the purpose of online advertisement;
Applicability
Equalization Levy is a direct tax, which is withheld at the time of payment by the service recipient. The two conditions to be met to be liable to the levy:
- The payment should be made to a non-resident service provider;
- The annual payment made to one service provider exceeds Rs. 1,00,000 in one financial year.
Why it was introduced in India?
- Over the last decade, IT has gone through an exponential expansion phase in India and globally.
- This has led to an increase in the supply and procurement of digital services.
- Consequently, this has given rise to various new business models, where there is a heavy reliance on digital and telecommunication networks.
- As a result, the new business models have come with a set of new tax challenges in terms of nexus, characterization and valuation of data and user contribution.
- To bring in clarity in this regard, the government introduced in the Budget 2016, the equalization levy.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Patrolling points, Galwan River
Mains level: India-China border skirmishes and its de-escalation
The standoffs between Indian and Chinese troops in Ladakh on the Line of Actual Control (LAC), where initial steps towards disengagement have taken place, are around a number of patrolling points or PPs in Galwan, Hot Springs and Gogra areas.
Do you know?
The Galwan River flows from the Aksai Chin region occupied by China in the UT of Ladakh. It originates in the area of Samzungling on the eastern side of the Karakoram Range and flows west to join the Shyok River. It is one of the upstream tributaries of the Indus River.
What exactly are Patrolling Points?
- PPs are patrolling points identified and marked on the LAC, which are patrolled with a stipulated frequency by the security forces.
- They serve as a guide to the location of the LAC for the soldiers, acting as indicators of the extent of ‘actual control’ exercised on the territory by India.
- By regularly patrolling up to these PPs, the Indian side is able to establish and assert its physical claim about the LAC.
Are all the Patrolling Points numbered?
- Some of the PPs are prominent and identifiable geographical features, such as a pass, or a nala junction where no numerals are given.
- Only those PPs, where there are no prominent features, are numbered as in the case of PP14 in Galwan Valley.
Do all Patrolling Points fall on the LAC?
- Mostly, yes. Except for the Depsang plains in northern Ladakh, where PP10, PP11, PP11A, PP12 and PP13 – from Raki Nala to Jivan Nala – do not fall on the LAC.
- These are short of the LAC, on the Indian side.
Are these Patrolling Points not manned?
- The PPs are not posts and thus not manned. Unlike on the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan, the border with China is not physically held by the Army all along.
- They are just physical markers on the ground, chosen for their location and have no defensive potential or tactical importance for the Army.
How is the claim asserted on LAC?
- The claim is asserted by the Army or joint Army-ITBP patrols as they show more visible presence in these areas.
- This is done by physically visiting PPs with a higher frequency, as the deployment has moved closer to the LAC and due to improved infrastructure.
- As the Chinese may not see when the Indian patrols visit these PPs, they will leave come cigarette packets or food tins with Indian markings behind.
- That lets the Chinese know that Indian soldiers had visited the place, which indicates that India was in control of these areas.
Who has given these Patrolling Points?
- These PPs have been identified by the high-powered China Study Group, starting from 1975 when patrolling limits for Indian forces were specified.
- It is based on the LAC after the government accepted the concept in 1993, which is also marked on the maps with the Army in the border areas.
- But the frequency of patrolling to PPs is not specified by the CSG – it is finalised by the Army Headquarters in New Delhi, based on the recommendations made by the Army and ITBP.
PP under dispute
- PPs 10 to 13 in Depsang sector, PP14 in Galwan, PP15 in Hot Spring, and PP17 and PP17A in Gogra are currently being disputed by both sides, where the standoffs have taken place in the past nine weeks.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), AHRC
Mains level: Housing for all
The Union Cabinet has given its approval for developing of Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (AHRCs). for urban migrants / poor.
Try this question from CSP 2015:
“Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojna’ has been launched for
(a) Providing housing loan to poor people at cheaper interest rates
(b) Promoting women’s Self-Help Groups in backward areas
(c) Promoting financial inclusion in the country
(d) Providing financial help to the marginalized communities
AHRC
- It is a sub-scheme under PM Awas Yojana – Urban.
- Under the scheme, existing vacant government-funded housing complexes will be converted in ARHCs through Concession Agreements for 25 years.
- The concessionaire will make the complexes livable by repair/retrofit and maintenance of rooms and filling up infrastructure gaps like water, sewer/ septage, sanitation, road etc.
- States/UTs will select concessionaire through transparent bidding.
- Complexes will revert to ULB after 25 years to restart next cycle like earlier or run on their own.
Beneficiaries of the scheme
- A large part of the workforce in manufacturing industries, service providers in hospitality, health, domestic/commercial establishments, and construction or other sectors, labourers, students etc. who come from rural areas or small towns seeking better opportunities will be the target beneficiary under ARHCs.
Benefits of AHRCs
- Usually, these migrants live in slums, informal/ unauthorized colonies or peri-urban areas to save rental charges.
- They spend a lot of time on roads by walking/ cycling to workplaces, risking their lives to cut on the expenses.
- ARHCs will create a new ecosystem in urban areas making housing available at affordable rent close to the place of work.
