Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Maharashtra-Karnataka Boundary Dispute
Karnataka has renamed the Mumbai-Karnataka region, consisting of seven districts, as Kittur Karnataka.
What is the Mumbai-Karnataka Region?
- The erstwhile Mumbai-Karnataka region consisted of Uttara Kannada, Belagavi, Dharwad, Vijayapura, Bagalkote, Gadag and Haveri districts.
Reasons behind renaming
- The Karnataka government has meant to dissociate itself from any ties with the erstwhile Presidency or colonial-era nomenclature in regions that came under the newly formed state of Karnataka in 1956.
- The renaming is also to detach itself from any ties with Maharashtra.
Claims made by Maharashtra
- Maharashtra has staked claim to an area of over 7,000 sq. km along its border with Karnataka.
- It comprised 814 villages in the districts of Belagavi, Uttara Kannada, Bidar and Gulbarga, and the towns of Belagavi, Karwar and Nippani.
- Maharashtra wants to annex all these areas.
- The erstwhile Bombay Presidency, a multilingual province, included present-day Karnataka districts of Vijayapura, Belagavi, Dharwad and Uttara Kannada.
- The States Reorganisation Act of 1956 made Belagavi and 10 talukas of Bombay State a part of the then Mysore State (which was renamed Karnataka in 1973).
A case pending in the Supreme Court
- Successive governments in Maharashtra have demanded their inclusion within the state– a claim that Karnataka contests.
- In 2004, the Maharashtra government moved the Supreme Court for a settlement of the border dispute under Article 131(b) of the Constitution.
- It demanded 814 villages from Karnataka on the basis of the theory of village being the unit of calculation, contiguity and enumerating linguistic population in each village.
- The case is pending in the apex court.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Char Dham Project
Mains level: Environmental issues with the project
The needs of defence and environment have to be balanced and a “nuanced” approach is required, said the Supreme Court while hearing an appeal against the widening of roads in Uttarakhand hills for the “Char Dham project”.
What is Char Dham?
- The Char Dham is a set of four pilgrimage sites in India.
- It is believed that visiting these sites helps achieve moksha (salvation).
- The four Dhams are, Badrinath, Dwaraka, Puri and Rameswaram.
The highway project
- The Char Dham highway project connects the four himalayan shrines of Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath in Garhwal Himalayas.
- It has 899-km road which the Centre wants to broaden near Dehradun.
What is the controversy?
The Supreme Court formed a high-powered committee (HPC) to examine the issues. In July 2020, the HPC submitted two reports after members disagreed on the ideal width for hill roads.
- Deforestation: In 2018, the road-expansion project was challenged by an NGO for its potential impact on the Himalayan ecology due to felling trees, cutting hills and dumping muck (excavated material).
- Terrain damage: It was observed that a wider road requires additional slope cutting, blasting, tunnelling, dumping and deforestation.
- Increasing vulnerability: All of this will further destabilise the Himalayan terrain, and increase vulnerability to landslides and flash floods.
Criticism of the Project
- Work without clearance: Project work and felling of trees on different stretches, adding up to over 250 km, has been continuing illegally since 2017-18.
- Misusing old clearance: Work started on stretches adding up to over 200 km on the basis of old forest clearances issued to the Border Roads Organisation during 2002-2012.
- False declaration: The work began by falsely declaring that these stretches did not fall in the Eco Sensitive Zones of Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, Rajaji National Park, Valley of Flowers National Park etc.
The defence angle
- Even as the project grappled to come clean, it garnered support from the MoD seeking a double-lane road to meet the requirement of the Army.
- The project always had a strategic angle to it as the highways would facilitate troop movement to areas closer to the China border.
- Suddenly, this became the sole justification for building wider roads.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Emergence of landmass on Earth
Mains level: Not Much
A new study has challenged the widely accepted view that the continents rose from the oceans about 2.5 billion years ago.
About Singhbhum
- Singhbhum district of Jharkhand is part of the Chhota Nagpur Division.
- It is one of the leading producers of copper in India.
First landmass to emerge
- The study suggests that the earliest continental landmass to emerge may have been Jharkhand’s Singhbhum region.
- Scientists have found sandstones in Singhbhum with geological signatures of ancient river channels, tidal plains and beaches over 3.2 billion years old.
- They somewhat represent the earliest crust exposed to air.
Studying the sandstones
- The research studies a sedimentary rock, called granite. They tried to find their age and in which conditions they have formed.
- They found the age by analysing the uranium and lead contents of tiny minerals.
- These rocks are 3.1 billion years old, and were formed in ancient rivers, beaches, and shallow seas.
