Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Hydrogen
Mains level: National Hydrogen Mission
During his I-Day speech, the PM has announced a National Hydrogen Mission and said India will become the world’s largest exporter of green hydrogen in the years to come.
National Hydrogen Mission
- The PM’s announcement takes forward the proposal, made in the 2021 Budget, for the launch of NHM that would enable the generation of hydrogen “from green power sources”.
- The added advantage of hydrogen is that, apart from transportation, it can be a “decarbonizing agent” for industries like chemicals, iron, steel, fertilizer and refining, transport, heat and power.
- While the details of the NHM are yet to emerge, India has taken several exploratory steps.
- India has been working on a pilot project on Blue Hydrogen, Hydrogen CNG (H-CNG), and Green Hydrogen.
- Several programs are focusing to blend hydrogen with compressed natural gas for use as a transportation fuel as well as an industrial input to refineries.
Hydrogen as a fuel
- Hydrogen is the fuel of stars and packs awesome energy. It is also the most abundant element in the universe.
- But on Earth, it is found in complex molecules such as water or hydrocarbons.
- Hydrogen is not a source of energy, like fossil fuels or renewable sources like sunlight and air, but an energy carrier, which means it has to be produced, or extracted, and stored before it can be used.
- But no matter how it is used, the by-product the burning of hydrogen produces is water.
How is Hydrogen produced?
- There are several ways of extracting hydrogen and, depending on the method, the hydrogen produced is classified as ‘grey’, ‘blue’, or ‘green’ hydrogen.
- According to WEC, as of 2019, 96 percent of hydrogen is produced from fossil fuels via carbon-intensive processes.
- Hydrogen thus obtained is called ‘grey’ hydrogen as the process, though not as expensive as the other methods, releases a lot of carbon dioxide.
What Is Grey, Blue, Green Of Hydrogen?
- ‘Grey’ hydrogen becomes ‘blue’ hydrogen when the CO2 given out during its production is locked up through carbon capture and storage (CCS) processes.
- But while the CO2 output is lowered, this process is quite expensive.
- ‘Grey’ and ‘blue’ hydrogen, thus, are both produced by the same processes, the only difference for ‘blue’ hydrogen being that the CO2 produced is sequestered.
- But it is ‘green’ hydrogen that governments are aiming at. This is any hydrogen that is produced from clean energy sources like renewables.
- ‘Green’ hydrogen is released via the electrolysis of energy from renewable sources. This process, though it gives rise to no CO2 emissions, is expensive and not commercially viable yet.
Key challenges
- Lack of infrastructure: India does not have enough storage capacity for the current state of domestic consumption.
- Safety concerns: Hydrogen is highly inflammable.
Way ahead
- Developing technologies to produce ‘green’ hydrogen is cost-intensive.
- However, falling renewable energy and fuel cell prices and stringent climate change requirements have provided an impetus for investments in this area.
- In India, the IITs, IISc, Benaras Hindu University, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research laboratories etc. are exploring different aspects of hydrogen production.
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Also read:
[Burning Issue] India’s push for a Gas-based Economy
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Various Naga tribes
Mains level: Tribal assertiveness in NE region
The Parliament has passed a bill that seeks to amend the nomenclature of certain tribes from Arunachal Pradesh mentioned in the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950.
What does the Bill amend?
- The Bill seeks to modify Part-XVIII of the Schedule to the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950.
- Part-XVIII lists 16 tribes of Arunachal, in order: Abor, Aka, Apatani, Nyishi, Galong, Khampti, Khowa, Mishmi [Idu, Taroon], Momba, Any Naga tribes, Sherdukpen, Singpho, Hrusso, Tagin, Khamba, and Adi.
- The Bill corrects the names of tribes spelled incorrectly and adds names of a few tribes that were either named ambiguously or had their parent group named only.
Why is it significant?
- Self-identification: It is an essence for much-needed respect for small indigenous communities in the Northeast.
- Indigenous nomenclature of tribes: This has been a long-standing demand in Arunachal Pradesh for two reasons: for the recognition of individual identity and to do away with the ambiguity as a result of errors in their names.
- Identity assertion: For long, communities — whether civil society members or student leaders — have demanded that they must be known by their respective names.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Gati Shakti Master Plan
Mains level: Infrastructure development
In his I-day speech, the PM has announced a ₹100 lakh crore “Gati Shakti” infrastructure plan.
What is Gati Shakti Master Plan?
- The PM has pegged the project as a source of employment opportunities for the youth in the future.
- The plan will make a foundation for holistic infrastructure and give an integrated pathway to our economy.
- More details and the launch date of the project are awaited.
What are the focus areas of the project?
- The Gati Shakti plan will help raise the global profile of local manufacturers and help them compete with their counterparts worldwide.
- It also raises possibilities of new future economic zones.
- The PM also said that India needs to increase both manufacturing and exports.
Why need such a plan?
- The push for infrastructure is in line with the government’s efforts to step up capital expenditure in infrastructure to promote economic growth.
- Infrastructure development has the ability to create a multiplier effect with every rupee invested, yielding much higher returns.
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Back2Basics:
National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP)
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Karez/ Qanat
Mains level: Not Much
The Taliban are set to seize Kabul, but some expert believes they will spare the age-old Karez system of underground aqueducts in the country given its importance.
What is a Qanat / Karez?
- This system of underground vertical shafts in a gently sloping tunnel that is built from an upland aquifer to ground level.
- Some historians and archaeologists have attributed people in the southeast Arabian Peninsula as the first developers. Others, however, ascribe it to the ancient Persians.
- The Qanat / Karez system, wherever it was developed, soon spread to many Persian, Arab and Turkic lands.
- It even came to the Indian Subcontinent during the 800-year-old Islamic Period.
