Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: IPCC, UNFCC
Mains level: IPCC assessment reports and their significance
What is the issue:
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the second part of its sixth assessment report. The first part was released in 2021.
What is IPCC?
- The IPCC, an intergovernmental body was established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
- It was later endorsed by the UN General Assembly. Membership is open to all members of the WMO and UN.
- The IPCC produces reports that contribute to the work of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the main international treaty on climate change.
- The objective of the UNFCCC is to “stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic (human-induced) interference with the climate system.”
What are the Assessment Reports?
- Every few years, the IPCC produces assessment reports that are the most comprehensive scientific evaluations of the state of earth’s climate.
- Instead, it asks scientists from around the world to go through all the relevant scientific literature related to climate change and draw up the logical conclusions.
- So far, five assessment reports have been produced, the first one being released in 1990.
- The IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report was a critical scientific input into the UNFCCC’s Paris Agreement in 2015.
Highlights of the recent report
- Rapidly advancing climate change: From the melting of the Greenland ice sheet to the destruction of coral reefs, climate related impacts are hitting the world at the high end much more quickly than previously assessed by the IPCC.
- Limitations of technology: The use of some technologies designed to limit warming or reduce CO2 could make matters worse rather than better.
- Impact of urbanization: While large cities are hotspots for climate impacts, they also offer a real opportunity to avoid the worst impacts of warming.
- Limited opportunity for mitigation: The report has warned the opportunity for action will only last for the rest of this decade.
Some projections of the first part of 6th Report
- Regional focus: It is expected that this report would likely state what the scenarios for sea-level rise in the Bay of Bengal region is, not just what the average sea-level rise across the world is likely to be.
- Rise of extreme events: There is expected to be bigger focus on extreme weather events, like the ones we have seen in the last few weeks.
- Vulnerabilities of urban areas: Densely populated mega-cities are supposed to be among the most vulnerable to impacts of climate change. The report is expected to present specific scenarios the climate change impacts on cities and large urban populations, and also implications for key infrastructure.
- Synergy of climate action is needed: IPCC is expected to present a more integrated understanding of the situation, cross-link evidence and discuss trade-offs between different options or pathways, and also likely to cover social implications of climate change action by countries.
Here is what the previous assessment reports had said:
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: MCC
Mains level: Chinese influence in Nepal
Nepal’s House of Representatives has ratified 500 million US Dollar grant assistance-Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) pact along with the “interpretative declaration”.
What is Millenium Challenge Corporation?
- The MCC was founded in 2004 as a US foreign aid agency that acts in accordance with governments that have demonstrated a commitment to good governance, economic freedom, and citizen investment.
- It was envisioned as an organisation that would follow the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness’ key principles.
- MCC works with countries that have been identified as being eligible for assistance to develop programmes that are based on MCC’s purpose of decreasing poverty via economic growth.
- MCC’s results framework, which is based on the fourth and fifth principles of the Paris Declaration, Results and Mutual Accountability.
- It provides a framework for applying the agency’s rigorous methods for projecting, tracking, and evaluating the effects of its programmes.
- MCC uses this framework to address basic questions about aid effectiveness.
Investments made by MCC
- Compact and threshold programmes are the two types of programmes in which MCC invests.
- Compacts are large, five-year grants implemented by an accountable entity established by each partner nation.
- Thresholds are smaller funds focusing on policy and institutional transformation in selected countries implemented by MCC.
The background of the project
- MCC’s partnership with Nepal began in 2011, when the country requested assistance.
- MCC first chose Nepal for a smaller threshold grant, and subsequently in December 2014, for a larger compact.
- Three years later, in September 2017, the MCC-Nepal compact was signed, with the US committing $500 million and Nepal committing $130 million.
- Nepal is expected to generate an electricity infrastructure with 400kVA transmission lines through the MCC project, which will be used to distribute power both domestically and to India.
- Furthermore, the MCC’s implementation could boost the Nepalese economy by increasing employment possibilities and increasing per capita income.
Issues with the project
- It is estimated that if the agreement is not passed by Parliament, the power producers in the country are likely to lose a staggering Rs. 142 billion every year.
- As a result, PM Sher Bahadur Deuba is striving to get the MCC passed in Parliament as soon as possible, even if it means splitting the coalition government.
- In addition, if he fails to get it through Parliament, there is a possible risk of losing his international credibility.
America vs China: Objections around MCC
- The MCC agreement has created a political divide in Nepal.
- The compact has been criticised in Nepal as endangering the country’s sovereignty, integrity, and constitutional autonomy.
- The claim that the MCC agreement supersedes the national charter and shall prevail over Nepal’s domestic laws.
- Many have interpreted this to suggest that the compact replaces the constitution, compromising Nepal’s sovereignty.
- The MCC’s inclusion in the Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS) is considered problematic for Nepal, as the majority of the country’s political class views the US strategy as anti-China.
India’s role in the ongoing political crisis in Nepal
- Few claim that the electricity generated by MCC will be only for export to India and will not be for the local public.
- As a result, it will not benefit the local economy directly.
- Nepal’s hydroelectric generation potential is huge, with over 6,000 large and small rivers.
- However, through a series of barrages and dams, India has control over the majority of Nepal’s major rivers.
- Nationalists in the Himalayan country have strongly objected to this.
- In Nepal, where India is still perceived as a meddling big brother, its goal of strengthening India’s military capabilities through this agreement to counter China’s was questioned.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Deocha Pachami Coal Block
Mains level: NA
The West Bengal government’s ambitious Deocha Pachami coal block mining project in Birbhum district has run into hurdles over land acquisition and other issues.
Deocha Pachami Coal Block
- The State government is planning to start mining at the Deocha Pachami coal block, considered to be the largest coal block in the country with reserves of around 1,198 million tonnes of coal.
- It is spread over an area of 12.31 sq. km, which is around 3,400 acres.
- There are around 12 villages in the project area with a population of over 21,000, comprising Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
Why are locals upset?
- The project is facing protests over land acquisition of which a significant part is forest land.
- Locals, mostly Santhal tribals, have close affinity with the land, with forests and waterways, and rely on it for their needs.
