Current Affairs Compilations for UPSC IAS Prelims 2022

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 2

• We should harness the emotional energy of India’s DPI
• We need reforms that’ll ensure justice prevails
• The takeaways from the UN World Water Conference
• The Just In Justice – A detailed report on the legal system shows how and why the poor are its biggest victims
• Finland joining NATO could affect Delhi too

GS Paper 3

• The obstacles against humane policing
• The NPCI’s new circular on levy charges
• Trading forests for trees
• Our new foreign trade policy is transformational and futuristic

Prelims Oriented Articles (Factly)

• What is the open-source seeds movement?
• Close to half cases in HCs pending for over five years
• Supreme Court says critical views on government policies not anti-establishment
• Govt. introduces Aquaculture Bill amid din in Lok Sabha
• Lumpy skin disease led to stagnation in milk production: Centre
• Self-assessment key in student learning at secondary level: NCF steering committee
• IFC to stop funding new coal-powered electricity projects
• Himalayan plunder: How hydropower projects in the hills have increased disasters there
• Pattanam Site: No idols, no arms: the Pattanam mystery

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 2

We should harness the emotional energy of India’s DPI

News– The focus of the second G20 Sherpa meeting held at Kumarakom, Kerala was on India’s Digital Public Infrastructure.

Read More – India’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and associated challenges – Explained, pointwise

What are the achievements of India in DPI?

UPI has over 350 banks on its network with over 260 million unique users. The network has grown to become the world’s fifth largest digital-payment network by volume.

CoWin has more than 1.1 billion registered users and every step of their vaccination process is captured by it.

More than 500 million learning sessions have been conducted by using the Diksha app. It was the key tool for education during the covid pandemic.

Digilocker has more than 150 million registered users.

1.35 billion people have enrolled for Aadhaar. Jan Dhan has enabled 478 million people to get bank accounts. India has a mobile user base of 1.2 billion across the country. Together, these three developments constitute Jam trinity.

The quality of digital infrastructure in India is robust. The co-operation between the government and the private sector is the core of the DPI.

What is lacking in case of India DPI?

India has failed to effectively communicate the achievements in DPI  to a wider audience. These technological solutions have not been able to create a unified new image for the country.

How better communication is possible in case of DPI?

Communication is not a rational process of citing scientific facts and statistics. Good communication is all about emotions. It is about real-life stories from ordinary people’s lives. Kerala tagline ‘God’s Own Country’ is an excellent example of good communication. it perfectly captures the emotions a tourist would experience.

Similarly, various DPI programmes can evoke several positive emotions in many a user’s mind.

The Apollo 11 mission in 1969 established US hegemony during the Cold War. Communication about India’s DPI could help uplift the emotional quotient of the whole country.

We need reforms that’ll ensure justice prevails

News– The India Justice Report of 2022 was recently released by Tata Trusts.

What are the main highlights of  India Justice Report, 2022?

Pending cases in courts– Covid has slowed down the pace of case-clearance by courts. Pending cases increased from 41 million in 2020 to 49 million in 2022. India has 5.6 million pending for longer than a decade and 190,000 cases pending for over 30 years.

Lack of judicial strength– The judiciary has a lack of capacity. There are a total of 20,093 judges at work. There exist 15 judges for every million Indians. It is less than a third of the 50 recommended by the Law Commission in 1987.

Overcrowding of prisons– There has been a sharp rise in overcrowding of Indian prisons. There are 30 extra inmates in 2021 for an existing capacity of 100. 77% of them were under-trials. It is up from about 69% two years earlier.

It violates the norm of “bail not jail” and shows the lack of apathy.

Policing issues– The report highlights the issues related to police forces. There exist state-wise variation on several counts, like vacancies, training budgets, police station cameras. 

Except in Union territories governed by the Centre, law-enforcers operate directly under state governments. So politics has a structural role in justice delivery.

Lack of police diversity is a common problem across states. There is a lack of participation on the basis of gender, caste or other markers of identity. It can lead to biases.

Women cops are in shortages. All police stations are supposed to have women’s helpdesks. But, 28% do not have this facility and many others don’t have women cops ready to respond.

There is a lack of autonomy for the police. politicians are reluctant to  empower police officers.