Karez in India
- The system was brought in the Indian Subcontinent during the Bahamani Sultanate, founded by Alaudin Bahman Shah.
- It later broke into five other Sultantates: Bijapur, Golconda, Ahmadnagar, Bidar and Berar.
- The Bahamani Sultanate was Persianate in nature and encouraged many things Persian, among them, the Karez.
- They was built in the city of Bidar during the reign of Bahamani Sultan Ahmad Shah Wali (1422-1436), who shifted the capital from Gulbarga to Bidar.
- By the 15th century, Bijapur city had a network of pipelines. Everyone got 24×7 supply of water.
- It also worked as confidence-building measure between the Sultan and his subjects since the Karez was built the state.
Try answering this PYQ:
With reference to the economic history of medieval India, the term Araghatta’ refers to:
(CSP 2016)
(a) bonded labour
(b) land grants made to military officers
(c) waterwheel used in the irrigation of land
(d) wastel and converted to cultivated land
Post your answers here.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Greater Adjutant Storks
Mains level: NA
In a first, Bihar has decided to tag endangered greater adjutant storks (Leptoptilos dubius), locally known as ‘Garuda’, with GPS trackers to monitor their movement as a part of their conservation.
Greater Adjutant Storks
- Bhagalpur’s Kadwa Diara floodplains area is the third-most-popular breeding centre for the greater adjutant stork in the world after Assam and Cambodia.
- Historically the range of the Greater Adjutant covered India and Southeast Asia, but today the endangered storks are mostly found in the Indian state of Assam and in Cambodia.
- In India, the Greater Adjutant is now confined to the northeastern state of Assam, their last stronghold.
Try answering this PYQ:
Q.If you walk through the countryside, you are likely to see some birds stalking alongside the cattle to seize the insects, disturbed by their movement through grasses. Which of the following is/are such bird/ birds?
- Painted Stork
- Common Myna
- Black-necked Crane
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 3 only
Post your answers here:
Their conservation
- The greater adjutant is one of the most threatened stork species of the world and is widely considered to be a rare bird.
- However, the global population of the Greater Adjutant Stork is estimated to be roughly not more than 1,500 now.
- Hence it is classified as ‘endangered ‘on the IUCN’s Red List 2004 of threatened species and listed under Schedule IV of the Indian Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
- The Bombay Natural History Society will help and work along with the state forest, environment, and climate change department to start the process of tagging greater adjutant storks with GPS tracker.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: IndiGau
Mains level: Not Much
The National Institute of Animal Biotechnology (NIAB), Hyderabad has launched a chip called IndiGau.
IndiGau
- IndiGau is India’s first Cattle Genomic Chip for the conservation of pure varieties of indigenous cattle breeds like, Gir, Kankrej, Sahiwal, Ongole etc.
- It is purely indigenous and the largest cattle chip in the world.
- It has 11,496 markers more than that placed on 777K Illumina chip of US & UK breeds.
- The manufacturing of this chip is in synergy with Rashtriya Gokul Mission and is a great example of Atmanirbhar Bharat.
Utility of IndiGau
- Indigenous bovines are robust and resilient and are particularly suited to the climate and environment of their respective breeding tracts,
- Their productivity is less likely to be impacted by the adversities of climate change.
- The milk of indigenous animals is high in fat and SNF (solids-not-fat) content.
(SNF content are the substances in milk other than butterfat and water in the form of casein, lactose, vitamins, and minerals which contribute significantly to the nutritive value of milk.)
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Back2Basics: National Programme for Bovine Breeding and Dairy Development
- The NPBBDD has been formulated by merging four ongoing schemes of the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries in the dairy sector.
- It was launched in Feb 2014.
- This merger has been done to integrate milk production and dairying activities in a scientific and holistic manner to meet the increasing demand for milk in the country.
Components of the scheme
NPBBDD has the following three components.
- National Programme for Bovine Breeding (NPBB)
- National Programme for Dairy Development (NPDD) and
- Rashtriya Gokul Mission.
Differences between all these schemes:
1) National Programme for Bovine Breeding
It aims-
- To arrange quality Artificial Insemination services at farmers’ doorstep
- To bring all breedable females under organized breeding through Artificial Insemination or natural service using germplasm of high genetic merits
2) National Programme for Dairy Development
It aims-
- To create and strengthen infrastructure for the production of quality milk including cold chain infrastructure linking the farmer to the consumer
- To strengthen dairy cooperative societies/Producers Companies at the village level
- To increase milk production by providing technical input services like cattle-feed, and mineral mixture etc.
3) Rashtriya Gokul Mission
It aims-
- To undertake breed improvement programme for indigenous cattle breeds so as to improve the genetic makeup and increase the stock.
- To enhance milk production and productivity of indigenous bovines.
- To upgrade nondescript cattle using elite indigenous breeds like Gir, Sahiwal, Rathi, Deoni, Tharparkar, Red Sindhi.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: UNCLOS
Mains level: Paper 3- Maritime security
Context
Indian PM recently addressed the UNSC High-Level Open Debate on “Enhancing Maritime Security: A Case For International Cooperation”, convened by India.
Highlights of the UNSC debate on Maritime Security
- India’s leadership: As President of the UN Security Council for the month of August, India’s leadership in the debate on maritime security has strengthened its credentials as a key stakeholder in the maritime commons.
- Ocean as a common heritage: Prime Minister Modi described the oceans as a common heritage for humankind and a lifeline for the future of the planet.
- Culture, history, geography: In enunciating five principles, Mr. Modi linked free and open trade to India’s civilisational ethos.
- He outlined a far-sighted vision rooted in India’s culture, history and geography.
- SAGAR: The relevance of SAGAR (Security And Growth For All In The Region) was also reiterated.