- Investment under ARHCs is expected to create new job opportunities.
- ARHCs will cut down unnecessary travel, congestion and pollution.
Back2Basics: Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY)
PMAY-Urban
The PMAY- Urban Programme launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (MoHUPA), in Mission mode envisions provision of Housing for All by 2022. The Mission seeks to address the housing requirement of urban poor including slum dwellers through following programme verticals:
- Slum rehabilitation of Slum Dwellers with participation of private developers using land as a resource
- Promotion of Affordable Housing for weaker section through credit linked subsidy
- Affordable Housing in Partnership with Public & Private sectors
- Subsidy for beneficiary-led individual house construction /enhancement.
PMAY-Rural
- In pursuance to the goal – Housing for all by 2022, the rural housing scheme Indira Awas Yojana has been revamped to Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Gramin and approved during March 2016.
- Under the scheme, financial assistance is provided for construction of a pucca house to all houseless and households living in dilapidated houses.
- It is proposed that one crore households would be provided assistance for construction of pucca house under the project during the period from 2016-17 to 2018-19.
- The scheme would be implemented in rural areas throughout India except for Delhi and Chandigarh. The cost of houses would be shared between the Centre and States.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CSS-AIF
Mains level: AIF
The Union Cabinet has given its approval to a new pan India Central Sector Scheme-Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (CSS-AIF).
Try this question from CSP 2018:
Q.Increase in absolute and per capita real GNP does not connote a higher level of economic development, if:
(a) Industrial output fails to keep pace with agriculture output.
(b) Agriculture output fails to keep pace with industrial output.
(c) Poverty and unemployment increase.
(d) Imports grow faster than exports.
Agriculture Infrastructure Fund
- AIF aims to provide a medium – long term debt financing facility for investment in viable projects for post-harvest management Infrastructure and community farming assets through interest subvention and financial support.
- Under the scheme, Rs. One Lakh Crore will be provided by banks and financial institutions as loans.
- The beneficiaries will include Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS), Marketing Cooperative Societies, Farmer Producers Organizations (FPOs), SHGs, Farmers etc among others.
- The moratorium for repayment under this financing facility may vary subject to a minimum of 6 months and maximum of 2 years.
Management of AIF
- Agri Infra fund will be managed and monitored through an online Management Information System (MIS) platform.
- The National, State and District level Monitoring Committees will be set up to ensure real-time monitoring and effective feedback.
- The duration of the Scheme shall be from FY2020 to FY2029 (10 years).
Benefits of the scheme
- The Project by way of facilitating formal credit to farm and farm processing-based activities is expected to create numerous job opportunities in rural areas.
- It will enable all the qualified entities to apply for a loan under the fund.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: PMGKAY
Mains level: Assurance of Food Security
The Union Cabinet has approved the extension of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) as part of Economic Response to COVID-19, for another five months from July to November 2020.
Practice question for mains:
Q.Discuss how the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana has helped to ensure food security to the vulnerable sections of India during the Covid-19 induced lockdown period.
PM- Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana
- Under the scheme it is proposed to distribute 9.7 Lakh MT cleaned whole Chana to States/UTs for distribution to all beneficiary households under the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA).
- Thus it would 1kg per month free of cost under for the next five months -July to November 2020.
- All expenses on the extended PMGKAY are to be borne by the Central Government.
- About 19.4 crore households would be covered under the Scheme.
Benefits of the scheme
- Extension of the scheme is in line with the commitments of the GOI to allow anybody, especially any poor family, to suffer on account of non-availability of food grains due to disruption during next five months.
- Free distribution of whole Chana will also ensure adequate availability of protein to all the above-mentioned individuals during these five months.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Nine dash line
Mains level: Paper 2-Pushback against China in South China Sea
There is growing pushback from the South China Sea littoral countries against Chinese aggressive behaviour. And as a stakeholder, India should consider the options to assert its rights there.
Legality of China’s ‘nine-dash line’
- The Philippines invoked the dispute settlement mechanism of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in 2013.
- Philippines contest the legality of China’s ‘nine-dash line’ regarding the disputed Spratlys.
- In response, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) at The Hague decreed that the line had “no legal basis.”
- China dismissed the judgment as “null and void.”
- China dismissed the award as “a political farce under the pretext of law.”
Let’s analyse the PCA verdict
- Verdict held that none of the features of the Spratlys qualified them as islands.
- There was no legal basis for China to claim historic rights.
- The UNCLOS provides that islands must sustain habitation and the capacity for non-extractive economic activity.
- Verdict implied that China violated the Philippines Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
How ASEAN countries are dealing with China
- Given the power equations, the Philippines did not press for enforcement of the award and acquiesced in the status quo.
- Not one country challenged China, which agreed to settle disputes bilaterally, and to continue work on a Code of Conduct with countries of the ASEAN.
- In reality, there is a growing discontent against China.
- While avoiding military confrontation with China, they are seeking political insurance, strengthening their navies, and deepening their military relationships with the U.S.
- The Philippines and the ASEAN’s protest is new for China.
- This does China little credit, and points to its growing isolation.