- All these water bodies could have only existed if there was continental land.
- Thus, they inferred that the Singhbhum region was above the ocean before 3.1 billion years ago.
How did they analyse?
- The researchers studied the granites that form the continental crust of Singhbhum region.
- These granites are 3.5 to 3.1 billion years old and formed through extensive volcanism that happened about 35-45 km deep inside the Earth.
- This process continued on-and-off for hundreds of millions of years until all the magma solidified to form a thick continental crust in the area.
- Due to the thickness and less density, the continental crust emerged above surrounding oceanic crust owing to buoyancy.
Back2Basics: Emergence of Landmass
- In the beginning, more than 4.6-billion years ago, the world was a ball of burning gas, spinning through space.
- It took hundreds of millions of years for the first land masses to emerge.
- About 250-million years ago, long, long after the Earth had formed, all the continents of the time had joined together to form a super-continent called Pangaea.
- This super-continent broke up about 200-million years ago to form two giant continents, Gondwana and Laurasia.
- Gondwana comprised what is now Africa, South America, Australia, Antarctica and India.
- The Indian sub-continent lay off the east coast of Africa, before it broke off and moved north rapidly.
Isostacy
- Huge plates of crustal and upper mantle material (lithosphere) “float” on more dense, plastically flowing rocks of the asthenosphere.
- The “depth” to which a plate, or block of crust, sinks is a function of its weight and varies as the weight changes.
- This equilibrium, or balance, between blocks of crust and the underlying mantle is called isostasy.
- The taller a block of crust is, the deeper it penetrates into the mantle because of its greater mass and weight. Isostasy occurs when each block settles into an equilibrium with the underlying mantle.
- Blocks of crust that are separated by faults will “settle” at different elevations according to their relative mass.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Birsa Munda
Mains level: Tribal movement in Colonial India
The Union Cabinet has decided to declare November 15 as ‘Janjatiya Gaurav Divas’ to mark the birth anniversary of revered tribal leader and freedom fighter Birsa Munda.
Who was Birsa Munda (1875-1900)?
- Birsa Munda was an Indian tribal freedom fighter, religious leader, and folk hero who belonged to the Munda tribe.
- He spearheaded a tribal religious millenarian movement that arose in the Bengal Presidency (now Jharkhand) in the late 19th century, during the British Raj.
His legacy
(A) Birth and early childhood
- Born on November 15, 1875, Birsa spent much of his childhood moving from one village to another with his parents.
- He belonged to the Munda tribe in the Chhotanagpur Plateau area.
- He received his early education at Salga under the guidance of his teacher Jaipal Nag.
- On the recommendation of Jaipal Nag, Birsa converted to Christianity in order to join the German Mission school.
- He, however, opted out of the school after a few years.
(B) New faith ‘Birsait’ against religious conversion
- The impact of Christianity was felt in the way he came to relate to religion later.
- Having gained awareness of the British colonial ruler and the efforts of the missionaries to convert tribals to Christianity, Birsa started the faith of ‘Birsait’.
- Soon members of the Munda and Oraon community started joining the Birsait sect and it turned into a challenge to British conversion activities.
- The Mundas called him Dharati Aaba, the father of earth.
(C) The Ulgulan
- The Great Tumult or Ulgulan was a movement started by Birsa Munda against the exploitation and discrimination against tribals by the local authorities.
- Although the movement failed, it did result in the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act which forbade tribal lands passing to non-tribals, protecting their land rights for the foreseeable future.
(D) Death
- On March 3, 1900, Birsa Munda was arrested by the British police while he was sleeping with his tribal guerilla army at Jamkopai forest in Chakradharpur.
- He died in Ranchi jail on June 9, 1900, at the young age of 25.
(E) Creation of Jharkhand
- Birsa Munda’s achievements are known to be even more remarkable by virtue of the fact that he came to acquire them before he was 25.
- In recognition of his impact on the national movement, the state of Jharkhand was created on his birth anniversary in 2000.
Try this PYQ from CSP 2020
Q. With reference to the history of India, “Ulgulan” or the Great Tumult is the description of which of the following event?
(a) The Revolt of 1857
(b) The Mappila Rebellion of 1921
(c) The Indigo Revolt of 1859-60
(d) Birsa Munda’s Revolt of 1899-1900
Post your answers here.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Mineral Conservation and Development (Amendment) Rules, 2021
Mains level: Not Much
The Ministry of Mines has notified the Mineral Conservation and Development (Amendment) Rules (MCDR), 2021.