- The tribals were harassed and had been arrested under false and serious charges for protesting.
- Also, the project details have not yet been made public; and the environment clearance is awaited.
Back2Basics:
Coal
- This is the most abundantly found fossil fuel. It is used as a domestic fuel, in industries such as iron and steel, steam engines and to generate electricity. Electricity from coal is called thermal power.
- The coal which we are using today was formed millions of years ago when giant ferns and swamps got buried under the layers of earth. Coal is therefore referred to as Buried Sunshine.
- The leading coal producers of the world include China, US, Australia, Indonesia, India.
- The coal-producing areas of India include Raniganj, Jharia, Dhanbad and Bokaro in Jharkhand.
- Coal is also classified into four ranks: anthracite, bituminous, sub-bituminous, and lignite. The ranking depends on the types and amounts of carbon the coal contains and on the amount of heat energy the coal can produce.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ICJ, ICC
Mains level: Not Much
Ukraine has filed an application before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), instituting proceedings against the Russian Federation for committing Genocide.
International Court of Justice
- The ICJ is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN).
- It was established in June 1945 by the Charter of the United Nations and began work in April 1946.
- The court is the successor to the Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ), which was brought into being through, and by, the League of Nations.
- It held its inaugural sitting at the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, in February 1922.
Its establishment
- After World War II, the League of Nations and PCIJ were replaced by the United Nations and ICJ respectively.
- The PCIJ was formally dissolved in April 1946, and its last president, Judge José Gustavo Guerrero of El Salvador, became the first president of the ICJ.
- The first case, which was brought by the UK against Albania over concerning incidents in the Corfu channel — the narrow strait of the Ionian Sea between the Greek island of Corfu and Albania.
Seat and role
- Like the PCIJ, the ICJ is based at the Peace Palace in The Hague.
- It is the only one of the six principal organs of the UN that is not located in New York City.
- The other five organs are:
- General Assembly
- Security Council
- Economic and Social Council
- Trusteeship Council
- Secretariat
- The court as a whole must represent the main forms of civilization and the principal legal systems of the world.
- The judges of the court are assisted by a Registry, the administrative organ of the ICJ. English and French are the ICJ’s official languages.
Jurisdiction of ICJ
- All members of the UN are automatically parties to the ICJ statute, but this does not automatically give the ICJ jurisdiction over disputes involving them.
- The ICJ gets jurisdiction only if both parties consent to it.
- The judgment of the ICJ is final and technically binding on the parties to a case.
- There is no provision of appeal; it can at the most, be subject to interpretation or, upon the discovery of a new fact, revision.
- However, the ICJ has no way to ensure compliance of its orders, and its authority is derived from the willingness of countries to abide by them.
Judges of the court
- The ICJ has 15 judges who are elected to nine-year terms by the UN General Assembly and Security Council, which vote simultaneously but separately.
- To be elected, a candidate must receive a majority of the votes in both bodies, a requirement that sometimes necessitates multiple rounds of voting.
- Elections are held at the UNHQ in New York during the annual UNGA meeting.
- A third of the court is elected every three years.
- The judges elected at the triennial election commence their term of office on February 6 of the following year.
- The president and vice-president of the court are elected for three-year terms by secret ballot. Judges are eligible for re-election.
India in ICJ
- Four Indians have been members of the ICJ so far.
- Justice Dalveer Bhandari, former judge of the Supreme Court, has been serving at the ICJ since 2012.
- Former Chief Justice of India R S Pathak served from 1989-91, and former Chief Election Commissioner of India Nagendra Singh from 1973-88.
- Singh was also president of the court from 1985-88, and vice-president from 1976-79.
- Before him, Sir Benegal Rau, who was an advisor to the Constituent Assembly, was a member of the ICJ from 1952-53.
Indian cases at the ICJ
- India has been a party to a case at the ICJ on six occasions, four of which have involved Pakistan.
- They are:
- Right of Passage over Indian Territory (Portugal v. India, culminated 1960);
- Appeal Relating to the Jurisdiction of the ICAO Council (India v. Pakistan, culminated 1972);
- Trial of Pakistani Prisoners of War (Pakistan v. India, culminated 1973);
- Aerial Incident of 10 August 1999 (Pakistan v. India, culminated 2000);
- Obligations concerning Negotiations relating to Cessation of the Nuclear Arms Race and to Nuclear Disarmament (Marshall Islands v. India, culminated 2016); and
- (Kulbhushan) Jadhav (India v. Pakistan, culminated 2019).
Back2Basics:
| BASIS |
INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT |
INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE |
| Relationship with the United Nations |
Independent; UN Security Council may refer matters to it |
Primary judicial branch of the UN. |
| Members |
105 members |
193 members (all members of the United Nations). |
| Derives authority from |
The Rome Statute |
Charter of the United Nations and the Statute of the International Court of Justice. |
| Scope of work |
Criminal matters – investigating and prosecuting crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes |
Civil matters- settling legal disputes between the member-states and giving advisory opinions on international legal issues |
| Jurisdiction |
Only the member nations of the ICC, which means around 105 countries. Can try individuals. |
All the member nations of the UN, which means 193 countries. Cannot try individuals and other private entities. |
| Composition |
1 prosecutor and 18 judges, who are elected for a 9-year term each by the member-states which make up the Assembly of State Parties with all being from different nations |
15 judges who are elected for a 9-year term each and are all from different nations. |
| Funding |
Funded by state parties to the Rome Statute and voluntary contributions from the United Nations, governments, individual corporations, etc. |
Funded by the UN. |
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: International Monsoons Project Office (IMPO)
Mains level: Not Much
Union Minister of Science & Technology has launched the International Monsoons Project Office (IMPO).
International Monsoons Project Office (IMPO)
- IMPO will be hosted at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, an institution under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Govt of India, initially for five years.
- Setting up the IMPO reiterates the importance of monsoons for the national economy.
- It would encompass activities and connections related to international monsoon research that would be identified and fostered under the leadership of the World Climate Research Programme.
- Both the World Climate Research Programme and World Weather Research Programme are international programmes coordinated by the United Nations World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).
