14th June 2021
Report on Costs of Climate Change in India
Recently, the London-based global think tank Overseas Development Institute has released a report titled ‘The Costs of Climate Change in India’.
Economic Costs
- It highlighted that India may lose anywhere around 3 to 10 per cent of its GDP annually by 2100.
- The districts that have warmed the fastest have seen gross domestic product grow on average 56 per cent less than those that have warmed the slowest.
- The rising average temperatures may actually reverse the development gains of recent decades without rapid global action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
- If the temperatures are contained to two degrees Celsius, India will lose 2.6 percent GDP annually, and in case the global temperatures were to increase to 3 degrees Celsius, the loss will magnify to 13.4 per cent annually.
Social Costs
- The report stated that India’s poverty rate may rise by 3.5 per cent in 2040 due to climate change.
- The climate change is already slowing the pace of poverty reduction and increasing inequality in India.
- The climate change may also affect labour productivity through additional channels such as increased incidence of endemic vector-borne diseases.
- The income and wealth levels, gender relations and caste dynamics will likely intersect with climate change to perpetuate and exacerbate inequalities.
- The combination of rising cereal prices, declining wages in the agricultural sector and the slower rate of economic growth could increase India’s national poverty rate by 3.5 per cent in 2040.
- The sustained high temperatures take a disproportionate toll on those who depend on manual outdoor work or live in crowded, poorly ventilated homes.
- Floods, storm surge and cyclones wreak the most havoc on densely settled, low-income communities not served by risk-reducing infrastructure.
Environmental Costs
- India is already experiencing the consequences of 1°C of global warming such as Extreme heatwaves, heavy rainfall, severe flooding, catastrophic storms and rising sea levels.
- An analysis of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Mahanadi deltas shows the climate induced disappearance of this activity will lead to an economic loss of 18-32 per cent of GDP.
- The combination of higher air and ocean temperatures is therefore causing more frequent episodes of heavy rainfall across the subcontinent.
- Collapse of the summer monsoon: The temperature and pressure gradients across the Asian highlands and Indian Ocean carry moist air over India.
- As the ocean warms and albedo (reflection of solar energy) increases, the pressure gradient will fall.
- Dissolution of coral reefs in the Indian Ocean: Coral reefs in the Indian Ocean are already in decline due to pollution, habitat destruction and eutrophication.
- They face an additional threat from ocean acidification, caused by the absorption of carbon dioxide.
- India faces the precipitous disappearance of coral reefs that provide important fish breeding grounds, buffers against storm surge and tourist attractions.
- Loss of Greater Himalayan ice and snow: Glaciers and snow cover are retreating rapidly across the Greater Himalayan region and when they either disappear or find new equilibria, Indians who depend on rivers such as the Indus and Brahmaputra will face severe water shortages.
India’s current climate policies
- India’s climate commitment in 2030 is considered to represent a fair share of global effort based on its historic responsibility and current capability.
- India’s NDC includes a target of 40% of total installed power-generation capacity coming from clean energy, and a 33–35% reduction in emission intensity of GDP by 2030.
- India has allocated at least $35.37 billion of its fiscal stimulus package to clean energy, including renewables (especially solar power) and energy efficiency.
Recommendations to reduce costs of climate change
- The lower-carbon options are more efficient and less polluting, producing immediate benefits such as cleaner air, greater energy security and rapid job creation.
- The gradual ending of public support for coal and improving the performance of electricity distribution systems would free up fiscal space at a moment when public debt is rising rapidly.
- Supporting clean electricity generation could tackle the scourge of air pollution while creating hundreds of thousands of jobs.
- Constructing and extending mass transit systems could also offer substantial new employment opportunities, while stimulating economic growth in the future through agglomeration economies.
- Conserving and enhancing carbon-rich ecosystems such as forests and wetlands could boost agricultural productivity and enhance resilience to environmental shocks.
Pyrostria Laljii
Recently, the researchers from the Botanical Survey of India, Sri Krishnadevaraya University, Anantapuram, and University of the East, Manila, Philippines, published the details of the discovery of Pyrostria Laljii.
Pyrostria Laljii
- It is a 15-metre tall tree that belongs to the genus of the coffee family.
- It has been discovered from the Andaman Islands by a team of researchers from India and the Philippines.
