9 PM Daily Current Affairs Brief – November 15th, 2022

Current Affairs Compilations for UPSC IAS Prelims 2022

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 1

• How we can make the digital space safer for all, particularly women

GS Paper 2

• Mutual benefit: On India-U.S. cooperation on trade
• Question of intent: Why Supreme Court didn’t find Rajiv Gandhi assassination case convicts guilty of terror
• The foundation of tribal uplift policies is education: Union minister of tribal affairs writes on the occasion of Janjatiya Gaurav Divas
• G20 Summit: What’s at stake?
• Forced transmission-New guidelines for satellite channels leave wide scope for interpretation

GS Paper 3

• The shape of the Indian economic pie must change
• India’s long-term strategy to transition to a ‘low emissions’ pathway involves more nuclear power, more ethanol

Prelims Oriented Articles (Factly)

• Bilateral trade with India doubled to $2 billion in the past two years, says Ambassador of Norway
• Projects to track small fishing vessels along India’s coast makes progress
• Financing India’s infrastructure: India has to invest $55 billion p.a. in urban infra to meet needs of growing population: World Bank report
• Methane Alert and Response System (MARS): COP27: UN to set up system to track methane emissions from space
• “In our LiFEtime” Campaign launched by India at COP 27, Sharm El-Sheikh
• India to conduct major ‘Sea Vigil’ coastal defence exercise
• Forced conversions may ultimately affect national security, freedom of religion, Supreme Court tells Centre
• NASA completes LOFTID technology demonstration designed to land humans on Mars
• The significance of the Bali G-20 summit
• India Submits its Long-Term Low Emission Development Strategy to UNFCCC
• Who was Sir CP, whose ‘independent Travancore mission’ ended with assassination bid
• Legal battle over demolitions near tomb of Afzal Khan in Maharashtra
• 3rd Ministerial Conference on Countering Financing of Terrorism – No Money for Terror

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 1

How we can make the digital space safer for all, particularly women

News– The article explains the need to focus on safety tools and features across digital platforms

What are the reasons for increasing vulnerability of women in digital space?

India has one of the youngest youth demographics in the world and among the most active online. Increased online interactions lead to more content which is shared among people. Sometimes, these interactions also make them vulnerable to harm. Women are often particularly vulnerable.

Private pictures of young women are leaked online. Sometimes it is from a hacked account, other times because of a soured relationship.

It should be no surprise that young men and women are exploring new ways to express their sexuality through sharing intimate images.These new social norms have created new forms of abuse where women are usually the victims.

What are the reactions to such abuses?

Crimes that disproportionately impact women devolve into mass panic . This reaction ends up denying women their freedom and agency by their so-called “protectors”.They advise women to go offline, to be ashamed of expressing themselves.

What are the efforts by various stakeholders for online safety of women?

Leading academics are spearheading research around the topic to discuss the evolution of technology-facilitated abuse.

New IT rules have shown concern regarding the safety and security of users, particularly women and children.

With the overhaul of the IT Act, there is an opportunity to discuss in detail the nature of technology-facilitated abuse. This could be the start of an era of evidence-based discussion.

What is the way forward?

Industry, also, has a role to play. If platform providers could be more responsive to the concerns and experiences of women then, it can help mitigate such issues.

Platforms need to design choices that help women stay in control of who they engage with. They should leverage open source technology that detects and blurs lewd images so that women don’t need to see unsolicited pictures.

We need to focus on safety tools and features across the spectrum of websites and apps .

Societal cooperation is needed. Public discourse around technology-facilitated abuse has to be elevated

GS Paper 2

Mutual benefit: On India-U.S. cooperation on trade

News- The article explains the Indo-US trade and economic ties.

Why does the US and India want strong trade and economic ties?

The US and India both have shared interest in strengthening the global supply chain. Trade has been used as a geopolitical weapon by some states.

There has been dominance of some states in the supply chain of certain products. For example, China is dominating solar panel.