Significance of IMPO
- Setting up the IMPO in India would mean expanding an integrated scientific approach to solve the seasonal variability of monsoons, enhancing the prediction skill of monsoons and cyclones.
- It would promote knowledge sharing and capacity building in areas of monsoon research crucial for agriculture, water resources and disaster management, hydropower and climate-sensitive socio-economic sectors.
- It is a step towards making India a global hub for monsoon research and coordination in a seamless manner for addressing common and region-specific aspects of the monsoons around the world.
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Back2Basics:
Various terms related to Indian Monsoon
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP)
Mains level: NA
National Logistics Portal (NLP) is set to be integrated with Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP) to make the multi-modal logistics ecosystem more efficient.
Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP)
- ULIP is designed to enhance efficiency and reduce the cost of logistics in India by creating a transparent, one window platform that can provide real-time information to all stakeholders.
- It was also emphasized that the solution should have the visibility of multi-modal transport, and all the existing systems of various ministries, governing bodies, and private stakeholders should be integrated with the ULIP system.
- This will create a National Single Window Logistics Portal which will help in reducing the logistics cost.
- ULIP will provide real-time monitoring of cargo movement while ensuring data confidentiality with end-to-end encryption, comprehensive reduction in logistic cost resulting in competitive costing.
There are three key components which are defining the ULIP platform:
- Integration with existing data sources of ministries: As authorization, compliance and clearance are some of the critical activities of Logistics; the integration with data points of ministries shall enable a holistic view and interlink the handshaking points.
- Data exchange with private players: To enable the private players, logistics service providers, and industries to utilize the data available with ULIP and at the same time share their data (transportation, dispatch, delivery, etc.) with ULIP, thereby streamlining the processes to bring better efficiency through data exchange.
- Unified document reference in the supply chain: To enable a single digitized document reference number for all the documentation processes in a single platform.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: EU GDPR
Mains level: Paper 3- Making mandatory the reporting of cyber security breach
Context
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is likely to come out with new cyber security regulations which will put the onus on organisations to report any cybercrime that may have happened against them, including data leaks.
Damages inflicted by the cyber crimes
- Apart from private firms, government services, especially critical utilities, are prone to cyber attacks and breach incidents.
- The ransomware attack against the nationwide gas pipeline in 2021 in the U.S. virtually brought down the transportation of about 45% of all petrol and diesel consumed on the east coast.
- If it were measured as a country, then cyber crime — which is predicted to inflict damages totalling $6 trillion globally in 2021 — would be the world’s third-largest economy after the U.S. and China.
Provision for reporting the cybercrime
- Clause 25 in the Data Protection Bill 2021 says that data fiduciaries should report any personal and non-personal data breach incident within 72 hours of becoming aware of a breach.
- Clause in EU GDPR: Even the golden standard for data protection, namely the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR), has a clause for reporting data breach incidents within a stringent timeline.
- This, in principle, is likely to improve cyber security and reduce attacks and breaches.
Why reporting cybercrime is important
- Alerting other organisations: If incidences are reported, the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team and others can alert organisations about the associated security vulnerabilities.
- Precautionary measures: Firms not yet affected can also take precautionary measures such as deploying security patches and improving their cyber security infrastructure.
- Why firms are reluctant to notify the crime? Any security or privacy breach has a negative impact on the reputation of the associated firms.
- An empirical study by Comparitech indicates that the share prices for firms generally fall around 3.5% on average over three months following the breach.
- So, firms weigh the penalties they face for not disclosing the incidents versus the potential reputational harm due to disclosure, and decide accordingly.
Possible solutions
- Periodic cyber security audits: How will the regulator come to know when a firm does not disclose a security breach?
- It can be done only through periodic cyber security audits.
- Unfortunately, the regulators in most countries including India do not have such capacity to conduct security audits frequently and completely.
- Empanel third-party auditors: The government can empanel third party cyber security auditors for the conduct of periodical cyber security impact assessments, primarily amongst all the government departments, both at the national and State level, so that security threats and incidents can be detected proactively and incidents averted.
- Evaluation and Certification of cyber security: The Ministry, as part of cyber security assurance initiatives of the Government of India, to evaluate and certify IT security products and protection profiles, has set up Common Criteria Testing Laboratories and certification bodies across the country.
- These schemes can be extended towards cyber security audits and assessments as well.
- Security command centre: Much like IBM, which set up a large cyber security command centre in Bengaluru, other large firms can also be encouraged to set up such centres for protection of their firms’ assets.
Consider the question “Reporting cyber security breaches is important. Yet, firms are reluctant to report the breaches. Examine the reasons for reluctance on part of the firms and suggest the way forward.”
Conclusion
Such measures will also pass the muster of the EU GDPR, thereby moving India closer to the set of countries that have the same level of cyber security and data protection as that of EU, for seamless cross-border data flow.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: An-225
Mains level: NA
Amid Moscow’s assault on Ukraine, the world’s largest cargo aircraft, the Antonov AN-225 or ‘Mriya’, was destroyed by Russian troops during an attack on an airport near Kyiv.
Antonov AN-225
- With a wingspan of over 290-feet, the unique Antonov AN-225 was designed in what was then the Ukrainian USSR during the 1980s amid a tense race to space between the US and the Soviet Union.
- The plane, nicknamed ‘Mriya’ or ‘dream’ in Ukrainian, is very popular in aviation circles, and is known to attract huge crowds of fans at air shows around the world.
- It was initially designed as part of the Soviet aeronautical program to carry the Buran, which was the Soviet version of the US’ Space Shuttle.
- After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, when the Buran program was cancelled, the aircraft was instead used to transport massive cargo loads.
Its manufacturing
- Only one AN-225 was ever built by the Kyiv-based Antonov Company, the defence manufacturers who originally designed the plane.
- It is essentially a large version of another design by the Antonoc Company — the four-engine An-124 ‘Condor’, which is used by the Russian Air Force.
- The aircraft first took flight in 1988 and has been in use ever since.