- Need for a common framework: The global community needs to develop a common framework to deal with contemporary challenges, including maritime disputes and natural disasters.
Importance of high seas
- Ninety per cent of global trade is conducted on the high seas, for the simple reason that it continues to be the most cost-effective mode of transport.
- Spread of prosperity: Freedom of navigation and unimpeded commerce are key to the spread of prosperity.
- Critical supply chains depend on the concept of mare liberum (open seas).
Suggestions and role of India
1) Maritime dispute settlement based on international law
- The Prime Minister advocated the peaceful settlement of maritime disputes on the basis of international law.
- The importance of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea as the legal framework governing all maritime activity needs to be emphasised.
- India’s acceptance of the award by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2014 paved the way for India and Bangladesh to put aside their maritime dispute and forge even closer ties.
- In 2016, China summarily rejected the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling in favour of the Philippines.
- The neo-colonial concept of mare clausum (closed seas) in the South China Sea is anathema to the future of the global economy.
2) Deling with natural disasters and maritime threats
- Natural disasters and maritime threats posed by non-state actors have grown exponentially.
- The global community needs to rally together to deal effectively with the ravages of cyclones, tsunami and maritime pollution.
- First responder: India’s role as ‘first responder’ in the Indian Ocean, whether in thwarting piracy or providing relief after the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004, is well-documented.
- The Indian Coast Guard’s operational reach and capability has vastly improved in dealing with environmental hazards and piracy.
- White shipping agreements: India now has white shipping agreements with several countries.
- Cooperation: The Indian Navy’s state-of-the-art Information Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) based in Gurugram hosts officers from the United States, Japan, France, Australia and the United Kingdom.
- Training:The Indian Navy regularly offers a large number of training slots to friendly countries.
3) Environmental concerns
- The oceans remain our lifeline.
- Yet, they have been overwhelmed by plastic waste which chokes all forms of marine life.
4) Connectivity and infrastructure
- Connectivity: The development of connectivity and infrastructure are also a major priority.
- There are heightened concerns today over China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
- Openness and transparency India stands for openness and transparency in the execution of projects, based on local priorities, with in-built fiscal viability and environmental sustainability.
- Blue Dot Network: The U.S., Japan and Australia are also promoting better standards for global infrastructure through the Blue Dot Network.
Conclusion
India’s natural interests stretch across both the Indian and Pacific Oceans as reflected in its inclusive Indo-Pacific vision. No doubt, India’s initiative will further the prospects for a stable and enduring maritime environment.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Growth rate after 1991
Mains level: Paper 3- Impact of economic reforms on growth
Why 1991 stands out as a watershed year in the economic history of India
- This was the year in which the economy was faced with a severe balance of payments crisis.
- In response, we launched a wide-ranging economic program to reform, restructure and modernize the economy.
- The break with the past came in three important ways:
- Dismantling of license and permit requirements: The vast network of licenses, controls, and permits that dominated the economic system was dismantled.
- Redefining the role of the state: Changes were made by redesigning the role of the state and allowing the private sector a larger space to operate within,
- Integration with world economy: The inward-looking foreign trade policy was abandoned and the Indian economy was integrated with the world economy and trade.
Judging the performance of the economy after liberalisation
- It is appropriate to look at three broad parameters to judge the performance of the economy after liberalisation — growth rate, current account deficit, and poverty reduction.
1) Growth rate after 1991
- Between 1992-93 and 2000-01, GDP at factor cost grew annually by 6.20%.
- Between 2001-02 and 2010-11, it grew by 7.69% and the growth rate between 2011-12 and 2019-20, was 6.51%.
- Best growth rate: The best performance was between 2005-06 and 2010-11 when showing clearly what the potential growth rate of India was.
- This is despite the fact that this period included the global crisis year of 2008-09.
2) Foreign reserves
- BoP: The balance of payments situation had remained comfortable.
- Most of the years showed a small deficit.
- The exceptions were 2011-12 and 2012-13 when the current account deficit exceeded 4%. This was taken care of quickly.
- Forex reserves: Foreign exchange reserves showed a substantial increase and touched $621 billion as of last week.
- The opening up of the external sector, which included liberal trade policy, market-determined exchange rate, and a liberal flow of external resources, has greatly strengthened the external sector.
3) Poverty ratio
- Going the Tendulkar expert group methodology, the overall poverty ratio came down from 45.3% in 1993-94 to 37.2% in 2004-05 and further down to 21.9% in 2011-12.
- The post-reform period up to 2011-12 did see a significant reduction in poverty ratio because of faster growth supplemented by appropriate poverty reduction programmes such as the Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and the Extended Food Security Scheme.
- With the decline in growth rate since then and with negative growth in 2020-21, this trend must have reversed, i.e. the poverty rate may have increased.
Way forward
- Growth requires more than reforms. Reforms are, in the words of economists, only a necessary condition. It is not sufficient.
- Need to increase investment: It is the decline in investment rate of nearly five percentage points since 2010-11 that has led to the progressive decline of the growth rate.
- Reforms supplemented by a careful nurturing of the investment climate are needed to spur growth again.
- Reform agenda must continue: First of all, there is a need to move in the same direction in which we have been moving in the past three decades.
- Policymakers should identify the sectors which need reforms in terms of creating a competitive environment and improving performance efficiency.
- From this angle, we need to take a relook at the financial system, power sector, and governance. Centre and States must be joint partners in this effort.
- Second, in terms of government performance, there should be an increased focus on social sectors such as health and education.