Instances of pushback from ASEAN countries
- Indonesia protested to China about Chinese vessels trespassing into its waters close to the Nantua islands.
- The Philippines protested to China earlier this year about violations of Filipino sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea.
- It also extended the Visiting Forces Agreement with the U.S. which is a strategic setback for China.
- The Philippines also wrote to the UN Secretary-General (UNSG) in March disputing China’s claim of “historic rights in the South China Sea.”
- Indonesia too wrote to the UNSG on this issue.
- It expressed support for compliance with international law, particularly the UNCLOS, as also for the PCA’s 2016 ruling.
India as a stakeholder
- India’s foreign and security policy in its larger neighbourhood covers the entire expanse of the Asia-Pacific and extends to the Persian Gulf and West Asia.
- India straddles, and is the fulcrum of, the region between the Suez and Shanghai.
- The South China Sea carries merchandise to and from India.
- It follows that India has a stake in the SCS, just as China has in the Indian Ocean.
What should be India’s response
- India must continue to actively pursue its defence diplomacy outreach in the Indo-Pacific region.
- As a part of this outreach, India should increase military training and conduct exercises and exchanges at a higher level of complexity.
- India should extend Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief activities.
- India should share patrolling of the Malacca Strait with the littoral countries.
- The Comprehensive Strategic Partnerships could be extended to Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Singapore.
- India must also strengthen the military capacity of the tri-service Andaman and Nicobar Command.
Consider the question “The South China Sea is important not just to its littoral countries but to the others as well. But China’s growing inclination to change the status quo there harms the interests of other stakeholders. In light of this suggest the relevant options that India could exercise.”
Conclusion
As a stakeholder in the South China Sea India must explore all the options at its disposal and try to foster respect for international law and rules-based global order.
Back2Basics: Nine-dash line
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Article 16 (4A)
Mains level: Paper 2- Reservations and issues with it
Provision of reservation has helped in correcting the historical injustice in some way. However, the recent decline in government jobs and policy changes could undermine the provision of reservation.
How reservation helped SCs and OBCs: Some figures
- In the Central Administrative Services, SCs reached 14 per cent of the Class C in 1984.
- They reached 14.3 per cent of Class B in 2003.
- In Class C,13.3 per cent in 2015.
- In the Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs), their proportion rose from 14.6 per cent in 2004 to 18.1 per cent in 2014.
- In parallel, the SCs’ literacy rate jumped from 21.38 per cent in 1981 to 66.1 per cent in 2011.
- After the Mandal Commission report was implemented, OBCs started to benefit from it.
- In 2013, OBCs – 52 per cent of India’s population according to the Mandal report – represented 8.37 per cent of Class A in the Central Government Services, 10.01 per cent of Class B and 17.98 per cent of Class C.
- Their percentage in the CPSEs jumped from 16.6 per cent in 2004 to 28.5 per cent in 2014.
Number of jobs declining
- First, the number of vacancies has surged, from 5.5 lakh in 2006 to 7.5 lakh in 2014 so far as central government employment is concerned.
- Second, the total number of employees has dropped between 2003 and 2012, from 32.69 lakh to 26.30 lakh in the Central Government Services.
- The number of Dalits benefiting from reservations has been reduced by 16 per cent from 5.40 lakh to 4.55 lakh.
- While the number of OBCs benefiting from reservations had jumped from 14.89 lakh in 2008 to 23.55 lakh in 2012, it has dropped to 23.38 lakh the year after.
- Reservations have also been undermined by lateral entry into the bureaucracy.
- This new procedure undermined the reservations system because the quotas did not apply.
Judgements that affect the idea of reservation
- In one judgment the UGC was allowed to shift the unit of provision of reservations from a university as a whole to the departmental level.
- Such a shift has reduced the quantum of reserved seats and restricted the entry of lower castes.
- Small departments, where vacancies are few, would be indivisible — thereby no seats would be reserved.
- As a result, only 2.5 per cent posts were reserved for SCs, none for STs and 8 per cent for OBCs.
- However, the impact of the ordinance and the subsequent Bill passed by the Parliament in March and July 2019, reversing the Supreme Court’s judgment, is yet to be seen.
- In another judgement, Supreme Court ruled that reservation in job promotions was not a fundamental right.
- This ruling undermined the effect of an amendment to the Constitution that had been introduced by the Narasimha Rao government in 1995 and that had resulted in article 16(4A).
- Article 16(4A) had circumvented a facet of the 1992 decision of the Supreme Court to allow reservation for SCs and STs in promotions.
- In 2001 the 85th amendment extended the benefit of reservations in favour of the SCs/STs in matters of promotion with consequential seniority.
- This time, in 2020, the Government of India has decided not to contest the decision of the Supreme Court.
Policy changes that affect the reservation
- The National Commission for Backward Classes has issued a notice to the health ministry complaining that the post-Mandal 27 per cent quota was not implemented systematically.
- The funds earmarked for Dalit education in the Indian budget were reduced by the previous government.
- While this budget item, within the Special Component Plan is supposed to be proportional to the demographic weight of the Dalits, 16.6 per cent, it fluctuated between 9 and 6.5 per cent.