About the Amendment
- The MCDR have been framed under section 18 of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957.
- It aims to provide rules regarding conservation of minerals, systematic and scientific mining, development of the mineral in the country and for the protection of environment.
Key highlights of the amendments:
Digital aerial imaging of the mines
- Digital mapping: All plans and sections related to mine shall be prepared by combination of Digital Global Positioning System (DGPS) or Total Station or by drone survey.
- Drone Imaging: Lessees having annual excavation plans of 1 million tonne or more or having leased area of 50 hectare or more are required to submit drone survey images of leased area and up to 100 meters outside the lease boundary every year.
- Satellite imaging: Other lessees submit high resolution satellite images obtained from CARTOSAT-2 satellite
This step will not only improve mine planning practices, security and safety in the mines but also ensure better supervision of mining operations.
Penalty Provisions
Penalty provisions in the rules have been rationalized. Amendment in the rules categorized the violations of the rules under the following major heads:
- Major Violations: Penalty of imprisonment, fine or both.
- Minor Violations: Penalty reduced. Penalty of only fine for such violations prescribed.
- Decriminalization of Rules: Violation of other rules has been decriminalized. These rules did not cast any significant obligation on the concession holder or any other person
Financial Assurance
- Amount of financial assurance increased to five lakh rupees for Category ‘A’ mines and three lakh rupees for Category ‘B’ mines from existing three and two lakh rupees, respectively.
- Provision of forfeiture of financial assurance or performance security of the lease holder added in case of non-submission of final mine closure plan within the period specified.
Employment Opportunity
- Allowed engagement of a part-time mining engineer or a part-time geologist for small mines which will ease compliance burden for small miners.
- Diploma in mining and mine surveying is added in qualification for full-time Mining Engineer.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Challenges in meeting COP26 commitments made by India
Context
Even though New Delhi has invested in renewable energy and announced a net-zero target, there is a gap between the announcements and the ground reality, as is evident from the promotion of coal.
India’s commitments
- AT the COP 26 in Glasgow, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India has set a target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2070.
- India also updated its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) that have to be met by 2030.
- Its new pledge includes increasing the country’s installed renewable capacity to 500 GW, meeting 50 per cent of its energy requirements from non-fossil fuel sources.
India’s achievements on past commitments
- At the COP 21 in Paris, India, made similar ambitious announcements and aimed to reduce the economy-wide emissions intensity by 33-35 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030.
- In August, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy announced that the country has installed 100 GW of renewable energy capacity.
- The majority of this 100 GW, about 78 per cent, is due to large-scale wind and solar power projects.
- While this is a milestone, India is on track to accomplishing only about two-thirds of its planned renewable target of 175 GW installation by 2022.
- To achieve its new goals, India will need to do more in different directions.
- For instance, it has a target of achieving 40 GW of green energy from the rooftop solar sector by 2022, but it has not been able to achieve even 20 per cent of that so far.
- In the transport sector, India has targeted a 30 per cent share of electric vehicles (EV) in new sales for 2030.
India’s climate actions against the Paris Agreement targets
- The Climate Action Tracker, an independent scientific analysis that tracks government climate action against the Paris Agreement targets, deems India’s performance as “highly insufficient” simply because coal represents about 70 per cent of the country’s energy supply.
- India also needs to cut down subsidies to the fossil fuel industry drastically — not the case currently.
- While in the past seven years, the country has invested Rs 5.2 trillion in renewable energy, the investment in fossil fuel industry, though down by (only) 4 per cent from 2015-19, was Rs 245 trillion.
- Coal production is estimated to increase to one billion tonnes by 2024 from 716 million tonnes in 2020-21.
- According to the Central Electricity Authority, coal capacity is projected to increase from 202GW in 2021 to 266GW by 2029-30.
- The Government of India is not actively discouraging such investments.
- On the contrary, coal subsidies are still 35 per cent higher than the subsidies for renewables and coal-fired power generation receives indirect financial support from the government through income tax exemptions and land acquisition at a preferential rate.
Conclusion
It is also true that India’s energy transition would be in its own interest because, otherwise, economic growth will not be sustainable and human security will be at stake if dozens of millions of climate refugees are created due to the devastating consequences of climate change.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Chalking out a greener path to development
Context
There has been quite a lot of debate on India’s dependence on coal against the backdrop of the Conference of the Parties (COP26) meeting. The crux of the theoretical argument is that India needs to develop, and development requires energy.
Carbon budget framework
- India has neither historically emitted nor currently emits carbon anywhere close to what the global North has, or does, in per capita terms.
