News: The ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict has increased the prices of crude oil, natural gas and fertilizers, highlighting India’s vulnerability to geopolitical sanctions. Therefore, the Union Transport Minister’s statement on hydrogen-powered cars in Parliament has brought the green hydrogen economy into focus. Moreover, hydrogen is an important industrial gas. It is used on a large scale… Continue reading Unlocking the potential of green hydrogen
Category: 9 PM Daily Articles
The carbon cost of data
News: Environmental scientists are beginning to worry about the harmful effects of data on climate. The impact is not exactly due to the data, but the servers, data farms and other hardware required for creating, storing and processing data for the increasingly digital life. Contents1 How the pace of generation of data has picked up?2… Continue reading The carbon cost of data
Protect the film archive. This can’t be done by handing it to a corporation
News: Recently, the government has merged the Films Division, Children’s Film Society, International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Directorate of Film Festivals, and National Film Archive of India (NFAI) with the NFDC (National Film Development Corporation of India). What are the achievements of the NFAI? Contributed to the growth of our film culture. It has… Continue reading Protect the film archive. This can’t be done by handing it to a corporation
Better early than late
News: Early intervention programme that prevents disabling conditions in newborn children, is better than one that tries to mitigate the effects once disability has set in. Contents1 What is Autism Spectrum Disorder?2 What is early intervention?3 Why early intervention is more effective?4 What are the challenges to early intervention?5 What is the way forward? What… Continue reading Better early than late
Lessons from the implosion of Sri Lanka’s tiny economy?
News: Recently, Sri Lanka’s entire cabinet resigned over inability to handle the ongoing country’s worsening economic crisis. It is undergoing a state of emergency due to a deteriorating food and fuel crisis. What were the reasons behind Sri Lanka’s economic crisis? In 2019, the newly-elected government of Sri Lanka has been accused of announcing a… Continue reading Lessons from the implosion of Sri Lanka’s tiny economy?
Back the greenback: Grumblings about dollar dominance aren’t new
Context: Western powers have slapped sanctions on Russia. These sanctions sting because of the US dollar’s dominance across the global economy and finance. Contents1 How important is dollar in present global trade?2 What are the other factors against the dollar dominated economy?3 Chinese renminbi as an alternative4 What does the future hold? How important is… Continue reading Back the greenback: Grumblings about dollar dominance aren’t new
The road to Ukraine peace runs through Delhi
Context: Nearly 40 days ago, Russia launched a military invasion of Ukraine. Despite peace talks, direct negotiations between the conflicting parties have failed to make much progress. India can play an important role in its resolution. Mediation as a conflict resolution tool that can assist the parties in identifying their hidden ‘interests’. It is a… Continue reading The road to Ukraine peace runs through Delhi
Push the policy needle forward on migrant support
Context: After the migrant crisis of 2020, migrants became a focus of large scale relief efforts by governments and civil society. The Government ramped up the One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) project, announced the Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHC) scheme, set up the e-Shram portal and began to draft a migration policy. Present status… Continue reading Push the policy needle forward on migrant support
Time to bid goodbye to AFSPA
News: Recently, the Home Ministry has decided to considerably reduce the number of “disturbed areas” under the AFSPA in three States. To fulfil that, the April 1st order significantly reduced disturbed areas in Nagaland, Assam and Manipur. Though it is a welcome step, the government does not consider repealing the AFSPA. About AFSPA Read here:… Continue reading Time to bid goodbye to AFSPA
Making groundwater visible
News: The theme of this year’s World Water Day (March 22) was ‘Groundwater: Making the Invisible Visible’. Benefits of groundwater: Groundwater plays an important role in water and sanitation systems, agriculture, industry, ecosystems, and climate change adaptation, as it: Reduces the risk of temporary water shortages especially in arid and semiarid regions. Has high storage… Continue reading Making groundwater visible