Conclusion
Reservations have been one of the most effective techniques of positive discrimination in India and helped in the goal of delivering social justice. So, any policy that affects it must be reconsidered.
Original link
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/reservation-in-india-privatisation-push-nirmals-sitharaman-backward-castes-6494931/
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CEA
Mains level: Paper 3- Challenges renewable energy faces and solutions
The article analyses the problems renewable energy faces in India and suggests the pathways to overcome these challenges.
India’s commitments and goals
- India has committed in the 2015 Paris Agreement to reduce GHG emissions intensity by 33-35% below 2005 levels.
- It also committed to achieve 40% of installed electric power capacity from non-fossil sources by 2030.
- At the UN General Assembly in 2019, we announced a target of 450 GW of renewable energy (RE) by 2030.
Let’s look into CEA study
- The optimal electricity mix study of the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), estimated 430 GW non-hydro renewables (280 GW solar + 140 GW wind + 10 GW bio) by 2030.
- Study put thermal capacity at 266 GW by 2030.
- So, it puts the percentage of non-fossil fuel (RE + hydro + nuclear) in installed capacity by 2030 at 64%.
- Which is much higher than India’s Paris commitment.
Coal contradiction
- The target for coal production at 1.5 billion tonnes, which was set in 2015, has been reinforced recently to be achieved by 2024.
- Privatisation of coal mining and recent auctions have given a meaningful thrust to this.
- Looked at the target set for renewable energy, targets for cola production convey contradictory signals.
- The targeted coal production of 1.5 billion tonnes, even by 2030, would mean thermal generation capacity could double over the current 223 GW.
- In that case, even with targeted RE capacity, we will not achieve our emissions intensity Paris commitment.
- Can a global green champion announce doubling its coal production in five years?
Problems with Renewables
1. Policy Issues
- Solar deployment has seen policy challenges both from Centre and states, these include-
- Continuous changes in duty structure.
- Renegotiation of PPAs.
- Curtailment of solar power.
- Extremely delayed payments in some states.
- Policy flip-flops on open access and net metering.
- Delays by state agencies and regulators.
- Land possession difficulties.
- Transmission roadblocks even in solar parks.
2. Solar cell manufacturing constraints
- Our capacity for cell manufacture is 3 GW, though workable capacity is actually around 2 GW.
- Domestically manufactured cells are more expensive and less efficient.
- There is little upgrade in a rapidly changing world of technology.
- 90% of cells and 80% modules are imported largely from China or Chinese companies elsewhere.
- Wafer imports are 100% as we don’t manufacture ingots/wafers.
- For every GW with an average cost of Rs 5,000 crore in 2019, more than half goes to China.
3. Storage constraints
- Hydro pump storage is limited in quantity and there will be an issue of costs.
- The other project is a solar-wind hybrid with batteries installed after a few years.
- Neither intends to meet peak power demand or even the baseload.
- Forecasts suggest lowering of battery costs by 50% by 2030.
- It makes sense to wait before we go for large-scale storage.
Manufacturing domestically
- 1) At the least plan to make 5 GW of ingot/wafer manufacturing capacity urgently.
- We may require electricity supply at about Rs 3 per unit, and dedicated power plants.
- The risk of technology obsolescence would need to be factored in.
- Policy, fiscal and financial support prescriptions should aim at creating globally competitive industry.
- 2) We need to develop batteries suitable for extreme Indian weather conditions but globally benchmarked.
- This demands a mission approach, getting our best people and institutions together, properly funded and tasked to get a battery out in the next three years.
- 3) We must also simultaneously launch a hydrogen mission—target heavy vehicle mobility through fuel cells.
- It may become a solution for RE storage, too.
The issue of supply-demand mismatch
- In the last two decades, we have been overestimating demand and increasing supply.
- Our demand projections for 2030 are wildly high.
- PLF in 2018-19 was 60.30, declining to 56.08 in 2019-20 and hovering around 50% with the Covid-19 impact.
- Even the latest CEA review of ‘optimal’ mix talks of thermal PLF of 59% in 2030!
- This is inefficient and costly.
- Thermal PLF must be taken to over 80%.
The suggested pathways
- 1. Build thermal capacity as per CEA estimates and quickly. None after 2030. Retire inefficient plants. Plan for miner rehabilitation.
- 2. Accelerate RE after 2030 with storage. Aim for 10 GW solar and 5 GW wind annually.
- 3. Develop 5-10 GW ingot/wafer manufacturing capacity urgently and diversify import sources even at some extra cost.
- 4. Develop a battery for Indian conditions in three years; full battery manufacturing in India in five years.
- 5. Revisit the manner of solar generation. Prioritise decentralised and solar agriculture.
- 6. Plan for hydrogen economy with pilot projects and dedicated highways for long and heavy haul traffic.
- 7. Put a strong energy demand management system into place with much stronger energy efficiency and the conservation movement.
Consider the question “Central Electricity Authority finalised the optimal electricity mix study recently setting the targets for the future. Examine the constraints that expansion of solar energy faces and suggest the pathways to overcome the challenges.”
