Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Coal shortage issue
Context
Normally, the power-generating companies maintain around 30 days of inventory of coal, but, currently, this has come down to three days.
Factors responsible for the crisis
- Supply side issue: On the supply side, because of low investment, coal cannot be mined more than the capacity which exists today. Hence, the increase in supplies will be gradual.
- High global prices: The global coal crisis has led to higher prices.
- Here, too, a sudden resurgence in demand after the pandemic has exposed the supply limitations.
- The international price has gone up by almost 40 per cent in the last month.
- China factor: China – a major producer and consumer – has also faced this problem as it has tried to save coal for the future and imposed restrictions on mining to go green.
- Emphasis on lowering the dependence on import: In India, coal imports have been traditionally high.
- Under its atmanirbharta drive, the government has voiced concerns on this issue and asked generators to be more self-reliant.
- Coal dependency came down over time, which also coincided with a lower phase of economic growth.
- The same has happened in China where the government has taken the greening concept seriously and asked coal producers to control production and power generators and move over to other greener fuels.
- This has made coal producers less willing to increase investment.
Why power companies are reluctant to import coal?
- Ideally, power companies should import coal.
- But that increases the cost of power production and power tariffs cannot be revised easily, like in the case of crops.
- The power sector, however, already has its woes.
- Distribution companies have been running losses due to their inability to cut down on transmission losses or increase tariffs.
- As their losses mount, the amount overdue to the generators increases.
- Therefore, the producers are not willing to increase their costs.
How it would impact the economy?
- The economy has been showing signs of recovering and the October-December period is crucial because there are expectations of pent-up demand helping to accelerate growth.
- Any disruption in the power supply can push back this process.
- The challenge is that today all the three sectors, agriculture, industry and households, are equally important.
- A lot of business is being conducted from home after the pandemic, and power disruptions will come in the way of work.
- If power companies start revising their tariffs, inflation will shoot up.
Conclusion
The coal shortage problem is very serious as it affects power supply, which is the backbone of all economic activity. All stakeholders – the Centre, states, miners and power generators – must work together and plan the strategy going ahead.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Alternative foreign policy
Context
A document has emerged from the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) in the nature of an alternative to the present foreign and defence policies named ‘India’s Path to Power: Strategy in a world adrift’. It is authored by eight well-known strategists and thinkers.
Background of the document
- In 2012, many of the same authors had produced another document, ‘Non-alignment 2.0’, in the light of the global changes at that time, as a contribution to policymaking, without criticising the policies of the government.
- The present document, however, is in the nature of an alternative to the foreign and defence policies of the government, as some of its tenets are not considered conducive to finding a path to power for India in the post-pandemic world.
Change in foreign policy
- The first term of the Modi government was remarkable for its innovative, bold and assertive foreign policy, which received general approbation.
- After his unconventional peace initiatives with Pakistan failed, he took a firm stand and gained popularity at home.
- His wish to have close relations with the other neighbours did not materialise, but his helpful attitude to them even in difficult situations averted any crisis.
- He brought a new symphony into India-U.S. relations and engaged China continuously to find a new equation with it. India’s relations with Israel and the Arab countries became productive.
- In its second term, the government dealt with some of the sensitive matters, which were essentially of a domestic nature such as Article 370, citizenship issues and farming regulation.
- The external dimensions of these matters led to a challenge to the government’s foreign policy.
Suggestions in the Centre for Policy Research report
- Impact of domestic issues on foreign policy: The finding of the report is that domestic issues have impacted foreign policy and, therefore, India should set its house in order to stem the tide of international reaction.
- This assertion at the beginning of the report is the heart of the report and it is repeated in different forms.
- Importance of globalisation: The report rightly points out that “it would be incorrect and counterproductive for India to turn its back on globalisation…”
- Revival of SAARC: The report also suggests that SAARC should be revived and that India should rejoin the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and continue its long-standing quest for membership in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.