What are challenges in Indo-US trade ties?

The Trump administration decided to withdraw duty-free access to Indian exporters under the Generalised System of Preferences. The U.S. is still to reinstate the GSP benefit and exporters on both sides still face challenges.

The International Trade Administration of the U.S. notes in its investment climate summary on India that new protectionist measures restricted the expansion in bilateral trade and investment. These measures include strict enforcement and potential expansion of data localisation measures, increased tariffs and Indian-specific standards not aligned with international standards.

The US decided to put India back on the US treasury “monitoring list” over its currency practices in 2020.

Question of intent: Why Supreme Court didn’t find Rajiv Gandhi assassination case convicts guilty of terror

News: The Supreme Court (SC) has recently released all the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

This has created controversies. Therefore, there is a need to look at the SC’s 1999 judgment in which it said that the killing by the LTTE was not a terrorist act.

What was the judgment of SC in 1999?

The matter came to the SC in 1998 after the TADA court sentenced all 26 accused to death. Judges looking at the case had different views and gave separate judgements.

However, all three judges were of the view that crime only attracted relevant sections of the IPC- murder (302) and conspiracy (120-B). Provision of TADA could not be applied.

Section 3(1) of TADA says that anyone who commits act using explosives that could cause death or damage with intent to

• overawe the government or
• to strike terror in any section of the people or
• to alienate any section of the people or
• to affect the harmony amongst different sections of the people,

commits a terrorist act.

The court said that the intent under this section was important and the current case does not signify that assassination was done with any of these four intents.

The court quoted the speech of the LTTE leader which said that they were not against India or the Indian people. They were only against the former leadership in India who was against the Tamil liberation struggle and the LTTE.

Therefore, the court ruled that the intent under Section 3(1) of TADA is not applicable in this case.

The court also ruled out Section 4 of TADA that says killing a person bound by oath under the Constitution to uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India or any public servant was deemed a disruptive activity.

The court ruled that this section was also not applicable as Parliament was dissolved months earlier to the assassination and Rajiv Gandhi was not a person bound by oath as an MP.

Therefore, the court ruled that the convicts did not have any intention to overawe the government or strike terror to the people of India. Thus, only IPC sections of murder and conspiracy can be applied to the seven convicts who were guilty.

The foundation of tribal uplift policies is education: Union minister of tribal affairs writes on the occasion of Janjatiya Gaurav Divas

News: The Government has declared to celebrate the birth anniversary of Bhagwan Birsa Munda as Janjatiya Gaurav Divas on 15th November every year.

This decision will help in strengthening the tribal legacy, heritage, culture and achievements of India.

What is the present situation of tribals in India?

India is home to about 25% of the world’s ethnic population, making it a country with a diversified cultural heritage and a large number of youthful tribal people.

These tribes are utilising the opportunity in the field of education, sports and they are also winning Padma Awards along with international recognition.

Further, the appointment of the nation’s first tribal President (President Droupadi Murmu) shows that there is huge potential for the nation’s Scheduled Tribes.

The government is also committed and adopted a people-centric approach towards the betterment of the tribal people in India.

The PM’s call for Reform, Perform, Transform has served as the guiding principle to ensure the last-mile distribution of benefits and to improve the nation’s overall development.

The most important tool for development is holistic education as advocated by our PM.

Why is education necessary and what are ways adopted by the government for the betterment of tribals?

Education is necessary to bring transformation in the tribals, in bringing reforms and in having a successful future.

Education is necessary in tribals especially in young girls as left-wing extremism has made it challenging to establish educational infrastructure in the affected areas.

Further, the goal of the government is to address these problems at the block level, provide tribal students with quality education through Eklavya Model Residential Schools and to take advantage of the scholarship programmes.

The tribal development programmes focus on empowering tribal people digitally and upskilling them to produce and sell their manufactured goods. NGOs and other organisations are also taking efforts in the advancement of the tribal people.