The takeaways from the UN World Water Conference

News– Recently, the World Water Conference that was convened by the United Nations

What are the important outcomes of the conference?

The conference held a mid-term review of the Water Action Decade 2018­-2028. It envisages the sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

The central outcome of the conference was the international Water Action Agenda. Under it, Governments, multilateral institutions, businesses, and non­governmental organisations submitted over 670 commitments to address water security issues.

What are the key issues related to developments at conference?

The commitments made at the conference must be scrutinised. There is a need to see whether they will yield universal, safe, affordable and equitable access to water. Meeting this target by 2030 will need capital expenditures of $114 billion per year.

The World Bank estimates that operations and maintenance for basic water and sanitation service costs will rise from about $4 billion to over $30 billion per year by 2030. It is far more than the capital costs for basic WASH services.

As per WB study, funding from regional, national, and international sources prioritises new water infrastructure rather than on water maintenance services. It results in decreased service for water customers.

As per World Resources Institute, commitments made by the states lack proper finance and targets that are quantifiable in nature. Investment of this range would require valuing water. This will require robust water measurement and accounting.

There are serious limitations in our knowledge about the volume, flux and quality of water in lakes, rivers, soils and aquifers. There are huge gaps in water usage data.

Water is not considered as a global public good. It is not considered to be an area of urgent funding as compared to climate change. GEF is the only international funding mechanism that has provided grant and concessional loans for 300 watersheds and an even greater number of aquifers.

What are major developments related to India on water management?

India has committed an investment of $240 billion in the water sector and efforts to restore groundwater level at the conference.

A 2021 CAG report says that groundwater extraction in India increased from 58% to 63% between 2004­-17. This has been further exacerbated by climate change.

The revised Groundwater Bill 2017 gives power to State groundwater boards for creating laws, managing water allocation and other relevant issues.

The State boards are understaffed, and lack expertise. They prioritise socio political conflicts over groundwater resources.

What are legal aspects related to conference?

In international law, states have the authority to make voluntary commitments to address issues of global concern. These commitments are distinguished from other legal forms. They are generally independent of the commitments of other parties.

States have taken voluntary commitments to curb greenhouse gases and to take measures to promote sustainability, even in the absence of a legally non binding instrument.

In the case of climate change, these voluntary commitments take place within a broader context of binding agreements: the UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol, and the Paris Agreement.

The 2023 Water Conference takes place within the context of SDG 6, and not within the context of the UN Water Convention 1997 and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Water Convention 1992. These are two legally binding legal instruments on regulation of trans­boundary river water courses.

Common thread between the Water Conference and the two conventions are SDG 6 targets that focus on implementation of integrated water resources management  at all levels.

The Just In Justice – A detailed report on the legal system shows how and why the poor are its biggest victims

News: Recently India Justice Report 2022 was released.

About India Justice Report 2022

Karnataka topped the ranking. Five of the top six places are taken up by states from southern India.

Significance: Small but consistent improvements lead to big jumps in ranking. For example, Karnataka jumped 13 places since IJR 2020 to the top in 2022.

What are the concerns highlighted by the India Justice Report 2022?

Foremost challenge in the criminal justice system: India’s capacity to satisfactorily deliver justice lags behind its demand. For example, 77% of India’s prison population is made up of undertrials, people who haven’t been convicted. On average, they are spending longer time in prison than before. Undertrials serving more than five years in prison have more than doubled to 11,490 in the period between December 2017 and December 2021.

Worsen India’s capacity to deliver justice: There are 50 million pending cases, and they are taking longer time to resolve. This will only worsen India’s capacity to deliver justice.

Lack of legal aid provision: 70% of litigants in Indian criminal cases are below the poverty line. Between 2020 and 2022, IJR data showed that there was a 67% decline in legal services clinics. This highlights the alarming decline in legal aid provision in India’s justice delivery system. This may be an explanatory factor for the deterioration of other indicators such as the average length of time spent in jail by undertrials.

Overall, the reforms in the justice delivery system are neglected due to excessive focus on collegium reforms. So, this needs a reorientation.

Finland joining NATO could affect Delhi too

News: Finland has long been neutral in Russia’s prolonged conflict with the West. But recent induction of Finland into the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is seen as a major setback for Russia.