- In the recent past, it has been used for delivering relief supplies during calamities in neighbouring nations.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Global Gateway initiative
Mains level: Paper 2- Indo-EU partnership in Indo-Pacific
Context
Europe and its key Indo-Pacific partners are joining forces to deliver a positive agenda for the region at the ministerial Forum to be held in Paris.
Importance of Indo-Pacific for EU
- The issues at stake in this crucial region, including security challenges, are of concern to all EU countries.
- EU unveiled EU Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, in September 2021.
- Europe can offer the countries of the region a sustainable, transparent model for preserving their sovereignty, and an alternative to other models, such as China’s.
- Addressing the connectivity and infrastructure need: There are immense connectivity and infrastructure needs in the Indo-Pacific.
- But these needs should not force the countries of the region into unsustainable dependencies.
- The EU’s Global Gateway initiative unveiled in December 2021 hopes to address this by pooling the resources of the EU’s institutions and its 27 member states to raise 300 billion euros to build sustainable links.
- India’s role: The EU and India have already concluded a Connectivity Partnership (last May in Porto), which can be a pillar of this wider initiative.
- The Indo-Pacific is a crucial region for tackling global challenges such as climate change, biodiversity protection and health resilience.
- At the Forum, the EU will present the support it can provide to countries of the region, including in terms of green finance, to achieve their ecological transitions in a just manner.
- The ministers will also discuss concrete steps to strengthen health sovereignty and promote the “One Health” approach to the pandemic response.
Role of France and India in the region
- France, itself a nation of the Indo-Pacific, has a long-standing commitment to upholding the law of the sea in the region, particularly through our permanent naval presence and joint exercises, such as our annual “Varuna” drills with India.
- In the fields of biodiversity protection and plastic pollution, France and India can act together to spur multilateral action, as exemplified by India’s decision to join the France-initiated international coalition to protect 30 per cent of the land and seas by 2030 (High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People).
- Cooperation between France and India on protected areas and national parks can also be expanded at the Indo-Pacific scale.
- At the forum, France will propose the creation of an Indo-Pacific health campus, to be established in India, to bring together India’s pharmaceutical prowess and Europe’s technological capacity for the benefit of the region.
Conclusion
In a world of growing tensions, the core goal of France’s EU Presidency is to strengthen Europe’s sovereignty and its ability to decide its own fate. This endeavour matches India’s fundamental aspiration for strategic autonomy.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: FSA 2013
Mains level: Paper 3- Inflation challenge
Context
With the Russia-Ukraine conflict flaring into a war, global commodity prices, especially that of crude oil and gas, are likely to see a strong surge. This poses a challenge not only for India to contain inflationary pressures but also the world at large.
The problem of rising inflation
- At 6 per cent, India’s consumer price index (CPI) inflation crossed the upper limit of RBI’s tolerance band in January 2022.
- Implications: High inflation inflicts a large “inflation tax” on the general public whose bank savings earn an interest of less than 1 per cent.
- This is robbing the general public in the name of fuelling growth.
- India is not impervious to this tendency. Most of the major banks in the country offer interest rates between 3 to 4 per cent to depositors.
- Both the finance ministry and the RBI are betting on revving up growth, at least for the time being.
- This is fine as long as they can tame inflation within reasonable limits.
- If we want to do justice to the masses on whose deposits the entire banking system hinges, one must ensure positive real rates of interest.
How to ensure lower rates of inflation
- Given that food has a weight of more than 45 per cent in CPI in India, understanding the dynamics of food inflation is critical.
- India imports roughly 60 per cent of its consumption of edible oils, and global prices of edible oils have gone up by more than 50 per cent over the last year.
- Edible oil inflation in India was touching 35 per cent a few months back.
- This has come down to 18 per cent after the reduction on import duties.
- The Union Minister of Commerce has also recently claimed that they have brought down the inflation in pulses by imposing stock limits on traders and by lowering import duties and importing more pulses.
- The Centre has also imposed stocking limits on domestic oil/oilseed traders.
Way forward: Reform the grain-management-cum-food-subsidy system
- Stock limit on wheat and rice with FCI: As on January 1, it is saddled with stocks that are almost four times the buffer stock norms.
- By unloading the excess grain in the open market, FCI could help in bringing down food inflation substantially as rice and wheat have a high weightage in CPI.
- In the name of the poor, India runs one of the largest but perhaps the most inefficient and corrupt public distribution system (PDS) in the world.
- Stop competitive populism: Every political party promises freebies before elections.
- Unless the Election Commission comes down heavily on such promises or a public interest litigation is filed in the Supreme Court to stop this competitive populism, Indian policymaking cannot be growth-oriented.
- Reduce the population coverage under PDS: India’s food subsidy policy covers 67 per cent of the population and distributes rice and wheat at more than 90 per cent subsidy under the National Food Security Act of 2013.
- Raise productivity: This should be combined with taking giant strides to raise productivity and producing more nutritious food while protecting the environment.
- Focus on R&D in agriculture: It’s well-known agri-R&D gives a much higher return in terms of promoting growth with competitiveness, and reduces poverty by making food cheaper and controlling food inflation
Conclusion
It is important to reform the grain-management-cum-food-subsidy system to release precious resources for growth of agriculture.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Natural farming in India
Context
In her budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman reaffirmed the Centre’s commitment to natural, chemical-free, organic and zero-budget farming.
No specific allocation in Budget
- No specific allocations have been made to the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
- In fact, currently-operational schemes such as the Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana and the National Project on Organic Farming did not find any mention in the budget.
- The Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana, which has received a 4.2-times (year-on-year) larger allocation of Rs 10,433 crore, will earmark some funds for the on-ground implementation of chemical-free farming.
Suggestions
- As the ministry plans the fund utilisation under RKVY, here are eight suggestions to scale up chemical-free farming.
- 1] Focus on rainfed area: focus on promoting natural farming in rainfed areas beyond the Gangetic basin.
- Home to half of India’s farmers, rainfed regions use only a third of the fertilisers per hectarecompared to the areas where irrigation is prevalent.
- The shift to chemical-free farming will be easier in these regions.
