A brief of newspaper articles for the day bearing
relevance to Civil Services preparation
National
[1]. Paris pact will secure earth for future, says Obama as world leaders hail deal
What has happened?
Speaking of the recently concluded Paris agreement, US President Barack Obama called it a big step forward in securing the planet for future generations and said the agreement showed what was possible when nations stood together.
Reaction of the French President
In Paris, there have been many revolutions over the centuries. Today, it is the most beautiful and the most peaceful revolution that has just been accomplished.
Reaction of British PM
The agreement represents a huge step forward in securing the future of the planet.
Reaction of the German Chancellor
The deal would oblige the entire global community to act against climate change.
Reaction of Centre for Science and Environment
The agreement is unambitious and has discharged the developed nations of their responsibility
Reaction of China
The Paris agreement may not be perfect and some areas needed improvement… the agreement is fair, just and comprehensive and balanced with legally binding force.
Reaction of India
Outcome of Paris agreement has no winners or losers, Climate justice has won.
Reaction of Tata Institute of Social Sciences
The Paris agreement falls well short of what the world needs to halt the progression of climate change.
[2]. Paris deal may bind India on emissions data
What has been agreed to at Paris?
- The countries that met at Paris agreed to hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and also make efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C.
- Temperatures have already increased by about 1°Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times. In order to achieve the long-term temperature goal, the countries aim to reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible. It, however, recognises that peaking of greenhouse gases emission will take longer for developing countries.
- Mitigation for developing countries and economy-wide emission reduction
- Emission reduction targets: Countries will set national targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions every five years. More than 180 countries have already submitted targets for the first cycle beginning in 2020.
What about those countries which have set targets with a time-frame of 2030?
Well, such countries would have to communicate or update by 2020 these contributions and to do so every five years thereafter.
- Compliance: No penalty has been levied in case of non-compliance but the agreement has transparency rules to help encourage countries to actually do what they say they will do. The agreement says all countries must report on their emissions and their efforts the reduce them. The transparency framework under Article 13 of the Paris Agreement does provide “built-in flexibility”, which takes into account the different capacities of countries.
- Finance: The agreement says wealthy countries should continue to offer financial support to help poor countries reduce their emissions and adapt to climate change. It also encourages other countries to pitch in on a voluntary basis. Like, China can help if it wants to but it is not compulsory
- Specific amount in dollars has not been set. Developed countries had pledged $100Billion last year but as per Oxfam developing countries would need $800 Billion a year by 2050
- Loss and damage: For small island nations threatened by rising seas, the agreement includes a section recognising “loss and damage” associated with climate-related disasters. The US long objected to addressing the issue in the agreement, worried that it would lead to claims of compensation for damage caused by extreme weather events. In the end, the issue was included, but a footnote specifically stated that loss and damage does not involve liability or compensation.
So, is the Paris deal sufficient?
It may not be the panacea to the problem of reducing use of fossil fuels but is a starting point for the race towards a low-carbon future.
Not sufficient: Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has clearly stated that the deal is weak and unambitious and discharges developed nations of their responsibility. Developing countries have got only words and promises while developed countries have got no legally binding targets on finance and emission cuts.
A start: Greenpeace international termed the deal as a step forward. It is not a momentous deal but still it is one step forward
How’s the deal for India?
The big win for the country is the inclusion of the phrase “common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR) “, recognising the different national circumstances of developed and developing countries.
What has happened?
In the recently concluded Paris agreement at COP 21, India would have to submit NDC every 5 years, a clause to which India is not comfortable with.
Target Monitoring
- External monitoring of the national pledge on climate action to “track progress made in implementing and achieving the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)”,
- A technical review of the emissions data submitted
- Participation in a facilitative, multilateral consideration of progress are among the provisions in the Agreement
A caveat
Although India’s INDC includes a caveat that the country will not be bound by any sector-specific mitigation, and only aims at achieving better overall energy efficiency reflected in lower intensity, the measurements prescribed under the transparency framework clearly stipulate that the national inventory should be “by source”.
Submitting NDC (Nationally determined Contributions) every 5 years
One of the provisions in the Paris Agreement that India was not comfortable with during the negotiations pertains to submission of an NDC every five years. The public Indian position throughout the talks was that it had submitted its INDC for the period between 2021 and 2030.
Article 4, however, mandates that each country should, in five-year cycles, prepare, communicate and maintain an NDC.
Conclusion
India has won in one respect as it has been successful. The inclusion of CBDR in the agreement but it has not got what it wanted regarding the submission of NDCs.
[3]. Panchayats and Gender imbalance
What has happened?
Haryana government has issued a law, upheld by SC, which mandates that only those having “minimum” educational qualifications will be eligible to contest panchayat elections in the State.
Impact of the Haryana law
The new qualifications have disenfranchised 68% of Dalit women and over 50% of all women from contesting panchayat elections.
Has such measure been implemented elsewhere in the country?
Yes. Rajasthan government in Mar 2015 passed a law and became the first state to insist that candidates for the panchayat polls meet minimum educational qualifications—Class VIII for sarpanches, Class X for the zila parishad and panchayati samiti elections and Class V in tribal reserved areas and an added condition of a functional toilet at home.
Impact of the law passed by Rajasthan
When the elections to the Panchayats were held later in the year 2015, two hundred and sixty Sarpanches were elected unopposed, compared to 35 in 2010. Among regular panchayat members, 46% were elected unopposed.