- If anything, the argument goes, it should ask for a higher and fairer share in the global carbon budget.
- There is no doubt that this carbon budget framework is an excellent tool to understand global injustice but to move from there to our ‘right to burn’ is a big leap.
- However, the question is do the countries in the global South necessarily need to increase their share in the global carbon budget?
Why should developing countries aim for development without increasing carbon emission
1) Reducing the cost of renewable energy
- Normally the argument in favour of coal is on account of its cost, reliability and domestic availability.
- Recent data show that the levelised cost of electricity from renewable energy sources like solar (photovoltaic), hydro and onshore wind has been declining sharply over the last decade and is already less than fossil fuel-based electricity generation.
- On reliability, frontier renewable energy technologies have managed to address the question of variability of such sources to a large extent and, with technological progress, it seems to be changing for the better.
- As for the easy domestic availability of coal, it is a myth.
- India is among the largest importers of coal in the world, whereas it has no dearth of solar energy.
2) Following different development model
- During the debates of post-colonial development in the Third World, there were two significant issues under discussion — control over technology and choice of techniques to address the issue of surplus labour.
- India didn’t quite resolve the two issues in its attempts of import-substituting industrialisation which worsened during the post-reform period.
- But it can address both today.
- The abundance of renewable natural resources in the tropical climate can give India a head start in this competitive world of technology.
- South-South collaborations can help India avoid the usual patterns of trade between the North and the South, where the former controls technology and the latter merely provides inputs.
- And the high-employment trajectory that the green path entails vis-à-vis the fossil fuel sector may help address the issue of surplus labour, even if partially.
- Such a path could additionally provide decentralised access to clean energy to the poor and the marginalised, including in remote regions of India.
3) Limitation of addressing global injustice in terms of a carbon budget
- The framework of addressing global injustice in terms of a carbon budget is quite limiting in its scope in more ways than one.
- Such an injustice is not at the level of the nation-states alone; there is such injustice between the rich and the poor within nations and between humans and non-human species.
- A progressive position on justice would take these injustices into account instead of narrowly focusing on the framework of nation-states.
- Moreover, it’s a double whammy of injustice for the global South when it comes to climate change.
- Not only is it not primarily responsible, but the global South, especially its poor, will unduly bear the effect of climate change because of its tropical climate and high population density along the coastal lines.
- So, arguing for more coal is like shooting oneself in the foot.
Way forward
- One of the ways in which this can be done is by making the global North pay for the energy transition in the South.
- Chalking out an independent, greener path to development may create conditions for such negotiations and give the South the moral high ground to force the North to come to the table, like South Africa did at Glasgow.
Conclusion
Even if one is pessimistic about this path of righting the wrongs of the past, at the very least, it is better than the status quo.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: FCRA
Mains level: Amendment to the FCRA
The Supreme Court has reserved its judgment on petitions challenging the validity of amendments introduced in 2020 to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010, aimed at tightening the curbs on NGOs allowed to receive foreign funds.
About FCRA
- The FCRA regulates foreign donations and ensures that such contributions do not adversely affect internal security.
- First enacted in 1976, it was amended in 2010 when a slew of new measures was adopted to regulate foreign donations.
- The FCRA is applicable to all associations, groups and NGOs which intend to receive foreign donations.
- It is mandatory for all such NGOs to register themselves under the FCRA.
- The registration is initially valid for five years and it can be renewed subsequently if they comply with all norms.
Why was FCRA enacted?
- The FCRA sought to consolidate the acceptance and utilisation of foreign contribution or foreign hospitality by individuals, associations or companies.
- It sought to prohibit such contributions from being used for activities detrimental to national interest.
What was the recent Amendment?
- The FCRA was amended in September 2020 to introduce some new restrictions.
- The Government says it did so because it found that many recipients were wanting in compliance with provisions relating to filing of annual returns and maintenance of accounts.
- Many did not utilise the funds received for the intended objectives.
- It claimed that the annual inflow as foreign contributions almost doubled between 2010 and 2019.
- The FCRA registration of 19,000 organisations was cancelled and, in some cases, prosecution was also initiated.
How has the law changed?
There are at least three major changes that NGOs find too restrictive.
- Prohibition of fund transfer: An amendment to Section 7 of the Act completely prohibits the transfer of foreign funds received by an organisation to any other individual or association.
- Directed and single bank account: Another amendment mandates that every person (or association) granted a certificate or prior permission to receive overseas funds must open an FCRA bank account in a designated branch of the SBI in New Delhi.