Note: Finland is NATO’s 31st member.

What are the reasons for Finland joining NATO?

Finland was part of the Russian empire for a century. Finland’s neutrality in favour of the Soviet Union through the Cold War made “Finlandisation” part of the global diplomatic lexicon.

Note: Finlandization refers to the policy of strict neutrality between Moscow (Russia) and the West that Finland followed during the decades of the Cold War.

Many of Finland’s small European neighbours have been at the receiving end of Russia’s muscular regional policies over the last decade. But, the prolonged Russian invasion of Ukraine has increased fears among Central European countries. Hence, countries like Finland and Sweden seek NATO membership to secure their interests.

What is the Russian observation of Finland joining NATO?

One of the many justifications Russia said for the aggression against Ukraine was the relentless expansion of NATO closer to Russian borders since the late 1990s. Russia responded that NATO’s inclusion of Finland is an “encroachment on Russian security and on Russia’s national interests”.

What are the implications of Finland joining NATO?

Increases the power of the Western alliance in the Nordic region: This is because a) Finland has maintained a small but capable armed force that is well-trained and resilient, b) As the Arctic ice cap melts amidst global warming, the high north has become attractive commercially and contested geopolitically. So, Finland’s inclusion in NATO will give an edge to the US and its allies.

Militarisation of the high north appears inevitable: Finland and Sweden turn from neutrals to Western allies and China raises its profile in the Arctic in partnership with Russia. This might militarise the Nordic region in future. This might make global governance of the Arctic region increasingly problematic.

–India is an observer of the Arctic Council that seeks to promote wide-ranging cooperation in the polar north. Hence, India might want to watch closely the impact of Finland’s NATO membership on the Arctic region.

GS Paper 3

The obstacles against humane policing

News– The serious complaint of human rights violation recently against an IPS officer in Ambasamudram in south Tamil Nadu.

How is policing behaviour across the different countries of the world?

The U.S. has many instances of police torture. The death of 46-year-old an African-American George Floyd following physical torture is recent example.

Police handling of the public is more civilised in most of Europe.

A large number of cases of torture have also gone unreported. This largely constitutes assaults on women. Only about 10% of complaints are believed to have been registered.

What are future expectations about a more humane and civilised police force in India?

First, one of the main reasons for inhumane policing is corruption among public servants. It has increased in recent times. Personal costs involved for crusaders against corruption are increasing by the day. This is responsible for lack of public outrage against corruption.

Second, average policeman is subjected to high stress. The pressure to produce results has been on the rise.

Third, our country has large police forces. Disseminating the message of ethics to the lower hierarchy of such a large force is a difficult  task.

How is the philosophy of some political actors about policing responsible for uncivilised behaviour by police?

Many political actors believe that without physical force on misbehaving citizens, the quality of policing cannot improve and law and order cannot be maintained.

The tough stand of some Chief Ministers has encouraged police leadership for human rights transgressions. They have preached the use of third-degree and extra-legal methods. The consequence is incidents like Ambasamudram.

What is the way forward for civilised police?

Solid training in ethics at the time of induction is not enough. The pressures in the field are so enormous that the impact of ethical education will evaporate quickly.

DGPs and IGPs have a crucial role in indoctrinating young recruits on the value of sticking to the law and civilised behaviour.

The NPCI’s new circular on levy charges

News: The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) last week issued a circular to banks directing to levy charges up to 1.1% on merchant transactions made through Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs) wallets using UPI.

What are PPIs?

Click Here to Read

Mobile wallet is the most prevalent form of PPI used in the country. The wallet must be pre-loaded by users with the intended quantity. PPIs can only be used in Indian rupees.

The amount can be loaded/reloaded against cash or through debit to bank account, or by using credit/debit cards, UPI, or any other approved payment method in India.

What is PPI interoperability?

Previously, in order to use PPI at any merchant, the concerned merchant had to be directly involved with the particular PPI provider. Transactions were not possible using PPIs with which the merchant did not have a direct tie-up.

These restrictions made the PPI wallets to be only used at specific locations. For example, a Paytm wallet could only be used at merchants that accepted Paytm QR codes.

However, the RBI has mandated interoperability among different PPI issuers to overcome this limitation.