Conclusion
Growth and equity must go together. They must not be posed as opposing considerations. They are truly interdependent. It is only in an environment of high growth, equity can be pushed aggressively.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Constituent assembly
Mains level: Paper 2- Decline in the functioning of legislature
Context
This 75th year of India’s Independence feels like what its first year of freedom may have been like. The pandemic era defined by large-scale loss, lack of adequate state infrastructure and deep economic uncertainty — on the face of it — is reminiscent of the Partition years.
Declining role of Parliament
1) Low functioning
- In 2020, Parliament sat in session for 33 days.
- According to PRS Legislative Research (PRS), in the 2021 Monsoon Session, the Lok Sabha was scheduled to work for six hours per day for 19 days.
- Instead, it sat for 21 hours in total or 21 per cent of what was conceived.
- Brazil’s Parliament used an application called Infoleg during the pandemic and functioned at higher rates than in pre-pandemic times.
- The United States Congress met physically for 113 days in 2020. In the year before, they met for 130 days.
- In the past 10 years, the Rajya Sabha has functioned for less than 25 per cent of its scheduled time.
2) Neglect of the role of Parliamentary Committees
- According to PRS, none of the 15 bills introduced in this Monsoon Session 2021 has been referred to a Parliamentary Committee.
- In this current Lok Sabha commencing 2019, only 12 per cent of the bills introduced have been referred to committee.
- By contrast, the 16th Lok Sabha (2014-2019) had 27 per cent and the 15th Lok Sabha (2009-2014) had 71 per cent of bills referred to standing committees.
- More significantly, fewer and fewer drafts of key legislation are being debated across the political aisle before becoming law.
3) No discussion of supplementary budget
- In this Lok Sabha, nine minutes were spent discussing and passing the supplementary budget that included a Rs 15,750 crore Covid-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package.
- This is the functioning of the legislature — increasingly convened less and debates are few.
Contrast with functioning of Parliament when country faced partition
- The drafting of India’s Constitution started in December 1946, when the Constituent Assembly first met, seven months before Independence in August 1947.
- What makes these years of our constitutional founding so dramatic, was that the backdrop to our founding was as torturous as this pandemic era.
- As Delhi was slowly filling up with refugees, India’s dual function legislature functioned as Parliament by morning and Constituent Assembly in the afternoon.
- The first Constituent Assembly was meant to comprise 296 members, but its initial session had only 210 members in attendance.
- The assembly faced a boycott by the rest of the members.
- The Constituent Assembly caucus of the founding Congress Party included many members from outside the party.
- These members from across the political-ideological spectrum were able to arrive at decisions using a mixture of techniques of problem-solving, persuasion, bargaining and politicking.
Conclusion
The functioning of the Partition era Constituent Assembly is held up as a model of nation-building. Our political class today needs to learn from the makers of our Constitution and stop the declining role of our Parliament today.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Voluntary Vehicle-Fleet Modernization Programme (VVMP)
Mains level: Vehicle scrappage
The launch of India’s vehicle scrapping policy or the Voluntary Vehicle-Fleet Modernization Programme (VVMP) seeks to usher in a new age of what it means to own and use an automobile in India.
Vehicle Scrappage Policy: Key Features
- Fitness testing: The government plans to set up between 450-500 automated vehicle fitness testing stations across India on a PPP basis. Private vehicles – which are over 20 years old – will have to undergo fitness tests, at an estimated cost of Rs 300-400 per test.
- Scrappage: A total of 60-70 vehicle scrapping centers will also be built, situated no further than 150-200 kilometers away from any location in India.
- Green Tax: Vehicles that pass the automated tests will be subjected to a ‘green tax’, which will see owners shell out an additional 10 percent to 25 percent of road tax at the time of the renewal of the vehicle’s fitness certificate, along with re-registration fees.
- Penalties: Those who choose to drive a vehicle that has failed the automated test will face substantial penalties, and such vehicles could also be impounded.
- Choice of owners: The scrappage policy leaves the choice of scrapping to the owner of the vehicle, with Gadkari saying the automated tests will place emphasis on vehicle fitness, and not its age.
Implementation plan
- The implementation of the vehicle scrappage policy in India is still some time away.
- Initially, it will be heavy commercial vehicles that will need to undergo fitness tests starting 1 April, 2023.
- Fitness tests will be made mandatory for all other types of vehicles from 1 June, 2024, in a phased manner.
Why need such policy?
- Clean mobility: More than one crore vehicles on India’s roads contribute greatly to rising pollution levels, as well as their tendency to be less fuel-efficient towards the end of their life.
- Reducing oil import: The promotion of clean mobility necessitates a reduction in the country’s fuel import bills, and a reduction in emissions is a pressing need at this time.
- Road safety: Such vehicles are also inherently unsafe and can be a threat to their occupants as well as other road users.
- Consumer benefits: Scrapping an old vehicle and replacing it with a new one will bring substantial monetary benefits for motorists, in addition to reducing emissions and enhancing fuel efficiency.
Benefits for a vehicle owner
- Once the vehicle has been scrapped, the owner will receive anywhere between four to six percent of their old vehicle’s ex-showroom price, and a scrappage certificate.
- This will make the individual eligible for a road tax rebate of 25 percent, a registration fee waiver and a discount of five percent of a new vehicle’s ex-showroom cost, offered by the vehicle manufacturer.
- This will essentially make a new vehicle cheaper for someone who has scrapped their old vehicle, with potential discounts in the range of Rs 30,000 (for a car costing Rs 6 lakh) to Rs 50,000 (for a car costing Rs 10 lakh).
What are the other positives?
- Investment and Employment: The policy will attract investment of over Rs 10,000 crore, and generate 50,000 jobs in the country.
- Recycling: Proper recycling of raw materials obtained from the scrapping will help reduce the import of materials such as aluminium, copper, steel and more.