- Strategic autonomy: The report also stresses the importance of strategic autonomy in today’s world where change is the only certainty.
- Relations with the US and China: As for the India-U.S.- China triangle, the report makes the unusual suggestion that India should have better relations individually with both the U.S. and China than they have with each other.
- The report concludes that since China will influence India’s external environment politically, economically and infrastructurally, there is no feasible alternative to a combination of engagement and competition with China.
- Pakistan policy: The report asserts, “as long as our objectives of policy towards Pakistan are modest, resumption of dialogue and a gradual revival of trade, transport and other links are worth pursuing.”
Conclusion
The significance of the report is that it reveals the end of the era of consensus foreign policy and presents a shadow foreign policy for the first time in India. It remains to be seen whether any of the opposition parties will adopt it and fight the next election on the platform provided by the report.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NLM
Mains level: Paper 3- Rashtriya Gokul Mission and National Livestock Mission (NLM)
Context
The revised version of the Rashtriya Gokul Mission and National Livestock Mission (NLM) proposes to bring focus on entrepreneurship development and breed improvement in cattle, buffalo, poultry, sheep, goat, and piggery.
Livestock breeding and challenges
- Unorganised in nature: Livestock breeding in India has been largely unorganised.
- Lack of linkages: Because of this unorganised nature there have been gaps in forward and backward integration across the value chain.
- Impact on quality: The above scenario impacts the quality of livestock that is produced and in turn negatively impacts the return on investment for livestock farmers.
- Roughly 80% bovines in the country are low on productivity and are reared by small and marginal farmers.
Entrepreneurship development through NLM and Rashtriya Gokul Mission
- The revised version of the Rashtriya Gokul Mission and National Livestock Mission (NLM) proposes to bring focus on entrepreneurship development.
- Breed improvement infrastructure: It seeks to provide incentives to individual entrepreneurs, farmer producer organisations, farmer cooperatives, joint liability groups, self-help groups, Section 8 companies for entrepreneurship development and State governments for breed improvement infrastructure.
- The breed multiplication farm component of the Rashtriya Gokul Mission is going to provide for capital subsidy up to ₹200 lakh for setting up breeding farm with at least 200 milch cows/ buffalo using latest breeding technology.
- Moreover, the strategy of incentivising breed multiplication farm will result in the employment of 1 lakh farmers.
- The grassroots initiatives in this sphere will be further amplified by web applications like e-Gopala that provide real-time information to livestock farmers.
- Poultry: The poultry entrepreneurship programme of the NLM will provide for capital subsidy up to ₹25 lakh for the setting up of a parent farm with a capacity to rear 1,000 chicks.
- Under this model, the rural entrepreneur running the hatchery will be supplying chicks to the farmers.
- This is expected to provide employment to at least 14 lakh people.
- Sheep and goat entrepreneurship: In the context of sheep and goat entrepreneurship, there is a provision of capital subsidy of 50% up to 50 lakh.
- An entrepreneur under this model shall set up a breeder farm, develop the whole chain will eventually sell the animals to the farmers or in the open market.
- This model is projected to generate a net profit of more than ₹33 lakh for the entrepreneur per year.
- Piggery: For piggery, the NLM will provide 50% capital subsidy of up to ₹30 lakh.
- Each entrepreneur will be aided with establishment of breeder farms with 100 sows and 10 boars, expected to produce 2,400 piglets in a year.
- This model is expected to generate a profit of ₹1.37 crore after 16 months and 1.5 lakh jobs.
Conclusion
The revised scheme of NLM coupled with the Rashtriya Gokul Mission and the Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund has the potential to dramatically enhance the productivity and traceability standards of our livestock.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Abraham Accord
Mains level: India-Israel-Gulf Trilateral
The first-ever meeting between the foreign ministers of India, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States is being widely perceived as a new QUAD group.
What is Abraham Accord?
- The Israel–UAE normalization agreement is officially called the Abraham Accords Peace Agreement.