PPI issuers have now tied-up with NPCI for issuing (a) interoperable RuPay PPI cards or (b) creating interoperable wallets on UPI platforms.

As a result, prepaid instruments in the form of wallets can be linked to UPI, creating interoperable wallets on UPI platforms.

How does PPI interoperability through UPI work?

Once PPI wallet is linked to UPI, customers can transact using Scan and Pay on all UPI interoperable QR codes.

This will enable the use of PPI wallets at all merchant locations and the user can also send/receive money to any other wallet user. Similarly, a merchant with any UPI QR code can now accept payments from any PPI issuer or mobile wallet.

This interoperability will speed up the growth of merchant transactions in rural areas and deepen digital financial inclusion by allowing its use at various places such as healthcare, transit, education, utility bills, etc.

Are there any charges paid by users and merchants doing wallet transactions on UPI?

No charges are applicable if a merchant is accepting UPI payments from a customer’s bank account. Charges are applicable only if the transactions above Rs 2000 are made using PPI Wallet.

Read More: UPI transaction fee: Do prepaid cards, wallets stand to lose?

Trading forests for trees

News: The government has introduced The Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023 to make changes in The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.

What are the objectives of the bill?

The bill aims to build forest carbon stock by raising plantations. It also aims to provide developers with land so they can fulfil their legal duty to plant trees as compensation for diverting forest land for development projects.

The bill tries to achieve these objectives by restricting the applicability of the FC Act, and by freeing up unrecorded forests land.

What are the concerns with the Bill?

Limited Application: The SC in 1996, ruled that the FC Act would apply to all land parcels that were either recorded as forest or resembled the dictionary meaning of forest. This order checked rampant deforestation on land not recorded as forest.

However, the bill seeks to limit the applicability of the FC Act only to land recorded as ‘forest’.

This might affect millions of hectares of land (roughly the size of Gujarat) that have the characteristics of forests, but are not notified as such.

Clearance for the Projects: Restricting the scope of the FC Act will make fewer projects to obtain forest clearance. 

One important requirement for forest clearance is that a developer must plant trees as compensation on an area of equivalent non-forest land or, in the absence of such land, plant trees on degraded forest land twice the forest area diverted.

However, the amendment in Forest Conservation Rules in June 2022, allowed developers to raise plantations over land on which the FC Act is not applicable and to exchange such areas for future needs for compensatory afforestation.

Since the bill limits the scope of FC Act only to the forest areas, non-forest lands may be used to promote the development of private plantations, to gain forest clearance.

This will generate two problems such as losing unrecorded forests to plantations which will subsequently help to divert recorded forests for projects.

Expanding Exemptions: The Bill proposes to expand the exemptions and make them part of the Act itself.

The Bill seeks to exempt all strategic projects of national importance and concerning national security within 100 km of international borders, the LAC, and the Line of Control (LoC).

This bill proposed to extend the construction of defence related projects or a camp for paramilitary forces requiring more than 5 hectares of forest land in a Left-Wing Extremism affected area, as specified by the Central Government.

It also seeks to exempt security-related infrastructure requiring up to 10 hectares of forest land, without defining its scope.

Forest Communities: The Bill talks about keeping up with dynamic changes in the ecological, strategic and economic aspirations of the country and improvement of livelihoods for forest-dependent communities.

However, the consent of forest communities on the diversion of forest land for development projects has been diminishing even after the enactment of the Forest Rights Act, 2006.

Now, with these amendments in the FC Act, they may have no say on the extensive plantations done on land on which they depend as communities.

Our new foreign trade policy is transformational and futuristic

News: Recently, the government unveiled a new Foreign Trade Policy (FTP).

What are the salient features of India’s FTP 2023?

Lending export competitiveness to Indian products is the key focus of the new policy. It aims to ease taxation and operations along the entire trade cycle.

How this FTP 2023 is different from previous ones?

What are the challenges associated with the FTP 2023?

What are the potential benefits of the FTP?

-Targeted interventions have already resulted in exports of electronic goods jumping by 162% from $6 billion in 2015-16 to $16 billion in 2021-22, of engineering goods by 81% and of toys by 89%. The FTP will further improve this.