- 2] Crop insurance: enable automatic enrolment of farmers transitioning to chemical-free farming into the government’s crop insurance scheme, PM Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).
- 3] Promote microenterprise producing inputs: promote microenterprises that produce inputs for chemical-free agriculture.
- An often-cited barrier by farmers in transitioning to chemical-free agriculture is the lack of readily available natural inputs.
- 4] Leverage NGOs: leverage NGOs and champion farmers who have been promoting and practising sustainable agriculture across the country.
- CEEW research estimates that at least five million farmers are already practising some form of sustainable agriculture and hundreds of NGOs are involved in promoting them.
- 5] Upskill workers: Beyond evolving the curriculum in agricultural universities, upskill the agriculture extension workers on sustainable agriculture practices.
- 6] Leverage community institution: Sixth, leverage community institutions for awareness generation, inspiration, and social support. In other words, the government should facilitate an ecosystem in which farmers learn from and support each other while making the transition.
- 7] support monitoring and impact studies: Such assessments would ensure an informed approach to scaling up sustainable agriculture.
- 8] Millet promotion: Dovetail the ambition on millet promotion with the aim to promote sustainable agriculture.
- Instead of the two remaining in silos, why not promote chemical-free millets and create awareness about both?
Conclusion
India’s food system needs a holistic transformation in demand, production, and supply chains. Let’s hope 2022-23 is the inflection point when we convert intent into action in our journey towards achieving a chemical-free food system.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Types of plastic waste
Mains level: Paper 3- Plastic problem
Context
The UN Environment Assembly meeting in February-March 2022 may finalise a way forward for global cooperation on the emissions of plastic waste into the aquatic ecosystems.
Plastic as a consumption externality
- Plastics represent an example of a consumption externality, which involves many people, rather than a production externality, which involves one or multiple firms.
- Why is it challenging to address? Consumption externality is more challenging to address, as it is difficult to differentiate the behaviour of consumers.
2 Approaches and issues with them
- Imposing the cost of the harm on all consumers may not yield efficient solutions.
- As the number of consumers is high, the cost of controlling them is also high.
- 1] Banning plastic: This approach promotes a sustainable environment, intergenerational equity, saves marine and wildlife ecosystems, and restores soil quality.
- But it also causes inconvenience for consumers, increases substitution cost, and creates unemployment shocks as it affects the production of plastics, leading to less economic activity, less income generation and finally less employment.
- 2] Tax on plastic: Other key aspects that may be considered for global cooperation are the options if plastics are banned, the effectiveness of imposing tax and the potential problems with both these approaches.
- It is difficult to identify the exact tax to be imposed, which may depend on country-specific circumstances.
Way forward
1] Command and control approach
- The environment regulation for plastics may include a ‘command and control’ approach, and fiscal reforms like eco-taxes or subsidies.
- The efficiency of such a regulation depends on its architecture — how well it is planned, designed and executed. It should be credible, transparent and predictable.
2] Fiscal reforms like eco-taxes or subsidies
- Eco-taxes may be imposed in the various stages of production, consumption or disposal of plastics.
- Pollution due to plastics may happen during the production stage.
- That is the logic for imposing tax on polluting inputs, as it forces the producer to look for cleaner substitutes.
- Pollution also occurs during the consumption stage, and thus an eco-tax is recommended to discourage consumption.
3] Estimating the social cost at the local and global level
- Social cost should be evaluated differently in the local/regional and global contexts.
- While health and hygiene are predominant considerations in the former case, climate change is the predominant consideration in the latter.
- Ideally, eco-tax rates on plastics ought to be equal to the marginal social cost arising from the negative externality associated with production, consumption or disposal of goods and services.
Comprehensive policy measures
- Comprehensive policy measures against plastics may generally involve three complementary activities:
- 1] The removal of existing taxes and subsidies that have a negative environmental impact.
- 2] Taking into account the different types or grades of plastics.
- 3] Restructuring existing taxes in an environmentally friendly manner.
- Other suggestions include: Promoting multiple use of plastics through better waste management,
- Educating the public on the harmful use of plastics,
- Providing subsidy for research and development activity for substitute development.
- Appropriate disposal mechanisms and waste management and use of waste for constructive usage like roads.
Conclusion
The key aspects that may be considered for global cooperation are the options if plastics are banned, the effectiveness of imposing tax and the potential problems with both these approaches.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: COP26
Mains level: Paper 2- Integration of development sector and electricity
Context
Electricity and development sectors need a more integrated approach to achieve the vision set forth in instruments such as the Union Budget that guide policy implementation at other administrative levels.
Reduction in allocation
- While the health sector witnessed a 16% increase in estimated Budget allocations from last year, medical and public health spending was reduced by 45% for 2022-23.
- Budget estimates demonstrate intent, but the proof of the pudding lies in the actual expenditure which reiterates the need for greater attention to be paid to our health and education sectors.
- While the health sector was allocated ₹74,602 crore in 2021-22, the Government exceeded its spending by over ₹5,000 crore more (₹80,026 crore) on health, signalling a spike in demand, likely propelled by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
- Given this scenario, a less than ₹1,000 crore increase in the Budget Estimate (₹86,606 crore) in 2022-23 when compared with last year’s Revised Estimates (₹85,915 crore) appears incongruent with the Government’s aim of providing quality public health care at scale.
Role of reliable energy
- It is widely recognised that the availability of reliable electricity supply can improve the delivery of health and education services.
- 74% of the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals are interlinked with universal access to reliable energy.
- Its reliability in terms of the number of hours that electricity is available steadily without any voltage fluctuations also plays a significant role in delivering services.
- Sometimes, multiple policies can complement each other to achieve the larger sectoral objectives.
- For example, in Assam, the Energy Vision document that lays out the electricity and development outcomes is to be applied in tandem with the Solar Energy Policy 2017 that operationalises this vision via an action plan.
Reasons for lack of integration of electrification in the development sector
- The lack of integration of electrification requirements in development sector policy documents may be partly due to lack of information about electricity and development linkages, poor coordination mechanisms between the sectors and departments, and poor access to appropriate finance.