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs under the Vision for India@2047 has prioritised sustainable livelihoods, income generation, education, health and the promotion of varied ethnic cultures of tribal people. This has helped tribals to get integrated in the society. This ministry is also attempting to preserve several tribal languages.

G20 Summit: What’s at stake?

News: A two-day G 20 summit meeting will commence in Bali, Indonesia. This is the 17th annual summit. At the end of this meeting, India will assume charge of the G20 presidency.

Why India’s G20 presidency is significant?

How effective was the performance of G20 in the past?

It was formed in 1999 in the wake of the Asian financial crisis. Its major achievements include,

Role in Financial crisis: The G20 was most effective in 2008 and 2009. As its coordinated policymaking mitigated the economic fallout of the financial crisis. Further, G20 also laid the platform for subsequent agreements on sharing tax data to curb tax evasion.

Expansion of G20’s ambit: Since 2008, the core goal of improving the economic policy environment has expanded to tackling climate change and terrorism, among other things.

Dismantled protectionism: It was perhaps the single most important reason that more than 1 billion people globally escaped extreme poverty in the three decades before Covid.

Why did the performance of G20 reduce at present?

Global growth and the promise of globalisation of G20 have received a severe setback ever since the pandemic. This is because,

Output losses due to Covid: Most of the G20 constituent countries have suffered significant output losses since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic For instance, India would have lost almost 14% of its total output — the highest loss among all G20 countries.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and sanctions against Russia by West has not only created massive geopolitical uncertainty but also spiked global inflation due to supply chain bottlenecks and curbs

Impact of Central Bank’s decision: To control high inflation, central banks across countries have raised interest rates. This in turn has dampened economic activity. For example, the US and the UK are set to face a recession.

A slowdown in China: China, one of the major engines for global growth, is witnessing a sharp slowdown as it struggles with a real estate crisis.

Geopolitical rifts: Such as a) Tensions between the US and China, the two biggest economies in the world, b) The decline in trade between the UK and the euro area in the wake of the Brexit decision.

What should be done to improve the performance of G20?

Requires joint action: G20 countries can grow faster if they grow together. For growing together, they require peace. So, in the present summit, the leaders have to a) Find common ground such as multilateral action on climate, debt, taxation, and pandemic preparedness, etc., b) Secure peace in Ukraine and prevent further fragmentation, and c) Rule out the differences in the policy landscape.

Contain raging inflation: According to the IMF, “the overarching priority for policymakers in most economies is to ensure price stability while bringing down debt levels and protecting the most vulnerable”.

So, the G20 countries have to a) Contain inflation, b) Find ways to help the vulnerable without increasing the debt levels, c) Ensure proper monitoring of external risks.

Forced transmission-New guidelines for satellite channels leave wide scope for interpretation

News: Recently, the Union Cabinet has approved the “Guidelines for Uplinking and Downlinking of Television Channels in India, 2022”. Under this, the channels would have to mandatorily broadcast content on themes of national importance and socially relevant issues for at least 30 minutes every day.

What are the key provisions of the guidelines?

What are the concerns associated with mandatorily broadcasting content?

The issue with the notion of “public property”: The government considers that airwave resources are theoretically owned by the people of India. But, access to them does not come for free.

Broadcasters pay a licence fee (plus a processing fee for live events). Hence, this transfers ownership for the duration of the contract and confers some degree of independence on the broadcaster.

Government has a better alternative: Private broadcasters might not be willing to sacrifice half an hour’s revenue every day to cover “themes of national importance” when the government has a large broadcaster (Doordarshan) at its disposal to do just this.

Doordarshan has both terrestrial and satellite feeds, plus regional channels that cover pretty much the whole population of India. So, Doordarshan has a far better reach than any private satellite channel.

Challenge in monitoring: The government has said it will monitor channels to ensure they are broadcasting content on themes of national importance. At present, India has around 800-odd channels. So, government monitoring might result in a certain degree of cherry-picking.