Conclusion
Embracing the RE will help India economically and strategically. It will also help it achieve its targets in its fight against climate change.
Back2Basics: Central Electricity Authority
- Central Electricity Authority (CEA) is an organization originally constituted under Section 3(1) of the repealed Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948, since substituted by Section 70 of the Electricity Act, 2003.
- It was established as a part-time body in 1951 and made a full-time body in 1975.
- The functions and duties of CEA are delineated under Section 73 of the Electricity Act, 2003
Plant Load Factor (PLF)
- Plant Load Factor (PLF) is the ratio of average power generated by the plant to the maximum power that could have been generated for a given time period.
Original Op-ed
https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/what-india-should-do-to-get-its-energy-transition-right/2016648/
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not Much
Mains level: Indian diaspora in Gulf region
A total of eight lakh Indians could be forced to leave Kuwait as it’s National Assembly committee has approved a draft expat quota bill seeking to reduce the number of foreign workers in the Gulf country.
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. It is followed by China (USD 67 billion), Mexico (USD 36 billion), the Philippines (USD 34 billion), and Egypt (USD 29 billion).
What is the Expat Bill about?
- Amid a slump in oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic, there has been a spike in anti-expat rhetoric as lawmakers and government officials call for reducing the number of foreigners in Kuwait.
- According to the bill, Indians should not exceed 15% of the population.
- The draft once turned to the law will impose a cap on the number of expats and gradually reduce them by almost 5% on a yearly basis.
A demographic issue
- Kuwait has a real problem in its population structure, in which 70% are expats.
- The 1.3 million of the 3.35 million expats are either illiterate or can merely read and write.
- Kuwait has also been working to reduce its dependence on foreign workers.
A huge diaspora at stake
- There are about 28,000 Indians working for the Kuwaiti Government in various jobs like nurses, engineers in national oil companies and a few as scientists.
- The majority of Indians (5.23 lakh) are employed in private sectors. In addition, there are about 1.16 lakh dependents.
- Out of these, there are about 60,000 Indian students studying in 23 Indian schools in the country.
Impacts on Indians
- The current population of Kuwait is 4.3 million, with Kuwaitis making up 1.3 million of the population, and expats accounting for 3 million.
- This bill would result in 8,00,000 Indians leaving Kuwait, as the Indian community constitutes the largest expat community in the country, totalling 1.45 million.
- As the MEA says, Indians are present in all segments of society in Kuwait and are largely considered disciplined, hardworking and law-abiding.
- India has often in the past played up the role of the Indian community in Kuwait as an important factor in bilateral ties.
Must read:
India’s rising Forex Reserves
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CAATSA, COMCASA, LEMOA agreements
Mains level: India-US relations
Recently India had planned for the purchase of Mig-19 fighter aircraft with Russia at an estimated Rs. 18,148 crore. The U.S has reacted to countries, including India, on sanctions for the purchase of Russian arms has not changed.
Practice question for mains:
Q.What is CAATSA law? Discuss how it will impact India’s ties with Russia.
About CAATSA
- CAATSA stands for Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
- It is a US federal law that imposed sanctions on Iran, North Korea, and Russia.
- The bill provides sanctions for activities concerning:
(1) cybersecurity, (2) crude oil projects, (3) financial institutions, (4) corruption, (5) human rights abuses, (6) evasion of sanctions, (7) transactions with Russian defence or intelligence sectors, (8) export pipelines, (9) privatization of state-owned assets by government officials, and (10) arms transfers to Syria.
A cause of worry
- While the US has become its second-largest defence supplier, mainly of aircraft and artillery, India still relies heavily on Russian equipment, such as submarines and missiles that the US has been unwilling to provide.
- Seventy per cent of Indian military hardware is Russian in origin.
- India is set to receive the S-400 Triumf air defence system.
Is India the only country facing CAATSA sanctions?
- Notably, Russia is India’s major defence supplier for over 6 decades now, and Iran is India’s second-largest oil supplier.
- By coincidence, CAATSA has now been invoked by the US twice already, and both times for countries buying the Triumf system from Russia.
- In September 2018, the US announced sanctions for the procurement of the S-400 Triumf air defence system and Sukhoi S-35 fighter aircraft.
- Washington expelled Turkey from the F-35 fighter jet programme in July this year after the first delivery of S-400s was received.
- India is neither like China, which has an inimical relationship with the U.S., and hence not bound by its diktats, nor like Turkey which is a NATO ally of the US.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Galwan valley, Shyok River
Mains level: India-China border skirmishes and its de-escalation
Three weeks after the worst military clashes in decades, India and China have begun the process of disengagement at contentious locations along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
Must read:
[Burning Issue] India-China Skirmish in Ladakh
China is moving back
- In the Galwan Valley, Chinese troops have shifted 2 kilometres from the site violent clashes while some tents had been removed by the PLA in the Finger 4 area of Pangong Tso.
- India’s claim is till Finger 8 as per the alignment of the LAC.
- Some rearward movement of vehicles was seen at the general area of Galwan, Hotsprings and Gogra.