- It was initially agreed to in a joint statement by the United States, Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on August 13, 2020.
- The UAE thus became the third Arab country, after Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994, to agree to formally normalize its relationship with Israel as well as the first Persian Gulf country to do so.
- Concurrently, Israel agreed to suspend plans for annexing parts of the West Bank.
- The agreement normalized what had long been informal but robust foreign relations between the two countries.
The idea of the Indo-Abrahamic Accord
- The idea of an accord between India, the UAE and Israel was first suggested by Mohammed Soliman, an Egyptian scholar based in Washington.
- The focus, then, was on India taking full advantage of the normalisation of relations between Israel and the Arabs.
Prospects of India joining the accord
- Adding “Indo” to the Abrahamic Accords — from think tank level to the policy domain underlines the extraordinary churn in the geopolitics of the Middle East.
- It also points to new openings for India in the region and ever-widening possibilities for Delhi’s strategic cooperation with Washington.
Significance for India
The new minilateral consultation with the US, Israel and the UAE should started breaking that political taboo by:
(1) Creating a minilateral in the Middle-East:
- Such events mark an important turning point in Delhi’s engagement with the Middle East.
- It suggests India is now ready to move from bilateral relations conducted in separate silos towards an integrated regional policy.
- As in the Indo-Pacific, so in the Middle East, regional coalitions are bound to widen Delhi’s reach and deepen its impact.
(2) India bridging the Arab-Israeli rift:
- Often the Arab nations and Israel are divided over Palestine.
- The simultaneous expansion of Delhi’s cooperation with Israel and the Arab world was considered impossible.
- However, India’s new foreign policy broke from that assessment and demonstrated the feasibility of a non-ideological engagement with the Middle East.
- This diplomatic pragmatism allows Delhi to reimagine its policies towards the Middle East.
(3) Extension of cooperation with the US:
- Thinking of the US as a partner in the Middle East is part of the reimagination.
- For long, India defined the US, and more broadly the West, as part of the problem in the Middle East.
- As a result, Delhi kept a reasonable political distance from the US in the region.
(4) Miscellaneous:
- India’s scale with Israeli innovation and Emirati capital could produce immense benefits to all three countries.
- Add American strategic support and you would see a powerful dynamic unfolding in the region.
Is it a new Quad in making?
- It is perhaps too early to call the new minilateral with the US, UAE and Israel the “new Quad” for the Middle East.
- It will be a while before this grouping will find its feet and evolve.
- After all, it took quite some effort to build the Quad in the east with Australia, India, Japan and the United States.
What is the kind of agenda that this group can develop?
Economic Cooperation: Like the eastern Quad, it would make sense for the new Middle Eastern minilateral to focus on non-military issues like trade, energy, and environment and focus on promoting public goods.
Technology cooperation: Beyond trade, there is potential for India, UAE and Israel to collaborate on many areas — from semiconductor design and fabrication to space technology.
A new geopolitical entity: The new “Quad” in the Middle East is likely to be India’s only new coalition in the region. It provides a thrust to new regionalism to the west involving India.
‘Extended’ neighborhood: This engagement will open the door for extending the collaboration with other common regional partners like Egypt (better call it Suez Canal), who will lend great strategic depth to the Indo-Abrahamic accords.
Conclusion
- This engagement has thus opened up a new opportunity for India to go for deeper engagement with Israel without risking its relations with the other Arab states of the Persian Gulf.
- In the evolving scenario, there seems much scope for a profitable trilateral synergy, but India cannot take its preponderance as a given.
- There is much to be done in realizing the full potential of the “Indo-Abrahamic Accords”.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: IMBL, EEZ, UNCLOS
Mains level: Fishermen issue in India-SL ties
The Tamil Nadu police have issued an alert on the possibility of an attack on fishermen crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) for fishing in Sri Lankan waters.
About International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL)
- A maritime boundary is a conceptual division of the Earth’s water surface areas using physiographic or geopolitical criteria.