Guidelines open for interpretation: These guidelines are opaque and open for interpretation since “national importance and social relevance” and “national interest” can easily lie in the eyes of the beholder.

Further, the guidelines add that “channels shall comply” with these recommendations. Such assertions are unlikely to ease operational conditions.

GS Paper 3

The shape of the Indian economic pie must change

News- The article explains the increasing inequalities and unfair distribution of wealth across the world. It explains the dominant position acquired by the financial sector.

With the decision of SUpreme Court on EWS reservation and recent debates on subsidies, the issue of inequality has come to surface.

What are the issues with the present economic structure?

Shape of the economy is disturbed. Decent jobs and social security are available to too few. Good education and health care is not available to all.

Issues about fair distribution of opportunities and the need for subsidies will become harder for the Government to resolve until the current pattern of economic growth continues.

Economic inequalities have been increasing in all countries, even the rich ones. Governments are struggling to meet conflicting demands for a smooth business climate  and decent living for common citizens.

Populism is on the rise. On the left, populism demands rights for all workers, across races and religions. On the right, populism wants to protect racial and religious majorities from immigrants and minorities competing with them for limited economic opportunities.

What are the viewpoints of Thomas Piketty about inequality?

He describes that societies were historically divided into three classes– a religious class, a noble and warrior class, and labouring class. Merchant and financial class later emerged and became dominant.

Every human society must justify its inequalities. Unless it does not do so, there will be social and political instability.

Modern inequality is said to be just because everyone enjoys equal access to the market and to property. It benefits automatically from the wealth accumulated by the wealthiest individuals.

How has the financial sector become dominant in the economy?

The financing of wars gave money-owning class power over governments. International trade provided another avenue for growth of the financial class. With the victory of neo-liberalism over welfarism, money became the master. Central banks with responsibility to look after the health of money, acquired independence from elected governments.

The role of banks and financial institutions was to provide lubrication to the wheels of the real economy, rather than making large profits themselves. By the 21st century, profits seem to have become the purpose of financial institutions.

What are the impacts of the dominant position of the financial sector?

Innovative ways of making money from money also became the fastest way to increase personal wealth. Inequalities have increased because a much larger share of wealth is sucked into the financial sector.

The rules of the economic game are now set by the wealthiest. They influence governments’ policies the most. They can determine the wages they will pay workers and prices for small enterprises.

Lives of common citizens have become precarious. Formal jobs in large enterprises are becoming fewer with the changing shape of the modern, post-industrial economy.

What should be the course of action?

The shape of the economic pie must change so that the majority benefits much faster than a tiny minority on top. This will require reforms of institutions and economic ideology.

The Government must listen and respond to the needs of common citizens more than to big business lobbies.

Ease of living for the majority must drive government policies more than policies for attracting big investments with ease of doing business.

India’s long-term strategy to transition to a ‘low emissions’ pathway involves more nuclear power, more ethanol

News– The article explains India’s long-term strategy to transition to a “low emissions” pathway at the United Nations Conference of Parties ongoing in Sharm el-Sheikh.

What is the recent long term strategy announced by India?

It is premised on expanding its nuclear power capacity by at least three-fold in the next decade. There is focus on becoming an international hub for producing green hydrogen and increasing the proportion of ethanol in petrol.

The LT-LEDS (Long Term-Low Emission Development Strategy) has been prepared in the framework of India’s right to an equitable and fair share of the global carbon budget. The strategy emphasises energy security, energy access, and employment, while keeping focus on our vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat.

The journey to net-zero is five-decade-long. India’s vision is therefore evolutionary and flexible.It accommodates new technological developments and developments in the global economy and international cooperation.

The LT-LEDS are qualitative in nature. It is a requirement emanating from the 2015 Paris Agreement.