-Expanding India’s self-ratification scheme for fixing input-output norms to two-star and above status holders will reduce operational hassles for exporters. The export-performance threshold for recognition of status has also lowered significantly.

-India is the world’s largest milk producer, with a 24% global share of milk production but less than 0.5 % of world dairy exports. So, special measures have been taken to support the dairy industry in upgrading technology through an exemption from export obligations.

-The latest FTP provides for reduced export obligations for battery electric vehicles, vertical farming equipment, wastewater treatment and recycling, rainwater harvesting systems and green-technology products. This will promote sustainability and climate change mitigation.

-Internationalization of trade in the Indian rupee will also promote exports.

-The FTP encourages active participation by Indian states and also Indian missions abroad for market identification, facilitating the entry of Indian products to overseas markets, marking a strategic transformation in India’s export strategy.

Prelims-Oriented Articles (Factly)

What is the open-source seeds movement?

Source: The post is based on the article “What is the open-source seeds movement?” published in The Hindu on 6th April 2023

What is the News?

Farmers have innovated and shared seeds without any intellectual property rights (IPR) for centuries. They also haven’t sought exclusive rights over seeds and germplasm to prevent others from innovating on the seeds. 

However, with the emergence of the global IPR regime over plant varieties, there is a dire need to ‘open-source’ seeds.

How is intellectual property (IP) protected in agriculture?

There are two major modes of IPR protection in agriculture — plant-breeders’ rights and patents. 

In this regime, rights-holders could demand royalty on seeds and legally enforce IPR. In some national IPR regimes, rights-holders can also restrict the unauthorised use of seeds to develop new varieties. 

Together, they restrict farmers’ rights and the freedom to develop new varieties using germplasm from IP-protected varieties.

They have consolidated the seed sector by increasing the number of plant varieties covered by IP Rights (IPRs).

How has the IP regime evolved in the agriculture sector?

The Green Revolution was spearheaded by public-sector breeding institutions and seeds were available as reasonably priced hybrids with no restrictions on farmers to cultivate, reuse and share.

But the private sector led the genetic revolution in agriculture, with seeds mostly made available as hybrids/protected by strong IPRs.

The WTO’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) requires member states to provide protection for plant varieties either by patents/by an effective standalone system.

What was the impact of the IP regime in agriculture?

The high prices of genetically modified seeds and IP claims triggered many problems and issues, including the State’s intervention in Bt cotton seeds in India. 

As public sector breeding declined and the private sector began to dominate the seed sector, the need for alternatives became keenly felt. This is when the success of open-source software inspired a solution. 

What are Open Source Seeds?

Open Source Seeds concept aims to maintain open access to global plant genetic resources ensuring its accessibility to all farmers, plant breeders and communities for this generation and all to come.

It affirms that plant genetics and their physical traits can not, and should not, be owned by individuals or corporations. In other words, plants should never be privatized or restricted because they are a collective resource.

In India, the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture (CSA), Hyderabad, developed an open-source model that included an agreement between CSA and the recipient of the seed/germplasm.

What are the potential applications of the open-source approach?

Firstly, it can be used in farmer-led seed conservation and distribution systems. There are many traditional-variety conservation and sharing initiatives in India involving farmers. 

Secondly, it can also be used to promote farmer-led participatory plant-breeding exercises. Traditional varieties often lack uniformity and aren’t of excellent quality for seed development and breeding purposes. Open-source principles can help overcome these two challenges by facilitating testing, improvisation and adoption.

Close to half cases in HCs pending for over five years

Source: The post is based on the article “Close to half cases in HCs pending for over five years” published in The Hindu on 6th April 2023

What is the News? 

The India Justice Report(IJR) 2022 has been released.

About India Justice Report 2022

What are the key findings of the IJR on pending cases?

As of January 2023, close to half the cases in Indian High Courts were pending for over five years. In the Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh) and Calcutta (West Bengal and A&N Islands) High Courts, over 63% of cases were pending for over five years.

On the other hand, High Courts in northeastern India including Tripura, Sikkim and Meghalaya had less than 10% of cases pending for over five years.

This pendency of cases in courts is a demand and supply problem. The number of cases filed in courts is increasing each year while the number of judges presiding over those cases are either stagnant or not increasing in tandem with the rise in cases.