- Utilization of funds: Fund All foreign funds should be received only in this account and none other. However, the recipients are allowed to open another FCRA bank account in any scheduled bank for utilisation.
- Shared information: The designated bank will inform authorities about any foreign remittance with details about its source and the manner in which it was received.
- Aadhaar mandate: In addition, the Government is also authorised to take the Aadhaar numbers of all the key functionaries of any organisation that applies for FCRA registration or for prior approval for receiving foreign funds.
- Cap on administrative expenditure: Another change is that the portion of the receipts allowed as administrative expenditure has been reduced from 50% to 20%.
What is the criticism against these changes?
- Arbitrary restrictions: NGOs questioning the law consider the prohibition on transfer arbitrary and too heavy a restriction.
- Non-sharing of funds: One of its consequences is that recipients cannot fund other organisations. When foreign help is received as material, it becomes impossible to share the aid.
- Irrationality of designated bank accounts: There is no rational link between designating a particular branch of a bank with the objective of preserving national interest.
- Un-ease of operation: Due to Delhi based bank account, it is also inconvenient as the NGOS might be operating elsewhere.
- Illogical narrative: ‘National security’ cannot be cited as a reason without adequate justification as observed by the Supreme Court in Pegasus Case.
What does the Government say?
- Zero tolerance against intervention: The amendments were necessary to prevent foreign state and non-state actors from interfering with the country’s polity and internal matters.
- Diversion of foreign funds: The changes are also needed to prevent malpractices by NGOs and diversion of foreign funds.
- Fund flow monitoring: The provision of having one designated bank for receiving foreign funds is aimed at making it easier to monitor the flow of funds.
- Ease of operation: The Government clarified that there was no need for anyone to come to Delhi to open the account as it can be done remotely.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: MPLAD Scheme
Mains level: MPLAD Scheme and its success since pandemic
Citing economic recovery, the Union Cabinet has restored the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) till 2025-26.
What is the MPLAD scheme?
- The Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) is a program first launched during the Narasimha Rao Government in 1993.
- It is a Central Sector Scheme fully funded by Government of India.
- It was aimed towards providing funds for developmental works recommended by individual MPs.
Funds available
- The MPs then were entitled to recommend works to the tune of Rs 1 crore annually between 1994-95 and 1997-98, after which the annual entitlement was enhanced to Rs 2 crore.
- The UPA government since 2011-12 raised the annual entitlement to Rs 5 crore per MP.
Implementation
- To implement their plans in an area, MPs have to recommend them to the District Authority of the respective Nodal District.
- The District Authorities then identify Implementing Agencies that execute the projects.
- The respective District Authority is supposed to oversee the implementation and has to submit monthly reports, audit reports, and work completion reports to the Nodal District Authority.
- The MPLADS funds can be merged with other schemes such as MGNREGA and Khelo India.
Guidelines for MPLADS implementation
- The document ‘Guidelines on MPLADS’ was published by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation in June 2016 in this regard.
- It stated the objective of the scheme to enable MPs to recommend works of developmental nature with emphasis on the creation of durable community assets.
- Durable assets of national priorities viz. drinking water, primary education, public health, sanitation, and roads, etc. should be created.
- It recommended MPs to works costing at least 15 percent of their entitlement for the year for areas inhabited by Scheduled Caste population and 7.5 percent for areas inhabited by ST population.
- It lays down a number of development works including construction of railway halt stations, providing financial assistance to recognized bodies, cooperative societies, installing CCTV cameras etc.
Impact of the scheme continuation
- It will restart the community developmental projects / works in the field which are halted / stopped due to lack of funds under MPLADS.
- It will restart fulfilling the aspirations and developmental requirements of the local community and the creation of durable assets, which is the primary objective of the MPLADS.
- It will also help in reviving the local economy.
Answer this PYQ from CSP 2020:
Q. With reference to the funds under the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS), which of the following statements are correct?
- MPLADS funds must be used to create durable assets like physical infrastructure for health, education, etc.
- A specified portion of each MP’s fund must benefit SC/ST populations.
- MPLADS funds are sanctioned on a yearly basis and the unused funds cannot be carried forward to the next year.
- The district authority must inspect at least 10% of all works under implementation every year.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 3 and 4 only
(c) 1, 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 4 only
Post your answers here.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: DART Mission
Mains level: Not Much
NASA will launch the agency’s first planetary defense test mission named the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART).
What is DART Mission?
- The main aim of the mission is to test the newly developed technology that would allow a spacecraft to crash into an asteroid and change its course.
- It is a suicide mission and the spacecraft will be completely destroyed.