- Without giving the specific distances moved, the source said the pullback at each location would be confirmed after verification.
Lessons learnt
- The lesson for us in Doklam is that disengagement is not enough in order to declare an end to tensions at the LAC.
- It is necessary that we define endpoints up to where the troops must withdraw to and no understanding should be reached without the restoration of status quo ante.
- Endpoint variances reflect the potential for future troubles along the LAC.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Golden Birdwing
Mains level: NA
A Himalayan butterfly named golden birdwing is now India’s largest recorded butterfly.
Try this MCQ:
Q.The Himalayan Golden Birdwing recently seen in news is a:
a)Biggest butterfly
b)Smallest avian specie
c)Biggest freshwater fish
d)Honeybee
Golden Birdwing
- A Himalayan butterfly named golden birdwing is now India’s largest, a record the southern birdwing held for 88 years.
- The male golden birdwing is much smaller at 106 mm.
- With a wingspan of 194 mm, the female of the species is marginally larger than the southern birdwing (190 mm) that Brigadier William Harry Evans, a British military officer and lepidopterist, recorded in 1932.
- It was an individual of the southern birdwing which was then treated as a subspecies of the common birdwing.
Other butterflies in news
- The Malabar Banded Peacock or the Buddha Mayoori which was recently declared the ‘State Butterfly’ of Kerala will have a dedicated butterfly park in Kochi.
- Tamil Nadu has also recently declared Tamil Yeoman (Cirrochroa Thais)as its state butterfly to symbolise its rich natural and cultural heritage, in a move aimed at boosting the conservation efforts of the attractive insects.
- Other states to have state butterflies are Maharashtra (Blue Mormon), Uttarakhand (Common peacock), Karnataka (Southern birdwings).
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary
Mains level: China's territorial expansion plans
In a bid to further its territorial ambitions, China has recently claimed the Sakteng wildlife sanctuary in Eastern Bhutan as its own territory.
Practice question for mains:
Q.What are the various fronts of Chinese imperial expansionism across the South Asian Region?
About the Sakteng WLS
- Sakteng is a wildlife sanctuary located mostly in Trashigang District and just crossing the border into Samdrup Jongkhar District, Bhutan.
- It is one of the country’s protected areas.
- It is listed as a tentative site in Bhutan’s Tentative List for UNESCO inclusion.
Certain unresolved issues
- The boundary between China and Bhutan has never been delimited.
- There have been disputes over the eastern, central and western sectors for a long time.
- China last month attempted to stop funding for the Sakteng sanctuary from the U.N. Development Programme’s Global Environment Facility (GEF) on the grounds that it was “disputed” territory.
Reasons for the dispute
- According to written records, there has been no mention of Eastern Bhutan, or Trashigang Dzongkhag (district), where Sakteng is based as per boundary negotiations held between the two countries between 1984 and 2016.
- The negotiations have not been held since the Doklam standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in 2017.
- Bhutan has always maintained a discreet silence on its boundary negotiations with China, and it does not have any formal diplomatic relations with Beijing.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Illicit drug seizures in India and neighbourhood
According to the latest World Drug Report of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the fourth highest seizure of opium in 2018 was reported from India, after Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Drug seizures in India and neighbourhood
- The maximum of 644 tonnes of opium was seized in Iran, followed by 27 tonnes in Afghanistan and 19 tonnes in Pakistan.
- In India, the figure stood at four tonnes in 2018.
Heroin
- Heroin is manufactured from the morphine extracted from the seed pod of opium poppy plants.
- Iran reported the highest seizure of heroin (25 tonnes), followed by Turkey, United States, China, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
- India was at the 12th position in the world.
Global pattern
- 97% of the total global production of opium in the past five years came from only three countries.
- About 84% of the total opium was produced in Afghanistan, from where it is supplied to neighbouring countries, Europe, west Asia, south Asia and Africa.
- From Myanmar, which accounts for 7% of the global opium production, and Laos, where 1% of the opium is produced, it is supplied to east and south-east Asia and Oceania.
- Mexico accounts for 6% of the global opium production, while Colombia and Guatemala account for less than 1% of global production.
Some other details
- The report said that the global area under opium poppy cultivation declined for the second year in a row in 2019.
- It went down by 17% in 2018 and by 30% in 2019.
- Despite the decline in cultivation, opium production remained stable in 2019, with higher yields reported in the main opium production areas.
- Quantities of seized opiates remained concentrated in Asia, notably in south-west Asia (70%).
- Asia is host to more than 90% of global illicit opium production.
- Also, it is the world’s largest consumption market for opiates and also accounts for almost 80% of all opiates seized worldwide in 2018.
Consider the question asked in 2018 “India’s proximity to two of the world’s biggest illicit opium-growing states has enhanced her internal security concerns. Explain the linkages between drug trafficking and other illicit activities such as gunrunning, money laundering and human trafficking. What countermeasures should be taken to prevent the same?”
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: REMCL
Mains level: Paper3- Railways to become Zero Carbon emission mass transport
A new dawn ushers on Indian Railways as it endeavors to be self-reliant for its energy needs as directed by the Prime Minister and solarise railway stations by utilizing its vacant lands for Renewable Energy (RE) projects.