LTS says that the transition to low carbon development pathway will entail several costs pertaining to the development of new technologies, new infrastructure, and other transaction costs. The cost of transition falls generally in the range of trillions of dollars by 2050.

Provision of climate finance by developed countries will play a very significant role. It needs to be considerably enhanced, in the form of grants and concessional loans, ensuring scale, scope and speed. It should be predominantly from public sources, in accordance with the principles of the UNFCCC.

What is the strategy adopted by India to achieve net zero targets?

India aspires to maximise the use of electric vehicles. It aims for ethanol blending to reach 20% by 2025 which is currently 10% .

India will also focus on improving energy efficiency by the Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) scheme, the National Hydrogen Mission, increasing electrification, enhancing material efficiency; recycling and ways to reduce emissions.

India’s forest and tree cover act as a net carbon sink absorbing 15% of CO2 emissions in 2016. Also,the country is on track to fulfilling its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) commitment of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of additional carbon sequestration in forest and tree cover by 2030.

India’s most updated NDC commits to ensuring half its electricity is derived from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030. It aims at reducing the emissions intensity by 45% below 2005 levels by 2030.

What is the way forward for LTS?

India’s long-term strategy (LTS) can guide the growth of Indian industry, urban planning, and infrastructure creation.

India needs to create a legal or institutional framework to pursue policies based on its long-term goal.

LTS should include carbon pricing through a domestic emissions trading scheme as a key element of India’s strategy, given that the government has already announced the creation of the same in India.

Provision of climate finance by developed countries will play a very significant role. It needs to be considerably enhanced, in the form of grants and concessional loans.

Prelims Oriented Articles (Factly)

Bilateral trade with India doubled to $2 billion in the past two years, says Ambassador of Norway

Source: The post is based on the article “Bilateral trade with India doubled to $2 billion in the past two years, says Ambassador of Norway” published in The Hindu on 15th November 2022

What is the News?

In the last two years, bilateral trade between India and Norway has doubled to $2 billion.

What is the present status of bilateral trade between India and Norway?

Energy investment: India is one of the countries with a large potential for solar energy. Most of the investment from Norway has been in solar energy infrastructure.

Norway is working with the National Institute of Wind Energy for both onshore and offshore wind energy. But according to Norway, only Tamil Nadu and Gujarat had the stable wind to make wind energy projects viable.

Ship recycling: Norway has the fifth-largest commercial fleet in the world, and ship recycling was crucial to keep up a modern fleet, both for environmental as also for competitive reasons.

India has a large ship-breaking industry, especially in Alang in Gujarat. Norway was cooperating closely with India for ship recycling.

Further, India also joined Hong Kong Convention as per the request of Norway.

Creation of digital archives in India: A Norwegian company was involved in creating a digital archive for Indian monuments such as the Taj Mahal. The company was also involved in digitalising historical monuments — Dholavira in Gujarat and the Bhimbhetka Caves in Madhya Pradesh.

What will be the future of Norway’s investment in India?

Norway would invest $1 billion from its climate investment fund in five years worldwide, this includes India as well. But the quantum of funds invested in India would depend on the projects.

What is Hong Kong Convention?

The Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, 2009 (the Hong Kong Convention) was adopted at a diplomatic conference held in Hong Kong, China.

Aim: Ensuring ships when being recycled after reaching the end of their operational lives, do not pose any unnecessary risks to human health, safety and the environment.

Nature: It is a legally binding international instrument.

So far the convention has not entered into force. But, with more nations such as Bangladesh signing up the Hong Kong Convention would come into force.

Projects to track small fishing vessels along India’s coast makes progress

Source: The post is based on the article “Projects to track small fishing vessels along India’s coast makes progress” published in The Hindu on 15th November 2022

What is the News?

As part of coastal security measures instituted post-26/11 Mumbai attacks the Indian government has instituted a project to install transponders on small fishing vessels under 20 metres in length. After much delay, the project was now underway in Tamil Nadu.