- The target of the spacecraft is a small moonlet called Dimorphos (Greek for “two forms”).
- It is about 160-metre in diameter and the spacecraft is expected to collide when it is 11 million kilometres away from Earth.
- Dimorphos orbits a larger asteroid named Didymos (Greek for “twin”) which has a diameter of 780 metres.
Is there any threat from this asteroid?
- The asteroid and the moonlet do not pose any threat to Earth and the mission is to test the new technology to be prepared in case an asteroid head towards Earth in the future.
- The spacecraft will navigate to the moonlet and intentionally collide with it at a speed of about 6.6 kilometres per second or 24,000 kilometres per hour.
Why Dimorphos?
- Didymos is a perfect system for the test mission because it is an eclipsing binary which means it has a moonlet that regularly orbits the asteroid.
- It is observable when it passes in front of the main asteroid.
- Earth-based telescopes can study this variation in brightness to understand how long it takes Dimorphos to orbit Didymos.
How big is the spacecraft?
- NASA states that DART is a low-cost spacecraft, weighing around 610 kg at launch and 550 kg during impact.
- The main structure is a box (1.2 × 1.3 × 1.3 metres). It has two solar arrays and uses hydrazine propellant for manoeuvring the spacecraft.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: E-Amrit
Mains level: Not Much
India today launched ‘E-Amrit’, a web portal on electric vehicles (EVs), at the ongoing COP26 Summit in Glasgow, UK.
It is a must-go portal for every aspirant. Click here to visit E-Amrit.
E-Amrit Portal
- E-Amrit is a one-stop destination for all information on electric vehicles—busting myths around the adoption of EVs, their purchase, investment opportunities, policies, subsidies, etc.
- The portal has been developed and hosted by NITI Aayog under a collaborative knowledge exchange programme with the UK government.
Features of the portal
- It intends to complement initiatives of the government on raising awareness about EVs.
- It aims to sensitize consumers on the benefits of switching to electric vehicles.
Need for E-Amrit
- In the recent past, India has taken many initiatives to accelerate the decarbonization of transport and adoption of electric mobility in the country.
- Schemes such as FAME and PLI are especially important in creating an ecosystem for the early adoption of EVs.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, RBI Retail Direct Scheme
Mains level: Not Much
The PM will launch two innovative customer-centric initiatives of the Reserve Bank of India.
What are the schemes?
[A] Integrated Ombudsman Scheme
- It aims to further improve the grievance redress mechanism for resolving customer complaints against entities regulated by RBI.
- The central theme of the scheme is based on ‘One Nation-One Ombudsman’ with one portal, one email and one address for the customers to lodge their complaints.
- There will be a single point of reference for customers to file their complaints, submit the documents, track status and provide feedback.
- A multi-lingual toll-free number will provide all relevant information on grievance redress and assistance for filing complaints.
[B] RBI Retail Direct Scheme
- It is aimed at enhancing access to government securities market for retail investors.
- It offers them a new avenue for directly investing in securities issued by the Government of India and the State Governments.
- Investors will be able to easily open and maintain their government securities account online with the RBI, free of cost.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Fishing Cats
Mains level: Not Much
The Wildlife Institute of India (WII-Dehradun) Conservation Biologists will begin collaring ten Fishing Cats (Prionailurus viverrinus) in the Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary (CWS) in Andhra Pradesh.
About Fishing Cats
- About twice the size of a typical house cat, the fishing cat is a feline with a powerful build and stocky legs.
- It is an adept swimmer and enters water frequently to prey on fish as its name suggests.
- It is known to even dive to catch fish.
- It is nocturnal and apart from fish also preys on frogs, crustaceans, snakes, birds, and scavenges on carcasses of larger animals.
- It is capable of breeding all year round but in India its peak breeding season is known to be between March and May.
Conservation status
- IUCN Red List: Endangered
- CITES: Appendix II
- Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I
Various threats
- One of the major threats facing the fishing cat is the destruction of wetlands, which is its preferred habitat.
- As a result of human settlement, drainage for agriculture, pollution, and wood-cutting most of the wetlands in India are under threat of destruction.
- Another threat to the fishing cat is the depletion of its main prey-fish due to unsustainable fishing practices.
- It is also occasionally poached for its skin.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Relative backwardness
Context
On October 29, the Supreme Court issued notice on an appeal of the Kerala government against a High Court order directing it to award the scholarships by the proportion of minorities in the overall population of the State. This case will be significant for constitutional law.
Background
- The Kerala government passed an executive order in 2015 prescribing that minority communities will be entitled to scholarships.
- Of the scholarships, 80% were distributed to Muslim students.