- Vehicle price control: With the potential to recycle up to 99 percent of materials used in a vehicle, raw material costs are estimated to drop by as much as 40 percent.
- Transition to EVs: There’s also a possibility to derive materials needed for local production of lithium-ion batteries from scrapping older vehicles, which could help drive the growth of the EV business.
- Circular Economy: A circular economy depends on reuse, sharing, repair, refurbishment, remanufacturing and recycling of resources to create a closed-loop system, minimizing the use of resources, generation of waste, pollution and carbon emissions.
- Demand boost: Globally, a scrappage policy has been followed by a boost in demand in the auto manufacturing sector, especially in Europe and the US.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Need for plastic waste management
The Environment Ministry has notified the Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021, which prohibits identified single-use plastic items which have low utility and high littering potential by 2022.
What is the new Amendment?
- Pollution due to single use plastic items has become an important environmental challenge confronting all countries.
- The manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of following single-use plastic, including polystyrene and expanded polystyrene, commodities shall be prohibited with effect from the 1st July, 2022:
- ear buds with plastic sticks, plastic sticks for balloons, plastic flags, candy sticks, ice-cream sticks, polystyrene [thermocol] for decoration
- plates, cups, glasses, cutlery such as forks, spoons, knives, straw, trays, wrapping or packing films around sweet boxes, invitation cards and cigarette packets, plastic or PVC banners less than 100 micron, stirrers
- The thickness of plastic carry bags has been increased from fifty microns to seventy-five microns and to one hundred and twenty microns with effect from the 31st December, 2022.
Extended Producer Responsibility
- The plastic packaging waste shall be collected and managed in an environmentally sustainable way through the Extended Producer Responsibility of the Producer, importer and Brand owner (PIBO), as per Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016.
- For effective implementation the Guidelines for EPR being brought out have been given legal force through Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021.
Plastic waste in India
- As much as 3.3 million metric tonnes of plastic waste was generated in India in 2018-19, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) report 2018-19.
- This roughly translated to 9,200 tonnes a day (TPD).
- The total municipal solid waste generation is 55-65 million tonnes; plastic waste is approximately 5-6 per cent of the total solid waste generated in the country.
- Goa has the highest per capita plastic waste generation at 60 grams per capita per day, which is nearly double of what Delhi generates (37 grams per capita per day).
The problem
- Only nine percent of the plastic waste produced between 1950 and 2015 was recycled globally, according to a study by researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and others.
- Out of the nine per cent, only 10 per cent was recycled more than once; 12 per cent was incinerated, and 79 per cent ended up in landfills or oceans and other water bodies.
- There are reports suggesting a huge gap between the demand and supply of plastics; we are being sold plastics at a much higher rate than we need.
- Recycling is a rather benign word used by plastic manufacturers.
- Most plastics that we claim can be recycled in India are rather down-cycled to some other material.
- A classic example is that of PET bottles being recycled to t-shirts.
Way forward
- Managing plastic waste requires effective knowledge, not only among those who produce the plastic but also among those who handle it.
- Brand owners, consumers, recyclers and regulatory authorities need to take long strides in ensuring that we first invent the total amount of plastic waste that we generate by means of proper calculations.
- The second step would be to identify the avenues where the use of plastic can be minimized.
- Third, the brand owner and manufacturer should try and understand the fates a plastic packaging material would meet after its purpose of packaging has been served.
- Last, as consumers, we should ensure that all plastic waste leaving our homes is segregated and is not contaminated with food waste.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Ramsar wetlands in India
Mains level: Wetlanc conservation
Four more wetlands from India get recognition from the Ramsar Secretariat as Ramsar sites.
What are Wetlands?
- A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded by water, either permanently or seasonally, where oxygen-free processes prevail.
- The primary factor that distinguishes wetlands from other landforms or water bodies is the characteristic vegetation of aquatic plants, adapted to the unique hydric soil.
Significance of Wetlands
- Wetlands provide a wide range of important resources and ecosystem services such as food, water, fibre, groundwater recharge, water purification, flood moderation, erosion control, and climate regulation.
- They are, in fact, are a major source of water and our main supply of freshwater comes from an array of wetlands that help soak rainfall and recharge groundwater.
- They provide many societal benefits: food and habitat for fish and wildlife, including threatened and endangered species; water quality improvement; flood storage; shoreline erosion control; economically beneficial natural products for human use; and opportunities for recreation, education, and research, etc.
Which are the new sites added to the Ramsar List?
- Thol and Wadhwana from Gujarat and
- Sultanpur and Bhindawas from Haryana
With this, the number of Ramsar sites in India are 46 and the surface area covered by these sites is now 1,083,322 hectares.
(1) Bhindawas Wildlife Sanctuary
- Bhindawas WLS, the largest wetland in Haryana is a human-made freshwater wetland.
- Over 250 bird species use the sanctuary throughout the year as a resting and roosting site.
- The site supports more than ten globally threatened species including the endangered Egyptian Vulture, Steppe Eagle, Pallas’s Fish Eagle, and Black-bellied Tern.
(2) Sultanpur National Park
- Sultanpur NP from Haryana supports more than 220 species of resident, winter migratory and local migratory waterbirds at critical stages of their life cycles.
- More than ten of these are globally threatened, including the critically endangered sociable lapwing, and the endangered Egyptian Vulture, Saker Falcon, Pallas’s Fish Eagle and Black-bellied Tern.
(3) Thol Lake Wildlife Sanctuary
- Thol Lake WLS from Gujarat lies on the Central Asian Flyway and more than 320 bird species can be found here.
- The wetland supports more than 30 threatened waterbird species, such as the critically endangered White-rumped Vulture and Sociable Lapwing, and the vulnerable Sarus Crane, Common Pochard, and Lesser White-fronted Goose.