For example, the total number of active cases in various High Courts increased from over 41 lakh in 2014 to 53 lakh in 2022. However, there were unfilled judge positions in High Courts throughout all major States.

Overall judicial vacancies in Indian High Courts stood at 29.8% and High Court staff vacancies were at 25.6%.

What was the impact of pending cases on the case clearance rate of High Courts?

This demand-supply imbalance meant the case clearance rate of High Courts suffered.

The case clearance rate is the number of cases disposed of in a year, measured against the number of cases filed in that year. If courts resolve fewer than 100 out of every 100 cases they receive, the deficit contributes to the backlog, which in turn increases their pending caseload.

For instance, in India, of every 100 cases filed in 2022, only 95 cases were cleared that year, a clearance rate of 95%, with 5% getting added as a backlog.

In 2022, the Rajasthan High Court’s clearance rate was only 65%, the only High Court with a rate below 70% last year.

Supreme Court says critical views on government policies not anti-establishment

Source: The post is based on the article “Supreme Court says critical views on government policies not anti-establishment” published in The Hindu on 6th April 2023

What is the News?

The Supreme Court has quashed the Union government’s telecast ban on the Malayalam news channel.

What was the case about?

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had refused to renew the broadcast license of the news channel on the ground that the Ministry of Home Affairs had declined (based on IB report) security clearance over alleged links with the Jamaat-e-Islami-Hind (JEIH).

The channel approached the Kerala High Court(HC) against the Centre’s action, which upheld the ban on the channel on the grounds of national security.

The Supreme Court set aside the Kerala HC order and directed that the license be renewed in four weeks’ time.

What were the observations made by the court while delivering the judgment?

Restricts freedom of the press: The government’s refusal to renew the broadcast license of the Malayalam channel amounted to restricting the freedom of the press.

– An independent press is vital for the robust functioning of a democratic republic.

– SC also held that criticism of government policy does not constitute a reasonable restriction under Article 19(2) of the Constitution.

National Security: The court refused to accept the government’s national security argument to deny the license. The court held that national security claims cannot be made out of thin air. There must be material backing such inference.

Sealed cover jurisprudence: The court disapproved the “sealed cover” procedure. It observed that sealed cover proceedings go against the principles of natural justice and restrict the right to fair and reasonable hearing.

Govt. introduces Aquaculture Bill amid din in Lok Sabha

Source: The post is based on the article “Govt. introduces Aquaculture Bill amid din in Lok Sabha” published in The Hindu on 6th April 2023

What is the News?

The Government of India has introduced the Coastal Aquaculture Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2023.

What is the purpose of the Coastal Aquaculture Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2023?

The Bill aims to amend the Coastal Aquaculture Authority Act, 2005.

Key Provisions of the Bill:

Firstly, it aims to decriminalize the offences under the Coastal Aquaculture Authority Act.

Secondly, it seeks to promote ease of doing business and to fine-tune the operational procedures of the authority.

Thirdly, it aims to promote newer forms of environment-friendly coastal aquaculture, such as cage culture, seaweed culture, marine ornamental fish culture, and pearl oyster culture.

Fourthly, it includes a provision to prevent the use of antibiotics and pharmacologically active substances that are harmful to human health in coastal aquaculture.

What is the Coastal Aquaculture Authority Act, 2005?

The act provides for the establishment of the Coastal Aquaculture Authority for regulating the activities connected with coastal aquaculture in coastal areas and matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. 

The Act mandates Central Government 1) To take all such measures as it deems necessary or expedient for the regulation of coastal aquaculture by prescribing guidelines, 2) To ensure that coastal aquaculture does not cause any detriment to the coastal environment and 3) Concept of responsible coastal aquaculture shall be followed in regulating coastal aquaculture activities to protect the livelihood of various sections of people living in the coastal areas.

Lumpy skin disease led to stagnation in milk production: Centre

Source: The post is based on the article “Lumpy skin disease led to stagnation in milk production: Centre” published in The Hindu on 6th April 2023

What is the News?

The Central Government is foreseeing a slow growth in milk production and a possible scarcity of ghee and butter as an impact of the lumpy skin disease (LSD) that took the lives of about 1.89 lakh cattle.

What is Lumpy Skin Disease?

