Context: The overlapping effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, covid-related supply chain disruptions and high inflation have all led to narratives that the clean-energy transition will be highly inflationary—or that it will stall. The worries usually centre on the implications of soaring demand for commodities such as cobalt, lithium, nickel and copper that are… Continue reading The world is short of time and not minerals for climate action
Tag: gs paper 3
The supply bottlenecks causing power shortages
Context: The power sector in India is going through a crisis. Peak shortages in some states have reached double digits. Coal stocks available at thermal plants are at abysmal levels, and about 106 plants out of 173 plants have reached a critical stage. In some plants, the stocks available are just about enough to run… Continue reading The supply bottlenecks causing power shortages
Reforming fuel taxes
Context: Addressing the chief ministers of the states recently, Prime Minister said that the Union government had reduced excise duty on fuel last November, but pointed out that some states had not followed this lead. States raised several objections to his statement. They pointed out that the Union government has earned windfall gains on fuel… Continue reading Reforming fuel taxes
Ukraine rethinks on hyper-globalisation. Nations need to de-risk against overdependence on few suppliers
News: Recently, Indonesia, the world’s largest producer and exporter of the palm oil has been experiencing domestic shortages of the same. This led to spike in the domestic palm oil prices in Indonesia and the world (including India). Therefore, Indonesia has announced to ban all exports. What is the concept of hyper-globalization? In a hyper-globalised… Continue reading Ukraine rethinks on hyper-globalisation. Nations need to de-risk against overdependence on few suppliers
India must use markets to decarbonise
News: Recently, in the Conference of Parties (CoP-26) of the UNFCCC held at Glasgow in November 2021 several partner countries were seen committed to concrete action plans to contain global warming under the threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius. Why should India decarbonize? Climate change is bound to impact human lives and the global economy. This… Continue reading India must use markets to decarbonise
Funding woes haunts Indian Science
News: The Union Ministry of Science and Technology budgetary allocation in the current financial year (2022-23) has seen a drop from the last year. The 2022-2023 Union Budget has seen a drop of 3.9% from last year. Contents1 What is the significance of science and tech? 2 Status of India’s R&D expenditure 3 Some of the measures… Continue reading Funding woes haunts Indian Science
Desi commerce: GoI’s ecommerce network for small players is a good idea. Customer interface will be critical
Context: GoI’s quest to build an open digital ecommerce network for small businesses holds great promise. The proposed model can potentially be a game-changer for small retailers and new tech startups facing big ecommerce giants and their market dominance and commissions. It can also address sellers’ limitations of being tied down to one platform, and… Continue reading Desi commerce: GoI’s ecommerce network for small players is a good idea. Customer interface will be critical
A silicon waste alert for our creaky power sector
Context: India’s power crisis is best described by a disconnect between installed capacity and availability that must be sorted out. What are the major reasons behind the power shortage in the country? India has an installed capacity to generate almost 400 gigawatts of electricity, and about 40% of it cleanly. But a surge in peak… Continue reading A silicon waste alert for our creaky power sector
Net Zero by 2050 will hit a major timing problem technology can’t solve. We need to talk about cutting consumption
News: Many climate activists and scientists are reassuring that the climate crisis can be solved rapidly without any changes to lifestyle, society or the economy. They suggest paths such as a) Switching from fossil fuels to renewable power, electric vehicles and energy efficiency technologies, b) Adding seaweed to livestock feed to cut methane and c)… Continue reading Net Zero by 2050 will hit a major timing problem technology can’t solve. We need to talk about cutting consumption
Denied & discouraged: Why youths not looking for jobs can be a crisis for India
Context: In March 2022, India’s labour participation rate (LPR) fell to 39.5% from 39.9% in February, according to a report by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). This is lower than the rate during the country’s second COVID-19 wave in June 2021, when it was 39.6%. Labour participation rate is a measure of the… Continue reading Denied & discouraged: Why youths not looking for jobs can be a crisis for India