The unopposed election at the grassroots level should be a cause of worry for any democratic society. More so, if it is a male dominated one. The 73rd Amendment Act mandated 1/3rd reservation for women in the Panchayat councils, to correct this imbalance.
Author’s argument against this law
- Top-down approach: A minimum education qualification criteria if implemented should be done following a top-down approach. A 9th class passed son of Lalu Prasad Yadav can become the minister in Bihar then why discriminate against women and the marginalized in villages in Haryana and Rajasthan?
- Penalizing older generation: To penalize older generation of women prevent them from seeking a measure of empowerment and change through elections, goes against the grain of natural justice. Women Sarpanches have earned their ranks through hardships and sacrifice. It is time we should honour their gumption instead of disqualifying them on false grounds.
Conclusion
Any attempt to curtail the participation of women in public life must be repelled, and the Supreme Court judgment is a step backward in the struggle for women’s right to be heard and seen in public life
[4]. Modi cultivates the past
What has happened?
The central government has brought genetically-modified Bt cottonseed under price control by exercising its powers under the Essential Commodities Act, conceding a demand of the National Seed Association of India (NSAI)
What the notification says?
The notification issued by the agriculture ministry notes that Bt cottonseed is ‘highly priced’ and needs to be made available at fair, reasonable and affordable prices
Does Price Control exist in other states?
Currently, four states have price controls on Bt cottonseed
How will government decide the price?
The central government intends to bring uniformity in pricing across the country. It will fix the maximum retail price through a committee chaired by the joint secretary (seeds) with seven members, including one each representing farmers and the seed industry. The rest are government nominees. There is no representation in the committee of technology providers. The rate will be fixed by the end of the financial year
Conclusion
Giving in to price control is a regressive step as per author. Companies invest highly on R&D and their establishments and without any surety of a worthwhile return, might have a chilling effect on the R&D in agricultural sector which is crying for more of it.
International
[1]. Surveillance, an anti-pollution weapon
What has happened?
Ina bid to reduce and fight severe air pollution, Beijing is utilising Big data. The computer program, developed by IBM, is one of several high-tech measures, ranging from drones and satellites to remote sensors that China is deploying to deal with its chronic pollution.
What is Big Data?
It is used to describe a massive volume of both structured and unstructured data that is so large it is difficult to process using traditional database and software techniques. In most enterprise scenarios the volume of data is too big or it moves too fast or it exceeds current processing capacity.
Example of Big Data: An example of big data might be petabytes (1,024 terabytes) or exabytes (1,024 petabytes) of data consisting of billions to trillions of records of millions of people—all from different sources (e.g. Web, sales, customer contact center, social media, mobile data and so on). The data is typically loosely structured data that is often incomplete and inaccessible.
Why is this being done?
Despite a vast public surveillance system, accurate information about pollution remains scarce. As a result, Beijing and its neighbouring provinces can’t coordinate joint defence and joint control” of their anti-smog efforts, leaving rogue companies to secretly discharge and secretly dump.
So, the company is trying to achieve total pollution awareness: the ability to know, with perfect accuracy, where haze comes from and use that information to predict and pre-empt its future sources.
Severity of pollution is Beijing: Beijing was on its first ever air quality red alert in December.
In July, leadership in Beijing vowed to establish a national network for detecting pollution that will incorporate multiple technologies on land, in the air and space.
Business & Economy
[1]. Cash gets stuck in that last mile
Context: In this article author talks about the Business Correspondent model launched by RBI in 2006. Author says that inspite of schemes like Jan Dhan Yojana, it is difficult for illiterate or diseased to approach a bank as branches are located far away or they are simply intimidated.
What is BC model?
The BC model, formulated by RBI in 2006, is designed to bring the bank to the door step of the customer.
- BCs are the organisations or individuals who travel to individuals, equipped with mobile technology linking them to banking operations
- They open accounts, collect savings, make withdrawals and educate the customer about the benefits of banking.
How many BCs are there?
According to RBI, there are over 2.5 lakh business correspondents with the number going up every year
Gender imbalance in the BC model
Only 9% of BCs or CSPs in India being women
How the BC model has turned out?
In Madhya Pradesh
In a study of 22 villages in 2012, although banks had appointed business correspondents, they covered less than 2% of the population. Most of them were young men with motorcycles, and all of them said that they were spending more in travel than they earned, being a BC was not viable for them, although it was a good learning experience, and they made good contacts. They did not plan to stay in this work for more than a couple of years.
In Bihar
In Bihar in 2013, BCs were interviewed in five districts. The median customer outreach of a BC was 600, with the coverage of female customers being nearly half. About 60% of the accounts opened by women were non-operational.
The common reasons were that the accounts were not activated by banks, faulty cards had been issued by banks to the customer and the customers did not want to use the bank for savings.
Problems faced by BCs
- Lack of functional knowledge
- Disruption in hand-held devices or related technical support
- Bank Support: 46% of the agents faced a problem in receiving monthly payments from the bank, resulting in disillusionment amongst them to take it up as a long-term career option. The attrition rate due to neglect from banking system is around 25% to 34% annually.
Benefits of BC system
- Employment: It is an avenue of employment for young educated men and women, and with some effort upto 10 lakh such rural youth would easily be earning a decent income.
- Financial inclusion: It is a way in which crores of the excluded can be integrated into financial systems, increasing their savings, their access to insurance and investment in financial markets
By: ForumIAS Editorial Team
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