Click Here to read

How did Lumpy Skin disease impact milk production in India?

India is the highest milk producer in the world. Before the Lumpy Skin disease started impacting cattle, milk production was growing at 6% per year. However, this year, it is either stagnant or has grown at 1% or 2%.

On the other hand, the demand for milk has grown by 8% to 10%. The demand was suppressed during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

Consequently, milk prices have been hiked. Ghee and butter stocks in the country have also been reduced.

An increase in the prices of fodder and its scarcity was also another reason for the “price inflation” in milk and its products. 

Hence, given the shortage of milk products, the Union Government may be forced to import ghee and butter later this year. India last imported milk products in 2011.

Self-assessment key in student learning at secondary level: NCF steering committee

Source: The post is based on the article “Self-assessment key in student learning at secondary level: NCF steering committee” published in TOI on 6th April 2023

What is the News?

The draft National Curriculum Framework (NCF) for School Education 2023 has been released.

What are the key recommendations given by the NCF for School Education 2023?

Multiple board exams: Board exams should be conducted multiple times a year to ensure that students have enough time and opportunity to perform well.

Freedom for students to pursue a mix of science and humanities to reduce the rigid boundaries separating arts, commerce and science in classes 11 and 12 across school boards.

– In the current system, a student who has picked a combination of Physics, Mathematics and Chemistry cannot simultaneously study History or Political Science. But under the proposed system, that will be possible as there will be “no hard separation” among arts, humanities, and sciences. 

Assessment: The aim of assessment in the culture of our schooling system should shift from one that is summative and primarily tests rote memorisation skills to one that is more regular and formative, is more competency-based, promotes learning and development for our students.

The draft suggested three approaches to assessments—assessment ‘of learning’ (measurement of achievement of student learning), ‘for learning’ (evidence of student learning gathered by the teacher that provides inputs to guide teaching-learning processes) and ‘as learning’ (when assessments are introduced as non-threatening tools for self-reflection and introspection).

IFC to stop funding new coal-powered electricity projects

Source: The post is based on the article “IFC to stop funding new coal-powered electricity projects” published in The Hindu on 6th April 2023

What is the News?

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has announced that it will not support investments in new coal projects.

What is International Finance Corporation(IFC)?

IFC was established in 1956 as a member of the World Bank Group.

Purpose: To advance economic development and improve the lives of people by encouraging the growth of the private sector in developing countries.

Functions: It provides financing of private-enterprise investment in developing countries around the world, through both loans and direct investments.

– It also provides advisory services to encourage the development of private enterprise in nations that might be lacking the necessary infrastructure or liquidity for businesses to secure financing.

Significance: IFC is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in developing countries.

Headquarters: Washington DC, USA

What has been announced by IFC related to coal projects?

The IFC funds banks and other financial institutions that in turn lend to infrastructure and energy projects.

In 2020, the IFC unveiled a policy requiring clients to reduce their exposure to coal projects by half by 2025, and to zero by 2030. But this did not prevent new investments.

Hence, from 2023, IFC is taking the next step toward alignment with the Paris Agreement ambitions under which IFC will start requiring a commitment from financial institution clients to not originate and finance any new coal projects.

How will this impact India’s coal projects?

India which sources about three-fourths of its electricity from coal has 28.5 GW of coal power capacity planned, about a third of which is already approved and 32 GW of coal power capacity under construction. 

Tamil Nadu, Odisha, and Uttar Pradesh are the States with the highest capacities of coal power under development. 

The bulk of investments in India’s prospective coal plants are by State utilities. Hence, the impact of IFC’s decision to not invest in coal projects is not known.

However, this step by IFC should ideally prompt Indian State utilities to move away from new coal-fired plants and only fund those that are in the advanced stages of construction.

Himalayan plunder: How hydropower projects in the hills have increased disasters there

Source: The post is based on the article “Himalayan plunder: How hydropower projects in the hills have increased disasters there” published in The Hindu on 6th April 2023

What is the News?

There has been an increase in hydro projects in the Himalayas despite the fact that they are prone to landslides and earthquakes.

About the Hydropower Projects Potential in the Himalayan Region

The Himalayan region is regarded as the powerhouse of India due to its abundant water bodies and ideal topography to utilize the resource for electricity generation.