About the project to install transponders on small fishing vessels

The process of installing transponders on sub-20 metre boats commenced with a pilot project in Tamil Nadu for 5,000 vessels.

Features of the transponders: To allay the concerns of fishermen, the transponders with positioning navigation systems have been modified into a two-way communication system.

Need: There are close to three lakh registered fishing vessels of which around 2.5 lakh are under 20 metres.

What are the other important initiatives taken to improve India’s coastal security?

An Automatic Identification System (AIS) was made compulsory for all vessels above 20 metres after the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

Online ReALCraft (Registration and Licensing of Fishing Craft): Through this, verification and monitoring of a large number of Indian fishing vessels is carried out. This information is available to the Indian Navy and Coast Guard.

Biometric identity cards: These biometric identity cards have been issued to the majority of fishermen. The maritime security agencies through the composite card readers enable biometric verification of the identity of fishing vessel crews at sea.

Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA) initiative: It was announced by the Quad grouping at the Tokyo summit in 2022. It is a part of overall efforts for Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) on the high seas.

The initiative will track “dark shipping” and build a “faster, wider, and more accurate maritime picture of near-real-time activities in partners’ waters.” Further, the initiative will also integrate three critical regions in the Indo-Pacific – the Pacific Islands, Southeast Asia, and Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

Financing India’s infrastructure: India has to invest $55 billion p.a. in urban infra to meet needs of growing population: World Bank report

Source: The post is based on the article “India has to invest $55 billion p.a. in urban infra to meet needs of growing population: World Bank report” published in The Hindu on 15th November 2022.

What is the News?

Recently, the World Bank released a report titled “Financing India’s Infrastructure Needs: Constraints to Commercial Financing and Prospects for Policy Action.” The report underlines an urgent need to leverage more private and commercial investments to meet emerging financial gaps.

Why India needs to finance India’s Infrastructure?

According to the report, by 2036, 600 million people will be living in urban cities in India, representing 40% of the population. This will put additional pressure such as more demand for clean drinking water, reliable power supply, efficient and safe road transport amongst others.

What are the key findings about financing India’s Infrastructure projects?

Slow implementation of Centre’s schemes by states and ULBs: There is a slow implementation performance by States and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) on several of the Centre’s flagship Urban Missions such as Smart Cities Mission and the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY).

For example, ULBs across India have so far executed only about one-fifth of the cumulative cost or outlay of approved projects under SCM and AMRUT over the last six financial years.

Low private participation: Currently, the central and State governments finance over 75% of city infrastructure, while ULBs finance 15% through their own surplus revenues.

Only 5% of the infrastructure needs of Indian cities are currently being financed through private sources.

A decline in PPP transactions: Public Private Partnership (PPP) transactions for urban infrastructure have registered a marked decline in the last decade both in monetary value and transaction volume.

Low PPP project awards: PPP project awards have seen a substantial spike between the years 2007 and 2012 when most of these projects were awarded. Only one-third of all PPP investments awarded since 2000 came in the last decade— including 55 projects worth $17 billion, the report stated.

Low revenue of Indian infra projects: This is due to policy decisions to keep tariffs and service charges below levels required for cost recovery and financial sustainability.

What are the key suggestions of the report to improve financing India’s infrastructure?

Need additional urban funding: India will need to invest $840 billion over the next 15 years into urban infrastructure to effectively meet the needs of its fast-growing urban population. Cities in India need large amounts of financing to promote green, smart, inclusive, and sustainable urbanization.

Creating a conducive environment for ULBs: Currently, the 10 largest ULBs were able to spend only two-thirds of their total capital budget over three recent fiscal years. India needs to create a conducive environment such as creditworthiness for ULBs to enable them to borrow more from private sources.

Medium-term solutions: A series of structural reforms such as changes in taxation policy and fiscal transfer system can allow cities to leverage more private financing.