- Even while electricity is considered, it is to the limited extent of being a one-time civil infrastructure activity rather than a continuous feature necessary for the day-to-day operations of these services.
Way forward
- To successfully integrate electricity provisioning and maintenance, policy frameworks should include innovative coordination and financing mechanisms.
- These mechanisms, while developing clear compliance mandates, must also allow sufficient room for flexibility to respond to local contexts.
- Providing reliable electricity for health centres and schools should be the responsibility of centralised decision-making entities at the State or national level.
- As India has witnessed with other cross-sectoral and centralised statistical, planning, and implementation data governance, diverse contexts must support oversight mechanisms that ensure data credibility.
- Finance is largely unavailable to ensure reliable electricity supply to schools and health facilities.
- Some directives, such as those governing the use of untied funds, need to be more flexible in allowing these facilities to prioritise providing reliable and sustainable electricity.
Conclusion
A successful policy outcome might be dependent on several invisible aspects that do not get the attention and funding necessary to aid in successful policy delivery. Electricity is one of them.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NATO
Mains level: Paper 2- Implications of Ukraine crisis for India
Context
Late last week, India abstained from a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution which called for condemning the Russian military action against Ukraine.
Understanding India’s position on the Ukraine issue
- New Delhi has taken a subtle pro-Moscow position on the question of Russian attacks against Ukraine.
- A geopolitical necessity: India’s Russia tilt should be seen not just as a product of its time-tested friendship with Moscow but also as a geopolitical necessity.
- There are understandable reasons for India’s (subtle) pro-Russia position: an aggressive Russia is a problem for the U.S. and the West, not for India.
- North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) expansion is Russia’s problem, not India’s.
- China problem: India’s problem is China, and it needs both the U.S./the West and Russia to deal with the “China problem”.
- Neighbouring China as the rising superpower and Russia as its strategic ally challenging the U.S.-led global order at a time when China has time and again acted on its aggressive intentions vis-à-vis India, and when India is closest to the U.S. than ever before in its history, throws up a unique and unprecedented challenge for India.
- There is an emerging dualism in contemporary Indian strategic Weltanschauung: the predicament of a continental space that is reeling under immense pressure from China, Pakistan and Taliban-led Afghanistan adding to its strategic claustrophobia; and, the emergence of a maritime sphere which presents an opportunity to break out of the same.
Why India needs to balance relations with Russia and the US
- Relations with Russia to manage continental challenges: New Delhi needs Moscow’s assistance to manage its continental difficulties be it through defence supplies, helping it ‘return’ to central Asia, working together at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) or exploring opportunities for collaboration in Afghanistan.
- Relations with US to manage maritime challenges: When it comes to the vast maritime sphere, the Indo-Pacific to be precise, Russia is not of great consequence to India.
- That is where its American and western partners come into play. India is simply not in a position to address the China challenge in the maritime space without the active support of American and western navies and, of course, the Quad.
- This unavoidable dualism in the contemporary Indian strategic landscape necessitates that India balances the two sides.
Implications of war on Ukraine for India
- 1] It will embolden China: Russian action in Ukraine dismissing the concerns of the rest of the international community including the U.S. will no doubt embolden China and its territorial ambitions.
- 2] Sanctions on Russia will impact India’s defence cooperation: The new sanctions regime may have implications for India’s defence cooperation with Moscow.
- 3] Russia-China axis: The longer the standoff lasts, the closer China and Russia could become, which certainly does not help India.
- 4] Focus will move away from Indo-Pacific: The more severe the U.S.-Russia rivalry becomes, the less focus there would be on the Indo-Pacific and China, which is where India’s interests lie.
Foreign policy challenge for India
- Position of geopolitical vulnerability: India’s responses to the Russian aggression on Ukraine underline the fact that India is operating from a position of geopolitical vulnerability.
- Going forward, India’s ability to be a “swing state”, “major power” or a “leading power” stands diminished.
- There will be more middle-of-the-road behaviour from New Delhi rather than resolute positions on global strategic developments.
- Interests over principles: India’s position also shows the unmistakable indication that when it comes to geopolitics, New Delhi will choose interests over principles.
- A careful reading of India’s statements and positions taken over the past few days also demonstrates a certain amount of discomfort in having to choose interests over principles.
- There is perhaps a realisation in New Delhi that a dog-eat-dog world, where rules and good behaviour do not matter, does not help India in the long run either.
- Mastering the art of balancing extremes: Going forward, if tensions between Russia and the West persist, balancing extremes will be a key feature of Indian diplomacy.
- Even though New Delhi abstained from voting on it (thereby siding with Moscow), it made its unhappiness about the Russian action clear in the written note.
- Sticking to the principle of strategic autonomy: New Delhi’s response to the recent crisis, especially its “explanation of vote” at the UNSC indicates a careful recourse to the principle of strategic autonomy: India will make caveated statements and will not be pressured by either party.
Conclusion
India’s indirect support to the Russian position is not a product of Russian pressure but the result of a desire to safeguard its own interests.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Collegium system, NJAC
Mains level: Judicial vacancy in India
Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana said there was a need to both increase the number of judges in High Courts and urgently fill existing vacancies.
Judicial vacancy in India
- The Indian judiciary faces high vacancies across all levels (the Supreme Court, High Courts, and subordinate courts).
- Vacancy of judges in courts is one of the reasons for delays and a rising number of pending cases, as there are not enough judges to hear and decide cases.
- As of today, more than four crore cases are pending across all courts in India.
Appointing judges to the HC
- The appointment of the judges to the high courts is governed by Article 217 of the Constitution.
- In addition to the constitutional provisions, the process of appointments outlined in the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) is a lengthy one.
- It is initiated by the Chief Justice of the concerned high court who recommends the nominees to the state government.
- Ideally, this process should begin six months prior to the occurrence of the vacancy.
- The state government then sends the recommendation to the Union Law Ministry, which then sends it to the Supreme Court Collegium.
HC Vacancies
- The total sanctioned judicial strength in the 25 High Courts is 1,080.
- However, the present working strength is 661 with 419 vacancies as on March 1.