(4) Wadhvana Wetland
- Wadhvana Wetland from Gujarat is internationally important for its birdlife as it provides wintering ground to migratory waterbirds, including over 80 species that migrate on the Central Asian Flyway.
- They include some threatened or near-threatened species such as the endangered Pallas’s fish-Eagle, the vulnerable Common Pochard, and the near-threatened Dalmatian Pelican, Grey-headed Fish-eagle and Ferruginous Duck.
Back2Basics: Ramsar Convention
- The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (better known as the Ramsar Convention) is an international agreement promoting the conservation and wise use of wetlands.
- It is the only global treaty to focus on a single ecosystem.
- The convention was adopted in the Iranian city of Ramsar in 1971 and came into force in 1975.
- Traditionally viewed as a wasteland or breeding ground of disease, wetlands actually provide fresh water and food and serve as nature’s shock absorber.
- Wetlands, critical for biodiversity, are disappearing rapidly, with recent estimates showing that 64% or more of the world’s wetlands have vanished since 1900.
- Major changes in land use for agriculture and grazing, water diversion for dams and canals, and infrastructure development are considered to be some of the main causes of loss and degradation of wetlands.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan
Mains level: Not Much
China has partially shut down the world’s third-busiest container port, the Ningbo Port, after a worker there tested positive for Covid-19.
Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan
- This port is the busiest in the world in terms of cargo tonnage.
- It handled 888.96 million tons of cargo in 2015.
- The port is located in Ningbo and Zhoushan, on the coast of the East China Sea, in Zhejiang province on the southeast end of Hangzhou Bay, across which it faces the municipality of Shanghai.
- The port is at the crossroads of the north-south inland and coastal shipping route, including canals to the important inland waterway to interior China, the Yangtze River, to the north.
- The port consists of several ports which are Beilun (seaport), Zhenhai (estuary port), and old Ningbo harbour (inland river port).
What is the potential impact of the closure?
- Despite the diversion of shipments to other terminals, experts are anticipating a backlog of consignments with average wait times being expected to rise.
How is it likely to affect global trade?
- In the aftermath of Covid-19, global supply chains have remained fragile mainly on account of closures and lockdowns that affected both the manufacturing and the logistical segments of the chain.
- This has not only resulted in a growing backlog of shipments but has also caused freight charges to go up as demand outgrew the supply.
- Extended closure of one of the biggest terminals at the third-busiest port in the world could further exacerbate the stress in global trade.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Parliamentary Committees
Mains level: Paper 2- Decline in oversight function of Parliament
Context
The monsoon session of Parliament which ended on Wednesday was a disappointment in several ways. This was the fourth straight session that ended ahead of the original schedule.
No scrutiny of the Bills
- Both Houses were frequently disrupted as the Government and Opposition parties could not agree on the topics to be debated.
- Shrinking worktime: The Lok Sabha worked for just 19% of its originally scheduled time, and the Rajya Sabha for 26%.
- No examination of Bills by Parliament: Of the 18 Bills passed by the Lok Sabha, only one saw discussion over 15 minutes.
- In 15 of these Bills, not even one member of the Lok Sabha spoke; each Bill was passed after a short statement by the respective Minister.
- Every Bill introduced during the session was passed within the session.
- This means that there was no time for any scrutiny by members.
- In the period of the Fifteenth Lok Sabha (2009-14), 18% of the Bills were passed within the same session.
- This rose to 33% in the Sixteenth Lok Sabha and is at 70% halfway through the current Parliament.
- Thus, we see that, Bills are being passed without any serious examination by parliamentarians.
- They are most often not being referred to committees, there is hardly any discussion on the floor of the House, and in most instances, Bills are passed within a few days of introduction.
Bills not being referred to parliamentary committees
- None of the Bills passed in this session was referred to a parliamentary committee for examination.
- Important role of committee: Parliamentary committees provide a forum for parliamentarians to engage with experts, stakeholders and government officials to understand the implications of Bills.
- They deliberate on the consequences of various provisions, and recommend amendments.
- There has been a sharp downward trend in Bills being referred to them — from 71% in the Fifteenth Lok Sabha to 27% in the Sixteenth, and 12% in the current one till date.
Important Bills passed
- Allowing States to identify Backward Class: The Constitution was amended to allow States to identify backward classes (i.e., Other Backward Classes) for the purpose of providing reservations.
- That amendment also specified that the President of India shall specify the list of OBCs.
- Recently, the Supreme Court of India had interpreted this provision to imply that the State government cannot issue the list of backward classes.
- Repealing retrospective taxation: In 2012, the Income Tax Act was amended with retrospective effect from 1961 to cover certain transactions.
- A Bill passed this session reversed this provision of retrospective taxation.
- DICGC to pay within 90 days: The Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation insures all bank deposits against default (currently up to ₹5 lakh).
- The Act was amended to require an interim pay-out within 90 days if a bank was going through a liquidation or reconstruction.
- The General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Act was amended to enable the Government to bring its shareholding in general insurance companies below 51%.
- The Tribunals Reforms Bill was passed: The Bill replaced an ordinance which specified the process of appointment of members and their tenure and service conditions.
- It retained two provisions struck down last month by the Supreme Court: the four-year tenure which the Court changed to five years, and a minimum age of 50 years for judicial members which the Court revised to allow lawyers with experience of 10 years.
Conclusion
The reason for having a legislature separate from the executive is to have a check on executive power.But the Parliament appears to be quite ineffective in all its functions and needs a course correction.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: e-RUPI
Mains level: Paper 3- e-RUPI and its advantages
Context
Recently e-RUPI was launched by the Prime Minister.
About e-RUPI
- It is a digital prepaid, purpose, and person-specific payment utility.