NASA completes LOFTID technology demonstration designed to land humans on Mars

Source: The post is based on the article “NASA completes LOFTID technology demonstration designed to land humans on Mars” published in Indian Express on 15th November 2022

What is the News?

NASA has completed the technology demonstration of its Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator(LOFTID) mission. 

What is the LOFTID Mission?

LOFTID is a partnership between NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate and United Launch Alliance (ULA).

Aim: To demonstrate a Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (HIAD) or aeroshell technology that could one day help land humans on Mars.

Features: A HIAD device will have an inflatable structure that is capable of holding its shape against drag forces. It will also have a protective flexible thermal protection system that will protect it from the heat generated during re-entry. 

What is the significance of HIAD technology?

Firstly, for destinations with an atmosphere, one of the challenges NASA faces is how to deliver heavy payloads (experiments, equipment, and people) because current rigid aeroshells are constrained by a rocket’s shroud size. One answer to this is HIAD technology that can be deployed to a scale much larger than the shroud.

Secondly, it could potentially be used for bringing back rocket assets after they are launched.

Thirdly, when a spacecraft or anything else enters a planet’s atmosphere, drag acts upon the body and slows it down-converting kinetic energy into heat. The large size of the HIAD device means that it creates more drag and starts the deceleration process higher in the atmosphere than traditional aeroshells.

Fourthly, it could be used to bring back massive objects back from Earth’s orbit, like items from the International Space Station.

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The significance of the Bali G-20 summit

Source: The post is based on the article “The significance of the Bali G-20 summit” published in The Hindu on 15th November 2022

What is the News?

The 17th annual summit of G20 countries is being organized at Bali, Indonesia.

What is G20?

Click Here to read

What is the agenda of the 17th G20 Summit?

The motto for this G-20 is Recover Together, Recover Stronger. 

Key Priorities: The summit will have three key priorities:

Global Health Architecture: This involves deliberations towards strengthening global health resilience and making the global health system more inclusive, equitable, and responsive to crises.

Digital Transformation: Deliberations here have centered on achieving the full potential of rapid digitalisation of the global economy by creating a new landscape of cooperation among nations.

Sustainable Energy Transition: The discussions have focussed on ways to accelerate the transition towards cleaner energy sources. In particular, since any such transition requires substantial investments, the efforts have been focused on finding a platform for such investments.

What makes this G-20 different from others?

For the world, this is the first G-20 since Russia began the war in Ukraine and the west imposed sanctions on Russia. Efforts will be made to build global consensus over issues that have clearly divided the world. 

For India, the importance of the summit of the world’s most advanced economies is that it is India’s turn to host the summit next. 

India Submits its Long-Term Low Emission Development Strategy to UNFCCC

Source: The post is based on the article “India Submits its Long-Term Low Emission Development Strategy to UNFCCC” published in PIB on 14th November 2022

What is the News?

India has submitted its Long-Term Low Emission Development Strategy(LT-LEDS) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at COP 27.

What is the Long-Term Low Emission Development Strategy(LT-LEDS)?

The LT-LEDS is a commitment document which every signatory to the Paris Agreement (2015) is obliged to make by 2022.

So far, only 57 countries (including India) have submitted their document.

What is India’s Long-Term Low Emission Development Strategy(LT-LEDS)?

The strategy is based on four key considerations: 1) India has contributed little to global warming despite being home to a sixth of the world’s population, 2) India has significant energy needs for development, 3) India is committed to pursuing low-carbon strategies for development and 4) India needs to build climate resilience.

Key Pillars of the strategy: The 7 key pillars of the strategy are: 1) Low-carbon electricity systems consistent with development 2) Integrated, efficient and inclusive low-carbon transport systems, 3) Energy & material-efficiency in buildings, 4) Decoupling growth from emissions and developing an efficient, low-emission industrial system, 5) CO2 removal and related engineering solutions, 6) Enhancing forest cover consistent with socioeconomic and ecological considerations and 7) Increasing climate resilience in poverty eradication and employment creation.