- The Supreme Court has been repeatedly conveying to the government its growing alarm at the judicial vacancies in High Courts.
- Some of these High Courts are functioning only with half their sanctioned judicial strength.
- On average, the courts suffered at least 40% judicial vacancies.
Why is there a huge gap?
Ans. Timeline of appointment is arbitrary
- Appointments of High Court judges are guided by a memorandum of procedure.
- As per this memorandum, the appointment process is to be initiated by the concerned High Court at least six months before a vacancy occurs.
- However, the Standing Committee (2021) noted that this timeline is rarely adhered to by High Courts.
- Further, in the final stage of the process, after receiving recommendations from the Supreme Court collegium, the executive appoints judges to the High Court.
- No timeline is prescribed for this stage of the appointment process.
How many judges do we need?
- The Law Commission of India (1987) had noted the importance of manpower planning for the judiciary.
- Lack of adequate number of judges means a greater workload per judge.
- Thus, it becomes essential to arrive at an optimal judge strength to deal with pending and new cases in courts.
- Over the years, different methods of calculating the required judge strength for subordinate courts (where the backlog of cases in the Indian judiciary is concentrated) have been recommended:
| Method of calculation |
Recommendation and its status |
| Judge-to-population ratio: Optimum number of judges per million population |
The Law Commission of India (1987) had recommended increasing this ratio to 50 judges per million people. For 2020, the judge-to-population ratio was 21 judges per million population. |
| Rate of disposal: Number of additional judges required (to clear the existing backlog of cases and ensure that new backlog is not created) based on the average number of cases disposed per judge |
The Law Commission of India (2014) proposed this method. It rejected the judge-to-population ratio method, observing that filing of cases per capita varies substantially across geographic units depending on socio-economic conditions. |
| Weighted case load method: Calculating judge strength based on the disposal by judges, taking into account the nature and complexity of cases in local conditions |
It addresses the existing backlog of cases as well as the new flow of cases every year in subordinate courts. In 2017, the Supreme Court accepted this model. |
| Time-based weighted case load method: Calculating the required judge strength taking into account the actual time spent by judges in different types of cases at varying stages based on an empirical study |
Used widely in the United States, this was the long-term method recommended by the NCMS (2016) to assess the required judge strength for subordinate courts. It involves determining the total number of ‘judicial hours’ required for disposing of the case load of each court. The Delhi High Court used this approach in a pilot project (2017- 2018) to calculate the ideal judge strength for disposing of pending cases in certain courts in Delhi. |
Back2Basics:
What is Collegium System?
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: SWIFT
Mains level: Global sanctions on Russia
The U.S., Europe and several other western nations are moving to exclude Russia from SWIFT, an international network for banks worldwide to facilitate smooth money transactions globally.
What is SWIFT?
- SWIFT is an international network for banks worldwide to facilitate smooth money transactions globally.
- It is basically a messaging network used by banks and financial institutions globally for quick and faultless exchange of information pertaining to financial transactions.
- The Belgium-headquartered SWIFT connects more than 11,000 banking and securities organizations in over 200 countries and territories.
- First used in 1973, it went live in 1977 with 518 institutions from 22 countries, its website states.
What exactly is it?
- SWIFT is merely a platform that sends messages and does not hold any securities or money.
- It facilitates standardized and reliable communication to facilitate the transaction.
How does it facilitate banking?
- Each participant on the platform is assigned a unique eight-digit SWIFT code or a bank identification code (BIC).
- If a person, say, in New York with a Citibank account, wants to send money to someone with an HSBC account in London, the payee would have to submit to his bank the London-based beneficiary’s account number along with the eight-digit SWIFT code of the latter’s bank.
- Citibank would then send a SWIFT message to HSBC. Once that is received and approved, the money would be credited to the required account.
How is the organization governed?
- SWIFT claims to be neutral. Its shareholders, consisting of 3,500 firms across the globe, elect the 25-member board, which is responsible for oversight and management of the company.
- It is regulated by G-10 central banks from Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, the UK, the US, Switzerland, and Sweden, alongside the European Central Bank.
- Its lead overseer is the National Bank of Belgium.
- The SWIFT oversight forum was established in 2012.
- The G-10 participants were joined by the central banks of India, Australia, Russia, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, the Republic of Turkey, and the People’s Republic of China.
- Europe, Middle East, and Africa are highest contributors to SWIFT.
What happens if one is excluded from SWIFT?
- US excluding Russia from SWIFT could have serious repercussions on how Russian banks carry out international financial transactions.
- If a country is excluded from the most participatory financial facilitating platform, its foreign funding would take a hit, making it entirely reliant on domestic investors.
- This is particularly troublesome when institutional investors are constantly seeking new markets in newer territories.
- An alternative system would be cumbersome to build and even more difficult to integrate with an already expansive system.
Are any countries excluded from SWIFT?
- Iranian banks were ousted from the system in 2018 despite resistance from several countries in Europe.
- This step, while regrettable, was taken in the interest of the stability and integrity of the wider global financial system, and based on an assessment of the economic situation.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Munich Security Conference
Mains level: NA
The latest edition of MSC a week ago assumed significance as it was here that the Ukrainian President appealed for help ahead of the Russian invasion.
Munich Security Conference
- The Munich Security Conference is an annual conference on international security policy that has been held in Munich, Bavaria, Germany since 1963.
- It brings together heads of state, diplomats and business leaders from the world’s leading democracies for three days of meetings and presentations.
- It is the world’s largest gathering of its kind.
- Over the past four decades the MSC has become the most important independent forum for the exchange of views by international security policy decision-makers.
How did it begin?
- When the MSC was founded in 1963, it was envisioned as a way for leaders, mostly from the West, to discuss threats and dangers in an informal setting.
- Most of the concerns at the time stemmed from the Cold War, which had dominated world politics for nearly a half-century.
- Over time, the conference evolved into a platform for airing grievances and workshopping political agreements, some of them outside the realm of East-West relations.