- The Plants belonging to genus Pyrostria are usually found in Madagascar.
- It is also the first record of the genus Pyrostria in India.
- It is distinguished by a long stem with a whitish coating on the trunk and oblongobovate leaves with a cuneate base.
- It has been assessed as ‘Critically Endangered’ based on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List criteria.
- It has been named Pyrostria laljii after Lal Ji Singh, Joint Director and Head of Office, Andaman and Nicobar Regional Centre, Botanical Survey of India.
New Shephard Rocket System
Recently, the Amazon founder and billionaire Jeff Bezos’s space company called Blue Origin concluded the online auction for the first seat on New Shephard.
- In 2018, Blue Origin was one of the ten companies selected by NASA to conduct studies and advance technologies to collect, process and use space-based resources for missions to the Moon and Mars.
- In 2019, both signed an agreement that gives Blue Origin permission to use NASA’s historic test stand, as a part of a growing number of partnerships between the space agency and the commercial space industry.
New Shephard Rocket System
- It is a rocket system meant to take tourists to space developed by Blue Origin Company.
- New Shephard has been named after astronaut Alan Shephard (the first American to go to space).
- It offers flights to space over 100 km above the Earth and accommodation for payloads.
- It is a rocket system that has been designed to take astronauts and research payloads past the 'Karman line'.
- It is the internationally recognized boundary of space.
Importance of New Shephard Rocket System
- Its aim is to provide easier and more cost-effective access to space meant for purposes such as academic research, corporate technology development and entrepreneurial ventures among others.
- It will also allow space tourists to experience microgravity by taking them 100 km above the Earth.
- The Space tourism seeks to give laypeople the ability to go to space for recreational, leisure or business purposes.
- Its idea is to make space more accessible to those individuals who are not astronauts and want to go to space for non-scientific purposes.
Working of New Shephard Rocket System
- The rocket system consists of two parts, the cabin or capsule and the rocket or the booster.
- The cabin can accommodate experiments from small Mini Payloads up to 100 kg.
- The Mini Payloads provide easier space access to students, who are part of educational institutions that are developing their own space program.
- The cabin is designed for six people and sits atop a 60 feet tall rocket and separates from it before crossing the Karman line.
- The system is a fully reusable, vertical takeoff and vertical landing space vehicle that accelerates for about 2.5 minutes before the engine cuts off.
- The capsule free falls in space after separating from the booster and the booster performs an autonomously controlled vertical landing back to Earth.
- The capsule lands back with the help of parachutes.
PASIPHAE Mission
Recently, the Scientists from the University of Crete, Greece, Caltech, USA, Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), India, the South African Astronomical Observatory and the University of Oslo, Norway, are involved in PASIPHAE Mission.
PASIPHAE Mission
- It is Polar-Areas Stellar-Imaging in Polarisation High-Accuracy Experiment.
- It is an international collaborative sky surveying project.
- Its name is inspired from Pasiphae, the daughter of Greek Sun God Helios, who was married to King Minos.
- Infosys Foundation, India, Stavros Niarchos Foundation, Greece and USA’s National Science Foundation have each provided a grant of $1 million for the project.
Features of PASIPHAE Mission
- It will use two high-tech optical polarimeters to observe the northern and southern skies, simultaneously.
- It will focus on capturing starlight polarisation of very faint stars that are so far away that polarisation signals from there have not been systematically studied.
- The astronomers will perform a maiden magnetic field tomography mapping of the interstellar medium of very large areas of the sky using a novel polarimeter instrument known as WALOP (Wide Area Linear Optical Polarimeter).
Significance of PASIPHAE Mission
- The universe has been constantly expanding, as evidenced by the presence of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation which fills the universe.
- A definitive consequence of the inflationary phase is that a tiny fraction of the CMB radiation should have its imprints in the form of a specific kind of polarisation.
- The previous attempts to detect this signal met with failure mainly due to the difficulty posed by our galaxy, the Milky Way, which emits copious amounts of polarised radiation.
- It will measure starlight polarisation over large areas of the sky.
- The data along with Global Astrometric Interferometer for Astrophysics (GAIA) distances to the stars will help create a 3-Dimensional model of the distribution of the dust and magnetic field structure of the galaxy.
- It can help remove the galactic polarised foreground light and enable astronomers to look for the elusive B-mode signal.