Government estimates suggest that the region has the potential to generate 115,550 MW with its installed capacity of 46,850 MW.

Till November 2022, 10 states and two Union territories in the region had 81 large hydropower projects (above 25 MW) and 26 projects under construction. Another 320 large projects are in the pipeline.

How have Hydropower projects in the Himalayas increased disasters?

Despite the fact that the Himalayan region in India is part of a seismically active zone, the Hydropower projects in the region have been mushrooming and disasters linked to these projects have increased. For instance:

In 2012, flooding in the Assi Ganga river damaged the Assi Ganga hydroelectric projects (HEP) 1 and 2.

The 2013 Kedarnath floods severely damaged Phata-Byung, Singoli-Bhatwari, and Vishnuprayag HEPs.

In 2021, a rock and ice avalanche destroyed the Rishi Ganga project and damaged the Vishnugad-Tapovan HEP, leaving over 200 dead and estimated losses of Rs 1500 crore.

Recently, in Uttarakhand’s Joshimath town, where more than 800 buildings have developed cracks due to subsidence, the government imposed a ban on construction activities, including on the works at Tapovan Vishnugad hydropower project.

About the committee setup to study the impact of Hydro Projects in the Himalayan Region

A 17-member expert committee headed by Ravi Chopra was set up by the Government to examine the role of 24 such hydropower projects in the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi basin, which contains the Ganga and several tributaries.

The committee had concluded an “irreversible impact” on the ecology of the region by 23 projects. 

Another committee, led by Vinod Tare of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur also concluded that these projects could have a significant environmental impact. 

What are the steps needed to address the impact of Hydro Projects in the Himalayan Region?

There is a dire need to re-evaluate these projects based on current scientific data.

Most of the existing or under-construction projects in the Himalayas were envisaged 10-15 years ago, and the government should look at new science and then decide.

Even if the government decides in favour of the project, let the local panchayat give it in writing that they are in favour of the project.

Pattanam Site: No idols, no arms: the Pattanam mystery

Source: The post is based on the article “No idols, no arms: the Pattanam mystery” published in The Hindu on 2nd April 2023.

What is the News?

Recent excavation has revealed that the Pattanam Site in Kerala was a thriving urban centre from the 5th century B.C. to the 5th century A.D., with its peak phase from 100 B.C. to A.D. 300.  At present, the excavation has uncovered less than 1% of the site so far.

About Pattanam Site

Located in: Central Kerala

Pattanam is part of Muziris, ‘first emporium’ of the Indian Ocean. It is an example of the Greco- Roman classical age coming into direct contact with an ancient South Indian civilisation.

Note: The name Muziris is believed to have originated from the Tamil word “Muciri”, which means “the land of seven rivers”.

Significance: It is the only multi-cultural archaeological site on the southwestern coast of the Indian subcontinent. The excavations have unearthed over 45 lakh sherds (ceramic fragments). Of these approximately 1.4 lakh belongs to the littoral regions of the Mediterranean, the River Nile, the Red Sea, the western and eastern Indian Oceans, and the South China Sea. Further, the recent findings also include the seal of a sphinx, native to the ancient Greek city of Thebes.

What are the key findings on Pattanam Site?

No Idol Worship: The site is devoid of any idols of gods and goddesses or grandiose places of worship.

No Social Hierarchy: Evidence for institutionalized religion or caste system in ancient Pattanam is also absent. This suggests that there was a secular ethos prevalent in society.

No Weaponry: The absence of sophisticated weaponry also stands in contrast with some other Pattanam-contemporary sites. This suggests that the people of Pattanam may have been peace-loving people who did not harbour religious and caste boundaries.

Cremation and Burial Practices: The burial practices were confined to fragmentary skeleton remains. The burials were of a “secondary” nature. In this, the dead were cremated first and the osseous remains were ceremoniously buried later.

People of widely differing backgrounds were buried the same way, which also highlights the prevalence of a secular society.

Connected to nature: Material evidence from Pattanam site strengthens the belief that Pattanam society may have lived in harmony with nature, like several indigenous societies. Pattanam society also not viewed people as separate from nature. This had the positive fallout of living life in an ecologically responsible manner.