- In recent years, the conference has often invited leaders from authoritarian countries, and even adversaries, to speak.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Nord Stream 2
Mains level: Paper 2- Ukraine crisis and its implications for West-led global order
Context
The Ukraine crisis has come to a head with Russia biting the bullet and launching “a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Russian invasion and response of the West
- Hours before the invasion, the western countries had imposed a new round of sanctions against Moscow (targeting Russian individuals and banks linked to Mr. Putin’s regime).
- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz suspended certification of Nord Stream 2, a major gas pipeline between Russia and his nation.
- The European Union has announced a “massive” package of sanctions.
- Incoherence in response: the West has been incoherent in its response — not being able to present a united front, and worse, not even speaking the same language at times.
- For the West, this has been a moment when it has been found wanting — a lack of imagination, lack of will and lack of leadership, all rolled into producing a lackadaisical response to the one of most serious security crises in decades.
- France has used this moment of crisis in trying to showcase its own leadership credentials.
- Lack of trans-Atlantic engagement: It turns out that even Mr. Biden has not been able to build the trans-Atlantic engagement around common objectives to be pursued collectively.
- Energy dependence: With the EU importing 39% of its total gas imports and 30% of oil from Russia, and with the Central and Eastern European countries being almost 100% dependent on Russian gas, the reasons for internal EU dissonance are not that difficult to fathom.
Implications for Indo-Pacific
- Emboldening China: This ineffectual western response has emboldened not only Russia but also China as the focus of the West is in danger of moving away from the Indo-Pacific.
- The Russia-China ‘axis’ is only getting stronger as the two nations seem ready to take on the West that seems willing to concede without even putting up a fight.
Conclusion
Today, the balance of power is once again in flux, and as China develops a strategic partnership with Russia, the future of the West-led global order will be defined by how effectively it responds to the crisis in Ukraine.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Suwalki corridor
Mains level: Paper 2- Implications of Russia's actions in Ukraine
Context
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched “special military operations” with the objective of “demilitarising Ukraine” but not “occupying” it.
Why it was a crisis in the making?
- Redrawing national boundaries by force: After 1945, this is the second time that national boundaries are being redrawn by force; the first was the 1999 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) air strikes on Serbian forces that led to the creation of Kosovo.
- Russian and Chinese protests about NATO undertaking “out of area operations” without United Nations Security Council approval carried little weight.
- After the fall of the Berlin Wall in late-1989, then U.S. Secretary Of State had assured the Soviet President that “there would be no extension of NATO’s jurisdiction one inch to the east”.
- Rather than look for a new European security framework, the newly independent Baltic and central European states sought security in a U.S.-led NATO.
- Beginning in 1999, NATO has added 14 new members in stages.
- At the NATO summit in 2008, at U.S. President George Bush’s urging, an in-principle opening for Ukraine and Georgia was announced, though France and Germany, conscious of Russian concerns, successfully opposed defining a time frame.
- Later that year, Russia intervened in Georgia on the grounds of protecting the Russian minorities and took over the northern provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
- Annexation of Crimea: In 2014 Mr. Putin annexed Crimea.
- For Russia, Crimea is vital as the peninsula hosts Russia’s Black Sea fleet, providing it access to the Mediterranean and its bases at Latakia and Tartus in Syria.
- Despite no timeline for membership, Ukraine was made a NATO Enhanced Opportunity Partner in 2020.
- The presence of British and U.S. warships in the Black Sea began to increase.
- In 2019, the U.K. entered into a cooperation agreement with Ukraine to develop two new naval ports, Ochakiv on the Black Sea and Berdyansk on the Sea of Azov, a move that Russia saw as potentially threatening.
- Beginning with NATO’s bombing of Serbia in 1999, interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya and colour revolutions to engineer regime changes, the U.S.’ unilateral withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty in 2002 coupled with missile defence deployments in Poland and Romania, Russia’s grievances were accumulating.
Faltering diplomacy
- France and Germany initiated talks between Ukraine and Russia under the Normandy format leading to the Minsk agreements, in 2014 and 2015.
- The first was for a ceasefire between Ukraine and the Russian-backed separatists and the second was between Ukraine, Russia, the two separatist regions of Luhansk and Donetsk and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
- Supportive declarations by France and Germany were intended to address Russian security concerns.
- Ukraine undertook to introduce certain constitutional amendments to provide a degree of autonomy to the two provinces and Russia was to assist in withdrawal of all foreign forces.
- However, neither side implemented and positions have only hardened since.
- Russia’s threatening moves made NATO members, especially the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) and the central Europeans like Poland and Romania, especially nervous.
- Finally, NATO remained united but unable to provide an off-ramps solution.
Implications for Russia
- NATO has been rejuvenated, the trans-Atlantic unity strengthened and Russia’s economic ties with Europe have been adversely impacted.
- Given Russia’s considerable foreign exchange reserves, of nearly $640 billion, sanctions imposed by the U.S. and EU may not hurt immediately but eventually will begin to bite both the oligarchs and the common people.
- Worse, Russia will become more dependent on China — for political support as well as a market for its energy exports.
- This will eventually weaken its hand in central Asia.
Conclusion
For Mr Putin challenge is to constrain the adversary’s options while increasing one’s own options and space for manoeuvre. His actions this week may yield tactical gains but hardly pass the test for strategic victory.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Chernobyl Disaster
Mains level: Not Much
Ukrainian authorities said that radiation levels had increased in the Chernobyl exclusion zone after the Russian Invasion.
What is Chernobyl Disaster?
- The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the No. 4 reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near the city of Pripyat in the north of Ukraine (formerly USSR).
- It is considered the worst nuclear disaster in history both in cost and casualties.
- It is one of only two nuclear energy accidents rated at seven—the maximum severity—on the International Nuclear Event Scale.
- The other such incident was the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan.
Destruction caused
- Some sources state that two people were killed in the initial explosions, whereas others report that the figure was closer to 50.
- Dozens more people contracted serious radiation sickness; some of them later died.
- Between 50 and 185 million curies of radionuclides (radioactive forms of chemical elements) escaped into the atmosphere.
- This is several times more radioactivity than that created by the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.
- This radioactivity was spread by the wind over Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine and soon reached as far west as France and Italy.
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