- In Justine Pallivathukkal v. State of Kerala (2021), the Kerala High Court set aside this order holding that all minorities must be treated alike.
- The government argued that its policy was based on the findings of the Sachar Committee report and the Kerala Padana report on the disadvantages faced by Muslims.
- It pointed out that Muslims were far behind Christians, Dalits and Adivasis in college enrolment, just as they are in employment and land ownership.
Justification
- The different kinds of backwardness of a community must be considered while awarding scholarship schemes.
- Any other scheme defeats the purpose of offering scholarships to students from minority communities.
- The High Court prohibited an allocation sensitive to social realities by adopting a form of blind equality approach.
- It is important, therefore, that the Supreme Court corrects the error of the High Court.
- The High Court’s reasoning suggests that access to the benefits of affirmative action must follow an approach which is blind to the relative backwardness of different communities.
Conclusion
Even when we identify disadvantaged castes or communities, we need to remember the forms of inequality and hierarchy among them. The logic of the High Court’s judgment forbids this.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Opportunities and challenges presented by net-zero approach
Context
India joined the other G20 countries in making a “net-zero” commitment, setting 2070 as its target year.
Why was it important to sign up for net-zero?
- India’s topography — its 7,000 km-long coastline, the Himalayan glaciers in the north, and its rich forest areas which house natural resources like coal and iron ore — make the country uniquely vulnerable to climate change.
- An IMF study suggests that if emissions continue to rise this century, India’s real GDP per capita could fall by 10 per cent by 2100.
- India’s traditional position has been that since its per capita energy use is only a third of the global average, and it needs to continue to grow to fight poverty, costly energy reduction targets should not be applied to it.
Opportunities presented by India’s net-zero approach
- It could give a clear signal of India’s intentions and provide better access to international technology, funding and markets.
- We estimate that 60 per cent of India’s capital stock — factories and buildings that will exist in 2040 — is yet to be built.
- The country can potentially leapfrog into new green technology, rather than being overburdened with “re-fitting” obligations.
- If India can now transition to green growth, it could create a more responsible and sustainable economy.
- If India’s exports achieve a “green stamp”, they may find better market access, especially if the world imposes a carbon tax on exports.
- Around 2-2.5 million additional jobs can be created in the renewables sector by 2050, taking the total number of people employed there to over 3 million.
Challenges
- The finances of power distribution companies need to be improved to fund the grid upgrades necessary for scaling up renewables.
- India needs a coordinated institutional framework that can help overcome multiple levels of complexity like federalism, fiscal constraints and bureaucracy.
- The energy investment requirement will be high, rising from about $70-80 billion per year now to $160 billion per year.
- While the private sector will be required to fund much of this, the government can play a pivotal role, especially in the early days.
- The transition years will be bumpy.
- Inflation could be volatile till renewables reached their full potential.
Conclusion
India is on the right track but needs to redouble its efforts to remove the obstacles.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Project Sampoorna
Mains level: Innovative measures against malnutrition
Project Sampoorna’s success in reducing child malnutrition is a model that can be easily implemented anywhere.
What is Project Sampoorna?
- Project Sampoorna has been implemented in the Bongaigaon district of Assam.
- It aims to target Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) and Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM).
- It was launched to target the mothers of SAM/ MAM children with the tagline being ‘Empowered Mothers, Healthy Children’.
- It was based on the success of the community-based COVID-19 management model (Project Mili Juli).
Key features of the project
- Under this project, the mother of a healthy child of an Anganwadi Centre was paired with the target mother and they would be Buddy Mothers.
- They were usually neighbours and shared similar socioeconomic backgrounds.
- They were given diet charts to indicate the daily food intake of their children and would have discussions on all Tuesdays at the Anganwadi centres.
- 100 millilitres of milk and an egg on alternate days for the children for the first 3 months were provided so that their mothers could stabilise themselves in the newly found jobs.
- Children who had not improved were checked and treated by doctors under the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK).
Success of the project
- This project has prevented at least 1,200 children from becoming malnourished over the last year.
- National Nutrition Mission and the State government recognised this project in the ‘Innovation Category’.
- The mothers were enrolled in Self Help Groups (SHGs) under the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) and were thus working.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Global Drug Policy Index
Mains level: Not Much
The first-ever Global Drug Policy Index was recently inaugurated.
Global Drug Policy Index
- It is released by the Harm Reduction Consortium, ranks Norway, New Zealand, Portugal, the UK and Australia as the five leading countries on humane and health-driven drug policies.
- It is a data-driven global analysis of drug policies and their implementation.