- Built on the UPI platform, e-RUPI is easy to scale by the issuer.
- At the point of presence, the verification code received by the beneficiary is shared with the service provider to authenticate and authorize the transaction: Contactless, real-time payment, and online settlement of funds into the service provider’s bank account.
- Fourteen leading banks have already integrated it with their systems.
- e-RUPI is almost custom-designed for school voucher programs.
- The efficacy of these programs is well established in many countries.
Advantages
The adoption of e-RUPI in various government programs will enhance business efficiency, simplicity, transparency, and accountability in these programs.
1) e-RUPI can make cash transfer purpose and person-specific
- Policymakers have debated whether direct cash transfers deliver benefits more efficiently than in-kind transfers like the Public Distribution System (PDS) and fertilizers.
- e-RUPI could break the policy logjam with the following advantages:
- 1) It will make cash transfers purpose- and person-specific.
- 2) Freeing them from dependence on bank accounts.
- 3) Providing visibility from the time of issue until redemption.
2) e-RUPI can make PDS more efficient
- The inefficiency of PDS is rooted in high overhead costs, leakages, exclusion, and inefficiencies.
- A food-specific e-RUPI voucher will allow beneficiaries to buy rations from an outlet of their choice.
- It will also help promote the One Nation, One Ration Card.
- The move will also help in removing price distortion and the redemption of the voucher at market price by merchants within and outside the PDS network.
3) Streamline fertilizer subsidy
- e-RUPI will enable farmers to buy fertilizer at nominal prices with direct credit of the subsidy amount into the account of the authorised dealers.
- As far back as 2011, a task force on direct transfer of subsidies on kerosene, LPG and fertilisers headed by Nandan Nilekani had suggested a roadmap for direct cash transfer of fertiliser subsidies in a phased manner.
- The e-RUPI will allay apprehensions about creating an IT infrastructure, managing nearly 3,00,000 fertilizer sale points, the collapse of dealer network due to liquidity squeeze in the event of subsidy payments getting delayed, and a complex system of timely credit of subsidy into an estimated 129 million Aadhaar-linked bank accounts of farm households.
4) Basic income support
- The Covid-19 pandemic has revived interest in Universal Basic Income (UBI).
- The lockdowns to contain the pandemic exposed the poor to acute distress, due to loss of means of livelihood.
- e-RUPI can mitigate their stress by rapidly distributing food and cash vouchers at scale.
5) Ayushman Bharat
- In the Ayushman Bharat healthcare initiative beneficiaries can be given e-RUPI vouchers of designated value tenable at empanelled healthcare facilities, providing them portability and facility choice.
- The service provider will benefit from the immediate payment.
Way forward
- Ownership agency: The Aadhaar experience suggests ownership must vest with a specific agency.
- Make distribution and acceptance compatible: Making the distribution and acceptance of e-RUPI incentive-compatible is recommended, as demonstrated by the popularisation of prepaid telephony by the telecom industry.
- Light regulation and competition promotion: Light regulation and the opening of e-RUPI to the competition will spur innovation and adoption.
- All banks, small and big, NBFCs, non-bank PPI issuers, and telcos may be allowed to issue it later.
Conclusion
e-RUPI opens up a world of opportunities to the government, people, and businesses to provide, avail, and pay for services seamlessly.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Privatization of insurance sector
The General Insurance Business (Nationalization) Amendment Bill, 2021, was recently passed by both houses of parliament.
What is the amendment?
- The Bill seeks to amend the General Insurance Business (nationalization) Act, 1972.
What is the GIB Act?
- The 1972 Act set up the General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC).
- The businesses of the companies nationalized under the Act were restructured in four subsidiary companies of GIC: (i) National Insurance, (ii) New India Assurance, (iii) Oriental Insurance, and (iv) United India Insurance.
- The Act was subsequently amended in 2002 to transfer the control of these four subsidiary companies from GIC to the central government, thereby making them independent companies.
- Since 2000, GIC exclusively undertakes the reinsurance business.
Answer this PYQ:
Microfinance is the provision of financial services to people of low-income groups. This includes both the consumers and the self-employed. The service/ services rendered under micro-finance is/are: (CSP 2011)
- Credit facilities
- Savings facilities
- Insurance facilities
- Fund Transfer facilities
Select the correct answer using the codes given below the lists:
(a) 1 only
(b) 1 and 4 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
Post your answers here:
Key highlights of the Amendment Bill
- Government shareholding threshold: The Act requires that shareholding of the central government in the specified insurers (the above five companies) must be at least 51%. The Bill removes this provision.
- Change in definition of general insurance business: The Act defines general insurance business as fire, marine or miscellaneous insurance business.
- Transfer of control from the government: The Bill provides that the Act will not apply to the specified insurers from the date on which the central government relinquishes control of the insurer.
- Notifying terms and conditions: The Bill provides that schemes formulated by the central government in this regard will be deemed to have been adopted by the insurer.
- Liabilities of directors: The Bill specifies that a director of a specified insurer, who is not a whole-time director, will be held liable only for certain acts.
Significance of the bill
- De-regulation: The move is part of the government’s strategy to open up more sectors to private participation and improve efficiency.
- Capital infusion: Privatization will bring in more private capital in the general insurance business and improve its reach to make more products available to customers.
- Insurance coverage: This will enhance insurance penetration and social protection to better secure the interests of policyholders and contribute to faster growth of the economy
Concerns of the opposition
- The Opposition is of the view that privatization will be detrimental to the interests of the public.
- They wanted a proper discussion on the pros and cons of the Bill rather than passing it in a hurry.
- They wanted an expert committee of the Cabinet to study the impact before passing the legislation.
- They are worried about large-scale employee layoffs and short-term investors entering and exiting these entities once the Act comes into force.