Moving towards ‘Net Zero’ Carbon Emission Railways
- The Ministry of Railways has decided to install solar power plants on its vacant unused lands on mega-scale.
- The use of solar power will accelerate the mission to achieve a conversion of Indian Railways to ‘Net Zero’ Carbon Emission Railway.
- Railway Energy Management Company Ltd. (REMCL) is working to further proliferate the use of solar energy on mega scale.
- It has already floated tenders for 2 GW of solar projects for Indian Railways to be installed on unutilised railway lands.
Projects along operational railway lines
- Indian Railways is also adopting an innovative concept of installation of solar projects along operational railway lines.
- This will help in preventing encroachment, enhancing the speed and safety of trains and reduction of infrastructure costs due to direct injection of solar power into the traction network.
- With these mega initiatives, Indian Railways is leading India’s fight against climate challenge.
- These are significant steps towards meeting its ambitious goal of being a net zero carbon emissions organisation and meeting India’s Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) targets.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: International Finance Corporation
Mains level: Paper 3- Credit supply to MSME
The World Bank and the Government of India signed the $750 million agreement for the MSME Emergency Response Programme to support increased flow of finance into the hands of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), severely impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.
How will the agreement protect the MSME sector
1. Unlocking liquidity
- The Government is focused on ensuring that the abundant financial sector liquidity available flow to NBFCs and that banks.
- Banks and NBFCs have turned extremely risk-averse.
- This project will support the Government in providing targeted guarantees to incentivize NBFCs.
- Project will also support banks to continue lending to viable MSMEs to help sustain them through the crisis.
- It will be achieved by de-risking lending from banks and Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) to MSMEs.
- This derisking will be done through a range of instruments, including credit guarantees.
2. Strengthening NBFCs and SFBs
- Improving the funding capacity of the NBFCs and Small Finance Bank (SFBs), will help them respond to the urgent and varied needs of the MSMEs.
- This will include supporting government’s refinance facility for NBFCs.
- In parallel, the IFC is also providing direct support to SFBs through loans and equity.
3. Enabling financial innovation
- Only about 8 percent of MSMEs are served by formal credit channels.
- The program will incentivize and mainstream the use of fintech and digital financial services in MSME lending and payments.
- Digital platforms will play an important role by enabling lenders, suppliers, and buyers to reach firms faster and at a lower cost.
- The digital platform will be helpful especially to small enterprises who currently may not have access to the formal channels.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Explaining the increase of Li in the the Universe
Mains level: Not much
In a study recently published in Nature Astronomy scientists from Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) along with their international collaborators have provided a robust observational evidence for the first time that Li production is common among low mass Sun-like stars during their He-core burning phase.
Importance of lithium in our life
- Light inflammable, metal lithium (Li) has brought about transformation in modern communication devices and transportation.
- A great deal of today’s technology is powered by lithium in its various shades [remember Li-ion battery!].
- But where does the element come from?
- The origin of much of the Li can be traced to a single event, the Big-Bang that happened about 13.7 Billion years ago, from which the present-day Universe was also born.
Why lithium was thought to be different?
- Li content in the physical Universe has increased by about a factor of four over the life of the Universe.
- However, the rest of the elements carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, iron, nickel and so on which grew about a million times over the lifetime of the Universe.
- Li, however, understood to be an exemption!
- Current understanding is that lithium in stars like our Sun only gets destroyed over their lifetime.
- As a matter of fact, the composition of all the elements in the Sun and the Earth is similar.
- But, the measured content of Li in the Sun is a factor of 100 lower than that of the Earth, though both are known to have formed together.
So, what the new finding suggests?
- This discovery challenges the long-held idea that stars only destroy lithium during their lifetime.
- It implies that the Sun itself will manufacture lithium in the future.
- This is not predicted by models, indicating that there is some physical process missing in stellar theory.
- Further, the authors identified “He flash”.
- “He flash” is an on-set of He-ignition at the star’s core via violent eruption at the end of the star’s core hydrogen-burning phase, as the source of Li production.
- Our Sun will reach this phase in about 6-7 billion years.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Achievements of Indians
Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, India’s ‘Plan Man’ and the architect of the country’s statistical system is more relevant now in times of Covid pandemic when we grapple with the lack of data.
Analysing 1944 Bengal famine
- He conducted a large-scale sample survey of Bengal’s famine between July 1944 and February 1945.
- Sample survey helped in causal analysis and to assess the extent of the disaster and an estimate of the number of people affected.
Relevance today
- Bengal’s famine survey reminds us that we need estimates of the millions who will lose jobs or livelihoods in today’s pandemic.
- The extent of feasibility, success and problem of online access also needs to be properly estimated in this new dawn.
- Mahalanobis is perhaps more relevant today when the accuracy of different sorts of data is under the scanner.
- Mahalanobis envisaged large-scale sample surveys as statistical engineering rather than pure theory of sampling.
- He was instrumental in establishing the National Sample Survey (NSS) in 1950 and the Central Statistical Organization in 1951.