- It is composed of 75 indicators running across five broad dimensions of drug policy:
- Criminal justice
- Extreme responses
- Health and harm reduction
- Access to internationally controlled medicines and
- Development
Highlights of the 2021 ranking
- The five lowest-ranking countries are Brazil, Uganda, Indonesia, Kenya, and Mexico.
- Norway, despite topping the Index, only managed a score of 74/100.
- And the median score across all 30 countries and dimensions is just 48/100.
India’s performance
- India’s rank is 18 out of 30 countries
- It has an overall score of 46/100.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: LEADS Index
Mains level: Not Much
The Logistics Ease Across Different States (LEADS) 2021 Index Rankings has been recently released.
About LEADS
- The LEADS index was launched in 2018 by the Commerce and Industry Ministry and Deloitte.
- It ranks states on the score of their logistics services and efficiency that are indicative of economic growth.
- States are ranked based on quality and capacity of key infrastructure such as road, rail and warehousing as well as on operational ease of logistics.
Highlights of the 2021 report
- India’s logistics costs account for 13-14 per cent of GDP, compared to 7-8 per cent in developed countries.
- Gujarat, Haryana and Punjab have emerged as the top performers in the LEADS 2021 index respectively.
- West Bengal, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh and Assam were ranked 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st respectively.
- North Eastern States, and J&K and Ladakh have been considered a separate group for LEADS rankings.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI)
Mains level: Not Much
The 17th edition of the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2021 was released recently.
It’s a very rare feat that India has performed so better in any climate-related index. We can use this data to highlight India’s dedicated efforts for Paris Agreement.
About CCPI
- The CCPI is an independent monitoring tool for tracking countries’ climate protection performance. It has been published annually since 2005.
- It is compiled by Germanwatch, the New Climate Institute, and the Climate Action Network.
- It evaluates 57 countries and the European Union, which together generate 90%+ of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Parameters of the index
- The CCPI looks at four categories, with 14 indicators: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (40% of the overall score), Renewable Energy (20%), Energy Use (20%), and Climate Policy (20%).
- The CCPI’s unique climate policy section evaluates countries’ progress in implementing policies working towards achieving the Paris Agreement goals.
Highlights of the 2021 report
- The first three ranks of the overall rankings were kept empty because no country had performed well enough in all index categories to achieve an overall very high rating.
- The 2021 report places Sweden on top, while countries such as Morocco and the UK are also ranked high.
- The bottom-ranked country, the United States, therefore, was placed at 61.
Low performers
- Iran and Russia are ranked the lowest in this category.
- Overall, Australia, South Korea and Russia are among the lowest performing countries along with Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia.
- China is ranked 33 overall and has an overall rating of “low”.
India’s performance
- In the overall rankings, India is at number 10 with a score of 63.98.
- It is a high performer except in the renewable energy category, in which it is ranked “medium”.
- The report says that India is benefiting from its relatively low per-capita emissions.
- In terms of greenhouse gas emissions, Sweden, Egypt, Chile and the UK are in the top 7. India is ranked 12.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Leonid Meteor Shower
Mains level: Not Much
The annual Leonid’s Meteor Shower has begun.
Try this question from CSP 2014:
Q.What is a coma, in the content of astronomy?
(a) Bright half of material on the comet
(b) Long tail of dust
(c) Two asteroids orbiting each other
(d) Two planets orbiting each other
Post your answers here.
What is Leonid Meteor Shower?
- Meteor showers are named after the constellation they appear to be coming from.
- The Leonids originate from the constellation Leo the Lion– the groups of stars that form a lion’s mane.
- They emerge from the comet Tempel-Tuttle, which requires 33 years to revolve once around the Sun.
- These meteors are bright and among the fastest moving– travelling at speeds of 71 km per second.
- During this year’s showers, peaks of around 10 to 15 meteors are expected to be seen every hour.
- The Leonid showers include fireballs– bright and large meteors than can last longer than average meteors, and “earthgazers”– meteors which appear close to the horizon with colourful and long tails.
What is a meteor shower?
- On its journey around the Sun, the Earth passes through large swathes of cosmic debris.
- The debris is essentially the remnants of comets — great frigid chunks of matter that leave behind dirty trails of rocks and ice that linger long after the comets themselves have passed.
- As the Earth wades through this cloud of comet waste, the bits of debris create what appears from the ground to be a fireworks display in the sky — known as a meteor shower.
- Several meteor showers can be seen around the year. According to NASA, over 30 meteor showers occur annually and are observable from the Earth.
Back2Basics:
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