Start-ups in India brace for ''long and bitter winter''

• In the April-June quarter, start-up funding fell by about 40% to about $6-7 billion. Prior to this, start-ups were seeing investments of about $10-11 billion per quarter.
• As start-ups look to extend the runway with existing funds, estimates peg the job losses in them at over 10,000 this year.
• Some of the key factors include the Russia-Ukraine conflict, supply chain disruptions, consequent inflationary pressures, and rising cost of capital, amongst others.
• Over the past years, India’s strong digital boom, along with the relative ease of obtaining funding, fuelled the rise of Indian start-ups, and with an intent to ramp-up growth through new offerings – including products and solutions, they went on a rapid expansion of their product and tech teams.

Transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy can pose fiscal challenges for India

• Though India is a net importer of petroleum products, it earns substantial revenues — via cesses and taxes — from the consumption of petrol, diesel and oil.
• The study finds that by 2050, overall fossil fuel revenues in Brazil, Russia, Indonesia, India and China could be as much as $570 billion, lower than a business-as-usual scenario where governments fail to phase down fossil fuels enough to avoid the worst climate impacts.
• The widest gaps are expected to occur in India ($178 billion), China ($140 billion), and Russia ($134 billion).
• Public revenues from fossil fuel production and consumption currently account for 34% of general government revenue in Russia, 18% in India, and 16% in Indonesia. This includes only direct, first-order, government financial revenues. By comparison, such revenues form a smaller fraction of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in developed countries.
• However, Fossil fuel revenue streams were “unreliable and erratic” and undermined by the negative economic impacts of fossil fuel use, such as health costs due to air pollution and damage from climate change.

IIT-Kanpur to establish network of air-quality sensors to measure pollution in rural India

• The three-year project is expected to be a pilot that, going ahead, could pave the way for a national network of air quality sensors in rural India.
• Air pollution in India is largely framed as an urban blight though causes of pollution, such as biomass burning and reliance on diesel generators for electricity, are worsening air quality in villages too.
• In 2019, the government launched the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) to reduce particulate matter air pollution by 20-30% by 2024. This, however, is primarily aimed at 122 cities that have been categorised as India’s most polluted cities.
• Cities, because of their population density and industrial establishments, continue to be the overwhelming source of emissions. The country’s current annual safe limits for PM 2.5 and PM 10 are 40 micrograms/per cubic metre (ug/m3) and 60 micrograms/per cubic metre.
• Under NCAP, ₹375.44 crore was provided to 114 cities from 2018-19 to 2020-21 and ₹290 crore was allocated to 82 cities for the financial year 2021-22. The programme has an allocation of ₹700 crore envisaged for 2021-26.

Twitter''s petition on Section 69A of the IT Act

• According to Twitter, the blocking orders were “procedurally and substantially” non-compliant with Section 69A of the Information Technology Act (IT Act).
• Section 69A of the IT Act empowers the government to restrict access to any content in the interest of sovereignty and integrity of the country.
• Twitter holds that the government has allegedly not shown why the restrictions were necessary in the interest of public order or for any other reason.
• The disparity in assessment of what constitutes ‘free expression’ and harm to public order among the two entities is the premise of the entire contestation.

Villagers'' stir against solar plants protects khejri trees

• Khejri trees, which is the State tree of Rajasthan, plays an important role in maintaining the ecosystem of Thar region because of its ability to survive in dry weather.
• The tree is used in different ways, such as a source of fodder and firewood, and it helps in sustaining the soil''s nutrient value and ensuring a good yield of desert crops and food plants. Its fruit is used to make the popular dish ''Sangri''.

Centre directs leading Edible Oil Associations to reduce prices by Rs. 15 with immediate effect

• India annually consumes around 23 million tonnes (mt) of edible oils, out of which 13.5-14.5 mt is imported and 8.5-9.5 mt domestically produced.
• The imported oils mainly comprise palm (8-9 mt), soyabean (3-3.5 mt) and sunflower (2-2.5 mt), while those sourced indigenously include mustard (2.5-2.8 mt), soyabean and cottonseed (1.2-1.3 mt each), rice bran (1-1.1 mt) and groundnut (0.5-0.8 mt).
• the current global food inflation began with edible oils. The initial trigger was the 2020-21 drought in Ukraine (the world’s biggest sunflower oil producer) and Covid-induced migrant labour shortages in Malaysia’s oil palm plantations.

Palm oil

• Being a ‘hard’ oil that is semi-solid (as opposed to liquid) at room temperature, palm oil isn’t used much in home kitchens for direct cooking or frying.
• Most of it goes to make hydrogenated fats (vanaspati, margarine and bakery shortening) or as key ingredient in bread, biscuits, cookies, cakes, noodles, mithai, namkeen, frozen dessert, soap, and cosmetics.

Impact of green technology on marine biodiversity

• With increased public pressure against marine plastic pollution, there has been an attempt to replace fossil fuel-based plastic with biodegradable polymers, such the ‘biodegradable plastic bags’ made of plant starches.
• However, the researchers claim that these materials do not biodegrade under natural conditions in the ocean and their widespread adoption can cause marine litter as well. Since their long term impact on the environment remains unknown, they can lead to a fresh set of problems.
• The researchers argue that the growing demand for renewable energy technology, such as lithium batteries for electric cars, also pose a potential threat to marine ecology.
• Deep sea ‘brine pools’ of more saline water, contain higher concentrations of lithium and could become future sites for extraction.