What are the salient features of the strategy?

Transition from fossil fuels: The transition from fossil fuels will be undertaken in a just, smooth, sustainable and all-inclusive manner.

Transportation sector: Increased use of biofuels, especially ethanol blending in petrol, the drive to increase electric vehicle penetration and the increased use of green hydrogen fuel is expected to drive the low carbon development of the transport sector. 

Sustainable Urbanization: Future sustainable and climate-resilient urban development will be driven by smart city initiatives, integrated planning of cities, effective green building codes and rapid developments in innovative solid and liquid waste management.

Industrial Sector: India’s industrial sector will continue on a strong growth path in the perspective of ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’ and ‘Make in India’. The focus will be on improving energy efficiency by initiatives such as Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) scheme, high levels of electrification, enhancing material efficiency and recycling leading to the expansion of the circular economy.

Forest Cover: India has a strong record of enhancing forest and tree cover in the last three decades alongside high economic growth.

– India’s forest fire incidence is well below global levels, while its forest and tree cover are a net sink absorbing 15% of CO2 emissions in 2016. India is on track to fulfilling its NDC commitment of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of additional carbon sequestration in forest and tree cover by 2030.

Transition to low-carbon development: The transition to the low carbon development pathway will entail several costs pertaining to the development of new technologies, new infrastructure, and other transaction costs. The provision of climate finance by developed countries will play a very significant role in this.

Legal battle over demolitions near tomb of Afzal Khan in Maharashtra

Source: The post is based on the article “Legal battle over demolitions near tomb of Afzal Khan in Maharashtra” published in Indian Express on 15th November 2022

What is the News?

The Supreme Court(SC) has sought reports from the Maharashtra government on the demolition drive conducted around the tomb of Afzal Khan.

Who was Afzal Khan?

Afzal Khan was a 17th-century commander of the Adil Shahi dynasty of Bijapur.

With Chhatrapati Shivaji’s rise and increasing control of the region, Afzal Khan was seen as the man to subdue him in the Deccan.

Afzal Khan put together a force of 10,000 cavalry and marched from Bijapur to Wai, plundering Shivaji’s territory along the way.

Shivaji called a council of war at the fort of Pratapgarh, where most of his advisers urged him to make peace. However, Shivaji was not eager to back down and he set up a meeting with Khan.

During the meeting, an embrace between the two turned into an attack in which Shivaji emerged victorious. This was followed by a rout of the Adilshahi army at the hands of the Marathas.

As per Maratha sources, Khan’s remains were buried at the fort and a tomb was constructed on Shivaji’s orders.

In an act of grace, Shivaji erected a tomb over the remains of Afzul Khan and built a tower in his honour which is still known by the name ‘Afzul Buruj’ at Pratapgarh.

The sword of Afzal Khan was preserved as a valued trophy in the armoury of Shivaji and his descendants.

3rd Ministerial Conference on Countering Financing of Terrorism – No Money for Terror

Source: The post is based on the article “3rd Ministerial Conference on Countering Financing of Terrorism – No Money for Terror” published in PIB on 14th November 2022.

What is the News?

The 3rd Ministerial Conference on Countering Financing of Terrorism – No Money for Terror will be held in New Delhi.

What is the Third Ministerial ‘No Money for Terror (NMFT)’ Conference?

Hosted by: Ministry of Home Affairs

Aim: To make progress on the discussions on combating terrorist financing held by the international community in the previous two (NMFT) conferences in Paris (in 2018) and Melbourne (in 2019). 

Focus areas: Global trends in terrorism and terrorist financing, the use of formal and informal channels of funding terrorism, emerging technologies and terrorist financing, and requisite international cooperation to address related challenges.

Note: Recently, India also hosted two global events in October 2022 — the annual General Assembly of the Interpol in Delhi and a special session of the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee in Mumbai and Delhi.