- As such, it usually bounds areas of exclusive national rights over mineral and biological resources, encompassing maritime features, limits and zones.
- Generally, a maritime boundary is delineated at a particular distance from a jurisdiction’s coastline.
- Although in some countries the term maritime boundary represents borders of a maritime nation that are recognized by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
- The terminology does not encompass lake or river boundaries, which are considered within the context of land boundaries.
The delineation of maritime boundaries has strategic, economic, and environmental implications.
Classification
Maritime spaces can be divided into the following groups based on their legal status:
- Under the sovereignty and authority (exercising power) of a coastal State: internal waters, territorial sea, and archipelagic waters,
- With mixed legal regime, which fall under both the jurisdiction of the coastal State and under the international law: contiguous zone, the continental shelf and the exclusive economic zone, and
- That can be used by all States (including land-locked ones) on an equal basis: high seas.
Note: While many maritime spaces can be classified as belonging to the same group, this does not imply that they all have the same legal regime. International straits and canals have their own legal status as well.
Zones
The zones of maritime boundaries are expressed in concentric limits surrounding coastal and feature baselines.
- Inland waters—the zone inside the baseline.
- Territorial sea—the zone extending 12 nm. from the baseline
- Contiguous zone—the area extending 24 nm. from the baseline
- Exclusive Economic Zone—the area extending 200 nm from the baseline except when the space between two countries is less than 400 nm
Back2Basics: India-Sri Lanka Fisherman Issue
- There have been several alleged incidents of Sri Lankan Navy personnel firing on Indian fishermen fishing in the Palk Strait, where India and Sri Lanka are only separated by 12 nautical miles.
- The issue started because of Indian fishermen having used mechanized trawlers, which deprived the Sri Lankan fishermen (including Tamils) of their catch and damaged their fishing boats.
- The Sri Lankan government wants India to ban use of mechanized trawlers in the Palk Strait region, and negotiations on this subject are undergoing.
- So far, no concrete agreement has been reached since India favours regulating these trawlers instead of banning them altogether.
- It has been often a sensitive political issue in Tamil Nadu in the past decade.
About Katchatheevu Island
- Katchatheevu, an uninhibited off-shore island in the Palk Strait, is administered by Sri Lanka.
- Though the island was jointly managed by India and Sri Lanka allowing the fishermen of both countries to dry their nets there, it was ceded to Sri Lanka in 1974.
- Since then, Katchatheevu has remained an issue with some political parties in Tamil Nadu demanding that the island be returned to benefit the fishermen of India.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
Mains level: Russia Vs. Nato
Russia has decided that it would halt the activities of its diplomatic mission to NATO after it expelled eight Russian diplomats in a row over spying.
Why such move?
- NATO had set up a prohibitive regime for Russian diplomats in Brussels by banning them from its headquarters building.
- Relations between Moscow and the West have been strained for years, but the immediate impetus for the Russian move was a spy scandal.
- Military tensions have also escalated in recent years, including last spring when Russian troops massed along Ukraine’s border (probably for invasion).
Significance of the move
- The decision will end a post-Cold War experiment, never very successful, in building trust between Russia and the Western alliance.
- It was established decades ago to contain the Soviet Union, which officials in Moscow accused of later encroaching on former Soviet territory.
About North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
- NATO is a military alliance established by the North Atlantic Treaty (also called the Washington Treaty) of April 4, 1949.
- It sought to create a counterweight to Soviet armies stationed in Central and Eastern Europe after World War II.
- Its original members were Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
- NATO has spread a web of partners, namely Egypt, Israel, Sweden, Austria, Switzerland and Finland.
Why was it founded?
Ans. Communist sweep in Europe post-WWII and rise of Soviet dominance
- After World War II in 1945, Western Europe was economically exhausted and militarily weak, and newly powerful communist parties had arisen in France and Italy.
- By contrast, the Soviet Union had emerged from the war with its armies dominating all the states of central and Eastern Europe.