WALOP (Wide Area Linear Optical Polarimeter)
- It is an instrument, when mounted on two small optical telescopes that will be used to detect polarised light signals emerging from the stars along high galactic latitudes.
- A WALOP each will be mounted on the 1.3-metre Skinakas Observatory, Crete, and on the 1-metre telescope of the South African Astronomical Observatory located in Sutherland.
- They will be unique instruments offering the widest ever field of view of the sky in polarimetry.
- It will be capable of capturing images within ½ ° by ½ ° area of the sky during every exposure.
- It will operate on the principle that at any given time, the data from a portion of the sky under observation will be split into four different channels.
India and Pakistan’s battle over basmati
Recently, India has applied to the European Union for protected geographical indication (PGI) status of basmati rice.
- India’s attempts to protect the basmati title can be traced all the way back to a bitter dispute between the Indian government and the US Company RiceTec in the late ’90s.
- The latter had sought a patent for certain rice varieties that it had bred from basmati strains, with names like Kasmati, Texmati and Jasmati.
- The patent was granted in 1997, much to the chagrin of the Indian government and the public, which argued that this would result in Indian-grown basmati being edged out of the US market.
Reasons for rift between India and Pakistan over Basmati
- Pakistan has opposed the India’s application to the European Union for protected geographical indication (PGI) status of basmati rice.
- The approval of PGI would give India sole ownership of the basmati title in the EU and Pakistan is opposing this move.
- Pakistan, which is the only other basmati rice exporter in the world, has opposed because it would adversely impact its own exports, especially as the EU is a major market for its basmati.
Growing regions for Basmati Rice
- In India, historically, the long-grained, aromatic rice has been cultivated in Indo-Gangetic plains at the foothills of the Himalayas.
- In modern India, this region is spread over Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Jammu & Kashmir.
- Basmati has also been grown for centuries in the Kalar tract, which lies between the Ravi and Chenab rivers in Pakistan’s Punjab province.
Why does the basmati title need protection?
- There have been frequent disputes over granting the protected status to rice that may have been bred from basmati varieties but isn’t grown in the historical basmati-growing belt.
- The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) itself had stated that GI status is strongly linked to a particular geographical region.
- The All India Rice Exporters’ Association (AIREA) has argued that granting MP’s request would open the door to other regions within India as well as rival rice exporters like China and Pakistan to grow basmati varieties anywhere in their territories, thus diluting the power of the basmati brand.
What is Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status?
- The PGI status identify an agricultural product, raw or processed whose quality, reputation or other characteristics are linked to its geographical origin.
- It applies to agricultural, agro-food and wine sectors.
- It confers protection on an existing production, thereby giving protection not only at national, but also at international level.
- It can be based on the reputation of the product, which means, the sense of a strong recognition by the public at any given time, and which must be associated with a skill or a specific quality attributable to the geographical origin.
PENCIL Portal
Recently, the Union Minister of Women & Child Development has appealed to Citizens to report the instances of Child Labour on PENCIL Portal or by calling on Childline-1098.
- It is the Platform for Effective Enforcement for No Child Labour (PENCiL).
- It was launched by the Ministry of Labour and Employment to rehabilitate child labour in the country.
- It is an online platform that aims at engaging the Central Government, State Government, District, civil society and the public in eradicating child labour.
Features of PENCiL Portal
- It is an integrated application system that is based on the technology which primarily aims at the submission of complaints by any citizens of the country from anywhere and anytime basis.
- It mandates the uniform and systematic approach towards the monitoring of the process by adopting a general classification and standardisation of filing complaints.
- It facilitates the online lodging of complaints that are registered by the general citizens to the concerned Departments, Ministries and Organizations which can be linked to their official portal.
- It facilitates the user with the generation of automated notifications such as Acknowledgement and replies for the official correspondence with the complainants.
Significance of PENCIL Portal
- It aims to achieve the target of child labour free society.
- It enables the citizens to raise a complaint and report incidents of child labour through effective tracking and monitoring mechanism.
- It is to build a strong authentication mechanism for implementing and monitoring both the enforcement of the legislative provisions and effective implementation of the National Child Labour Project (NCLP).
- It aims to facilitate convergence and provides better coordination between the Governments departments and the general public.
Implementation of PENCiL Portal
- All complaints filed will be received by the District Nodal Officers (DNOs) who are nominated by the Districts.