Data accuracy
- Mahalanobis was very careful about data accuracy in his surveys.
- In Kautilya’s Arthashastra, there is mention of the need for cross-checking by an independent set of agents for data collection.
- This, according to Mahalanobis, was the “striking feature in the Arthashastra”.
- This might have prompted him to have an independent supervisory staff during the conduct of field operations by the NSS.
- His initial training in Physics might have made him conscious about errors in measurement and observation.
- The desire to have built-in cross-checks and to get an estimate of errors in sampling led him to introduce the Inter-Penetrating Network of Subsamples.
- The network is considered as the curtain-raiser for re-sampling procedures like Bootstrap.
- Bootstrap is a revolutionary concept of statistics.
Difficulties in conducting surveys
- Even Mahalanobis could have faced hardship had he wished to conduct surveys now.
- First, even in pre-COVID-19 India, it’s widely reported that surveyors were facing tremendous resistance from people due to some sociopolitical reasons.
- Pronab Sen, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Economic Statistics, and former Chief Statistician, expressed his concern that the survey system is already in “deep trouble”.
- Conducting household surveys with the Census as the frame would be “very tough” going ahead.
- The problem will intensify due to COVID-19.
Use of technology for survey
- Mahalanobis never shied away from technology.
- He was instrumental in bringing computers to India.
- The Mahalanobis-led Indian Statistical Institute procured India’s first computer in 1956 and the second in 1959.
Consider the question asked in 2019 “How was India benefitted from the contributions of Sir M.Visvesvaraya and Dr M. S. Swaminathan in the fields of water engineering and agricultural science respectively?”
Conclusion
Mahalanobis wrote: “Statistics are a minor detail, but they do help.” This is an eternal truth. What Mahalanobis didn’t spell out is that one needs a top statistician for listening to the heartbeats of data and for framing data-based policy decisions for human welfare and national development.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: The East China Sea, the Bohai Sea, the Yellow Sea, the South China Sea
Mains level: Paper 2-India's Indo-Pacific vision and China's BRI
As India tries to diffuse the tension along the disputed northern border with China, it must focus on the other potential fronts that China could open. India Ocean could be the next one. This article examines the centrality of the Indian Ocean for China and their approach to the region.
India’s Indo-Pacific vision
- This vision is based on our historical associations with this region.
- This vision also acknowledges the importance of the Indian Ocean in building prosperity in this century.
- So, the key points of this vision are thus-
- 1) Inclusiveness, openness and ASEAN centrality and unity.
- 2) India does not see the Indo-Pacific Region as a strategy or as a club of limited members.
- 3) It is not directed against any country.
China should have equal access
- China is not a littoral state in the Indian Ocean.
- Historically, Chinese naval activity was limited to the East China Sea, the Bohai Sea, the Yellow Sea, and the South China Sea.
- In today’s context, China is the second-largest economy and the world’s largest trading nation.
- The sea-lanes of communication in the Indian Ocean are vital to her economy and security.
- Under international law, China should have equal access to the Indian ocean.
China’s “Malacca Dilemma”
- China thinks that others would block the Malacca Straits to “contain” the Chinese.
- So, China has strategized to dominate not just the Malacca Straits, but the ocean beyond it.
- The PLA Navy (PLAN) made its first operational deployment in the Gulf of Aden in 2008.
- In 2009 China planned for overseas base or facility.
- In 2010 a China State Oceanic Administration report alluded to plans to build aircraft carriers.
BRI: Overcoming the deficiencies China face in India Ocean
- The US hegemony and India’s regional influence in the Indian Ocean are thought of as a challenge to China.
- So, China focused on 3 inherent deficiencies that they wanted to overcome.
- (a) China is not a littoral state.
- (b) Its passage through key maritime straits could be easily blocked.
- (c) The possibility of US-India cooperation against China.
- How to overcome these deficiencies?
- (1) carefully selecting sites to build ports — Djibouti, Gwadar, Hambantota, Sittwe and Seychelles.
- (2) By conducting activities in a low-key manner to “reduce the military colour as much as possible”.
- (3) By not unnerving India and America by cooperating at first, then slowly penetrating into the Indian Ocean, beginning with detailed maritime surveys, ocean mapping, HADR, port construction and so on.
China acting on the plans
- The PLA’s new base in Djibouti is the prototype for more “logistics” facilities to come.
- More port construction projects like Gwadar and Hambantota, are being offered to vulnerable countries.
- These projects are commercially unviable but have military possibilities,
- Chinese “civilian” vessels routinely conduct surveys in the EEZ of littoral states.
- In January 2020 the PLA Navy conducted tripartite naval exercises with Russia and Iran in the Arabian Sea.
- They have the largest warship building programme in the world.
Consider the question “What constitutes India’s Indo-Pacific vision? Elaborate on the factors that explain China’s reluctance to subscribe to this vision.”
Conclusion
The idea of Indo-Pacific might potentially derail the carefully crafted Chinese plan. So, they now wish to cause alarm by raising fears about Great Power “strategic collision” caused by the so-called American-led “containment” strategy. It is important to look past their propaganda.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now