- By 1948 communists under Moscow’s sponsorship had consolidated their control of the governments of those countries and suppressed all non-communist political activity.
- What became known as the Iron Curtain, a term popularized by Winston Churchill, had descended over central and Eastern Europe.
Ideology of NATO
- NATO ensures that the security of its European member countries is inseparably linked to that of its North American member countries.
- It commits the Allies to democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law, as well as to the peaceful resolution of disputes.
- It also provides a unique forum for dialogue and cooperation across the Atlantic.
The Article 5
- The heart of NATO is expressed in Article 5, in which the signatory members agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all.
Why in news now?
- The relationship between NATO and Russia is at its lowest point since the end of the Cold War.
- The NATO (rather US) sees their aggressive actions, not least against Ukraine, but also the significant military buildup and violations of important arms control agreements.
- NATO suspended practical cooperation with Russia in 2014 after it annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Bengal Florican
Mains level: Not Much
Environmentalists have recently written to the Assam government on the urgent need to prevent land-use changes at Kokilabari Seed Farm in the state to protect Bengal floricans and other species.
Bengal Florican
- The Bengal florican also called Bengal bustard, is a bustard species native to the Indian subcontinent, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
- Fewer than 1,000 individuals were estimated to be alive as of 2017.
- It has two disjunct populations, one in the Indian subcontinent, another in Southeast Asia.
- The former occurs from Uttar Pradesh (India) through the Terai of Nepal to Assam (where it is called ulu mora) and Arunachal Pradesh in India, and historically to Bangladesh.
- It has a very small, rapidly declining population largely as a result of the widespread loss of its grassland habitat.
Conservation status
- IUCN Red List Status: Critically Endangered
- CITES: Appendix I
- Wildlife Protection Act of India, 1972: Schedule I
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: GIS Energy Map
Mains level: Not Much
The NITI Aayog has launched the Geospatial Energy Map of India.
What is the GIS Energy Map?
- NITI Aayog in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has developed a comprehensive Geographic Information System (GIS) Energy Map of India.
- The GIS map provides a holistic picture of all energy resources of the country.
- It enables visualization of energy installations such as conventional power plants, oil and gas wells, petroleum refineries, coal fields and coal blocks.
- It also provides district-wise data on renewable energy power plants and renewable energy resource potential, etc through 27 thematic layers.
Significance of the map
- The map attempts to identify and locate all primary and secondary sources of energy and their transportation/transmission networks.
- It is a unique effort aimed at integrating energy data scattered across multiple organizations and presenting it in a consolidated, visually appealing graphical manner.
- It leverages the latest advancements in web-GIS technology and open-source software to make it interactive and user-friendly.
Benefits offered
- The map would provide a comprehensive view of energy production and distribution in a country.
- It will be useful in planning and making investment decisions.
- It will also aid in disaster management using available energy assets.
- This may also help in resource and environmental conservation measures, inter-state coordination on infrastructure planning including different corridors of energy and road transport highways.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Ex Cambrian Patrol
Mains level: Not Much
A team from Gorkha Rifles which represented the Indian Army at the prestigious Cambrian Patrol Exercise at Brecon, Wales, UK, has been awarded a Gold medal.
Ex Cambrian Patrol
- Organized by the UK Army, this exercise is considered the ultimate test of human endurance, team spirit and is sometimes referred as the Olympics of Military Patrolling.
- The aim of The Cambrian Patrol is to provide a challenging patrols exercise in order to enhance operational capability.
- The event has evolved into a cost-effective, ready-made exercise that Commanding Officers can use to test the basic training standards of their soldiers, in preparation for future operations.
- It is mission-focused and scenario-based with role players used to enhance the training benefit.
How it is conducted?
- During the exercise, teams are assessed for their performance under harsh terrain and inclement cold weather conditions.
- They undergo various challenges in addition to the complex real-world situations painted to them so as to assess their reactions in combat settings.
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