- After receiving the complaints, the rescue measures will be taken within the time frame of 48 hours in coordination with the police department.
National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme
- It is launched by the central government to rehabilitate child labour in the country.
- It focuses on rehabilitation of children working in hazardous occupations and processes.
- A survey is conducted of child workers and employment of adolescent workers and put them into NCLP Special Training Centres (STCs) to provide a formal system of education.
Objectives of the Scheme
- To eliminate all forms of child labour;
- To identify and withdraw of all child and adolescent workers in the project area from child labour;
- To contribute to the withdrawal of all young workers from occupation and facilitating them with vocational training opportunities for such adolescents through the existing scheme of skill developments;
- To create awareness amongst stakeholders, target communities, the orientation of NCLP and other functionaries on the issues of child labour; and
- To create monitoring, tracking and reporting system in Child Labour
Applicability of the Scheme
- It applies to all child workers below 14 years of age in the identified target area.
- Adolescent workers below 18 years of age in the target area engaged in hazardous works
- Families of Child workers in the recognised target area.
Project O2 for India
Amid the second wave of COVID-19, the Office of Principal Scientific Adviser (Government of India) has launched ‘Project O2 for India’.
Project O2 for India
- Under this project, a National Consortium of Oxygen (NCO) is enabling the national level supply of critical raw materials such as zeolites, setting up of small oxygen plants, manufacturing compressors, final products, i.e. oxygen plants, concentrators, and ventilators.
- The consortium has started to secure CSR/philanthropic grants from organisations like USAID, Edwards Life sciences Foundation, Climate Works Foundation, etc.
- Hope Foundation, American Indian Foundation, Walmart, Hitachi, BNP Paribas, and eInfoChips are procuring oxygen concentrators and VPSA/PSA plants as part of their CSR efforts to aid the consortium's work.
- Under the Project O2, the NMDC Ltd has agreed to fund the procurement of raw materials like zeolite for the manufacturers in the consortium.
- The Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser invited private sector companies, donor organizations, and individuals to support various projects of national importance.
Significance of Project O2 for India
- It aims to enable stakeholders working to augment the country’s ability to meet this rise in demand for medical oxygen.
- The NCO is not only looking forward to providing immediate to short-term relief but also working to strengthen the manufacturing ecosystem for long-term preparedness.
- It caters to meeting the rising demand for medical oxygen by supporting government hospitals to procure oxygen and related high priority equipment from approved manufacturers and start-ups.
Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX)
Recently, the Ministry of Defence has approved the budgetary support of Rs 498.8 crore to Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) - Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO) for the next five years.
Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX)
- It was launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister in April 2018.
- It will be funded and managed by a Defence Innovation Organization (DIO).
- It will function as the executive arm of DIO, carrying out all the required activities while DIO will provide high level policy guidance to iDEX.
- It aims at creation of an ecosystem to foster innovation and technology development in Defence and Aerospace.
- The objectives of iDEX are:
- Facilitate rapid development of new, indigenized, and innovative technologies for the Indian defence and aerospace sector, to meet needs for these sectors in shorter timelines;
- Create a culture of engagement with innovative startups, to encourage co-creation for defence and aerospace sectors; and
- Empower a culture of technology co-creation and co-innovation within the defence and aerospace sectors
Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO)
- It is formed as a “not for profit‟ company as per Section 8 of the Companies Act 2013.
- Its primary objective is to fund and manage the Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX).
- It will provide high level policy guidance to iDEX.
- The CEO of iDEX will be selected and recruited by the DIO and will be a professional person of sound technical, scientific and engineering background.
- The CEO of iDEX would also be CEO of DIO thereby providing the linkage between the high level policy guidance given by DIO and its implementation in a professional manner through iDEX.
Significance of budgetary support to iDEX-DIO
- It will provide a big boost to the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ as iDEX–DIO has the primary objective of self-reliance and indigenisation in defence & aerospace sector of the country.
- It is aimed at providing financial support to nearly 300 start-ups/MSMEs/individual innovators and 20 partner incubators under the DIO framework.
- It will support increased awareness in the Indian innovation ecosystem about defence needs.
- It will support increased awareness in the Indian Defence establishment about the potential of the Indian innovation eco-system to deliver innovative solutions to meet their needs.
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