Also read:
[Burning Issue] Divestment of LIC
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Whip
Mains level: Defection by politicians
The party in the opposition has appointed two members as the party’s whips in the Upper House.
Who is a Whip?
- A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature.
- This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology or the will of their donors or constituents.
- Whips are the party’s “enforcers”.
- They try to ensure that their fellow political party legislators attend voting sessions and vote according to their party’s official policy.
- Members who vote against party policy may “lose the whip”, effectively expelling them from the party.
Answer this PYQ:
Which one of the following Schedules of the Constitution of India contains provisions regarding anti-defection? (CSP 2017)
(a) Second Schedule
(b) Fifth Schedule
(c) Eighth Schedule
(d) Tenth Schedule
Post your answers here.
Whips in India
- In India, the concept of the whip was inherited from colonial British rule.
- Every major political party appoints a whip who is responsible for the party’s discipline and behaviors on the floor of the house.
- Usually, they direct the party members to stick to the party’s stand on certain issues and directs them to vote as per the direction of senior party members.
What happens if a whip is disobeyed?
- A legislator may face disqualification proceedings if she/he disobeys the whip of the party unless the number of lawmakers defying the whip is 2/3rds of the party’s strength in the house.
- Disqualification is decided by the Speaker/Chairman of the house.
Limitations of whip
- There are some cases such as Presidential elections where whips cannot direct a Member of Parliament (MP) or Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) to vote in a particular fashion.
Types of whips
There are three types of whips or instructions issued by the party
- One-line whip: One-line whip is issued to inform members of a party about a vote. It allows a member to abstain in case they decide not to follow the party line.
- Two-line whip: Two-line whip is issued to direct the members to be present in the House at the time of voting.
- Three-line whip: Three-line whip is issued to members directing them to vote as per the party line.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Taxation powers in India
Mains level: Retrospective taxation
Scrapping the retrospective levy is believed to provide clarity to investors by removing a major source of ambiguity on taxation laws, the government has stressed the need to establish its “sovereign right to taxation”.
Defining a Tax
- A document on the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation website quotes the definition of tax as a “pecuniary burden laid upon individuals or property owners to support the government; a payment exacted by legislative authority”.
- It states that a tax “is not a voluntary payment or donation, but an enforced contribution, exacted pursuant to legislative authority”.
The ‘sovereign right to taxation’
- In India, the Constitution gives the government the right to levy taxes on individuals and organizations but makes it clear that no one has the right to levy or charge taxes except by the authority of law.
- Any tax being charged has to be backed by a law passed by the legislature or Parliament.
Taxation in India
- Taxes in India come under a three-tier system based on the Central, State, and local governments and the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution puts separate heads of taxation under the Union and State list.
- There is no separate head under the Concurrent list, meaning Union and the States have no concurrent power of taxation, as per the document.
Back2Basics:
Taxation in India: Classification, Types, Direct tax, Indirect tax
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Read the attached story
Mains level: NA
From December, India will move to a system that will count tigers and elephants as part of a common survey.
Common survey for elephants and tiger
- Given that 90% of the area occupied by elephants and tigers is common, and once estimation methods are standardized, having a common survey can significantly save costs.
- The tiger survey is usually held once in four years and elephants are counted once in five years.
- According to the most recent 2018-19 survey, there were 2,997 tigers in India while in the last count in 2017, there were 29,964 elephants in India.
Answer this PYQ:
With reference to Indian Elephants, consider the following statements :
1. The leader of an elephant group is a female.
2. The maximum gestation period can be 22 months.
3. An elephant can normally go on calving till the age of 40 years only.
4. Among the States in India, the highest population is in Kerala.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
(a) 1and 2 only
(b) 2 and 4 only
(c) 3 only
(d) 1,3 and 4 only
Post your answers here:
Why need a common survey?
- Based on sightings in camera traps and indirect estimation methods, tiger numbers are computed.
- Elephant numbers largely rely on States directly counting the number of elephants.
- In recent years, techniques such as analyzing dung samples have also been deployed to estimate birth rates and population trends in elephants.
About All India Tiger Estimation
- The tiger count is prepared after every four years by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) provides details on the number of tigers in the 18 tiger reign states with 50 tiger reserves.
- It is conducted by the NTCA and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in collaboration with the State Forest Departments.
- The entire exercise spanned over four years is considered to be the world’s largest wildlife survey effort in terms of coverage and intensity of sampling.
- Over 15, 000 cameras are installed at various strategic points to capture the movement of tigers.
- This is supported by extensive data collected by field personnel and satellite mapping.
Back2Basics: Asian Elephants
- Asian elephants are listed as “Endangered” on the IUCN Red List of threatened species.
- This has been done as most of the range States except India have lost their viable elephant populations due to loss of habitat, poaching, etc.
- Current population estimates indicate that there are about 50,000-60,000 Asian elephants in the world.
- More than 60% of the world’s elephant population is in India.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Exercise Al–Mohed Al–Hindi
Mains level: NA
The maiden bilateral naval exercise between India and Saudi Arabia named ‘AL–Mohed AL–Hindi’ has got underway.
Must read:
[Prelims Spotlight] Various Defence Exercises in News
Ex Al-Mohed AI-Hindi 2021
- This is the first edition of a bilateral naval exercise between India and Saudi Arabia.
- It comprises several shore and sea-based drills between the two navies.
- It reflects the growing defense ties between the two nations in the wake of the Indian Army chiefs’ first visit to the West Asian country last year.
- INS Kochi is the Indian warship participating in the exercise.
- The exercise is being held against the backdrop of growing tensions in the Persian Gulf following a drone attack on the tanker MV Mercer Street off Oman.
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