Latest News
Feb 20, 2022
THE STRATEGIC ALLIANCE OF TRANS-BORDER INSURGENT GROUPS: A REASON FOR THE TURMOIL IN NORTH-EAST
Conflicts in recent times have become increasingly complex. It is widely held that the nature, intensity, and frequency of conflict has changed in recent years, shifting from direct conflict between states to insurgencies, guerrilla wars, terrorism, organized and large-scale criminal violence, and protests.
Trans-Border Insurgency in North-East India?
About Rashtriya Vayoshree Yojana
What is Just Transition?
Draft National Geospatial Policy
What is Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana?
Impact of pandemic on women workforce
Budget 2022-23:
BRICS Climate Actions
- As per the latest MHA report on insurgency in the North-East, about 16 major insurgent groups are active in the region. However, the cross-border ties and strategic alliances that these groups have work as force multipliers, complicating conflict dynamics.
Trans-Border Insurgency in North-East India?
- Border regions are widely recognized as hotspots for latent conflict, driven by a variety of intersecting factors such as unresolved colonial tensions, unclear or contested border demarcations, the historically porous nature of border regions, natural resource competition, and the “less-” or “un-” governed nature of many such areas.
- Language/ethnicity, tribal rivalry, migration, ownership of local resources, and a pervasive sense of exploitation and alienation have all culminated in violence and various demands from various Indian insurgent groups (IIGs).
- These insurgent groups have links across the border. They acquire arms, recruit and train their cadres, and engage in illegal activities such as vandalism of public property, bombings, extortions, the murder of innocent civilians, Security Forces personnel, and attacks on/abductions of government employees, politicians, and people in business.
- Problem of under development, lack of education and lack of livelihood opportunities exacerbates issues such as insurgency.
- Three major hill communities — Kachin, Naga, and Zo – live on both sides of the Indo-Myanmar border and are transborder people. They are also found in parts of India’s Assam, and China’s Yunnan province.
- The north-eastern Indian states of Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh share a sensitive 1,640-kilometre border with Myanmar. What happens in Myanmar ultimately has its ramifications on these bordering states.
- The Nagas, who live on both sides of the border, have the same disdain for the International Border (IB) as the Pashtuns have for the Durand Line.
- The United National Liberation Front (UNLF), along with the NSCN(K) and the ULFA, formed the Indo-Burma Revolutionary Front in May 1990 to launch a “united struggle for the independence of Indo-Burma.”
- The insurgent groups acquire weapons on the Sino-Myanmar border from surreptitious sources. Some of these weapons are manufactured in China’s Yunnan province, while others are made in Myanmar’s north-eastern gun factory.
- China’s Special Envoy for Asian Affairs, Sun Guoxiang, has emerged as a virtual mediator in the peace process with Myanmar armed factions such as the Kachin Liberation Army, Ta’ang National Liberation Army, Kokang Alliance Army, and the formidable United Wa State Army (UWSA).
- The UWSA has been granted extensive firepower in China over the years, including armoured vehicles, AK-47 rifles, assault weapons, and supposedly surface-to-air missiles.
- The UNLFW includes the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang), the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation, and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland.
- While Myanmar has resisted Chinese efforts to carry out projects on its soil that are opposed by the public, such as the $6 billion, 6,000 MW Myitsone dam, China will continue to use pressure to get its way, as it did with the Hambantota Port in Sri Lanka.
- China is constructing vast energy, manufacturing, and transportation corridors across Myanmar to connect its landlocked Yunnan Province to the rest of the country.
- New Delhi should keep pressing Myanmar to take action against these Indian insurgent organisations and their Myanmar allies.
- New Delhi may like to appoint a dynamic person, who is fully aware of the situation in the region and can balance the interests of the locals as well as the Government.
- ONGC has been successful in its offshore natural gas exploration efforts.
- India’s Institute for Information Technology in Mandalay and the skill development centers created around Myanmar with Indian support have received high appreciation.
- Under India’s Technical and Economic Cooperation Programs, hundreds of Myanmar students' study on scholarships and take courses at professional institutes in India.
- Although India recognises the ties between cross-border groups, it has placed a greater emphasis on security rather than the region’s political, cultural, and economic issues. The biggest worry for India remains the potential of China to extend its military might via Myanmar.
- Commentators have proposed that promoting economic growth, offering cultural recognition to minorities, opening political space for insurgent organisations, and cracking down on armed rebels could help calm the region’s tensions. These measures failed partly because they were unable to account for challenges that existed outside of India’s boundaries.
- New Delhi will have to move beyond a simple military strategy in Myanmar to integrate political, economic, and cultural components in its counterinsurgency strategy. While New Delhi may prefer to avoid direct advocacy of democracy, it might assist Myanmar with border law enforcement and recommend measures to facilitate economic and cultural relations.
- Indigenously developed “Sugamya” Cane for Visually Impaired and ‘Swavlamban Kendra Container’ for skill development training and repairing Centre launched at Tikamgarh, Madhya Pradesh.
- Camp for distribution of aids and assistive devices to ‘Divyangjan’ under the ADIP Scheme and to Senior citizens under ‘Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana’ (RVY Scheme) of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India was organized by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) in association with ALIMCO and District Administration Tikamgarh.
About Rashtriya Vayoshree Yojana
- Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana (RVY) is a scheme for providing Physical Aids and Assisted-living Devices for Senior citizens belonging to BPL category.
- This is a Central Sector Scheme, fully funded by the Central Government.
- The expenditure for implementation of the scheme will be met from the "Senior Citizens' Welfare Fund".
- The Scheme will be implemented through the sole implementing agency - Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation (ALIMCO), a PSU under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
- Under the scheme, physical aid will be provided only to the senior citizens of the nation.
- This implies those who are aged above 60 years will get free assisted living aids and physical devices which are required for their sustainability.
- The main criteria for the senior citizens to get full benefits of Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana (RVY) scheme is that they must belong to BPL family and should hold valid BPL card issued by the concerned authority.
- Free cost distribution of the devices, commensurate with the extent of disability/infirmity that is manifested among the eligible senior citizens.
- In case of multiple disabilities/infirmities manifested in the same person, the assistive devices will be given in respect of each disability/impairment.
- Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation (ALIMCO) will undertake one-year free maintenance of the aids & assisted living devices.
- Beneficiaries in each district will be identified by the State Governments/UT Administrations through a Committee chaired by the Deputy Commissioner/District Collector.
- As far as possible, 30% of the beneficiaries in each district shall be women.
- The State Government/UT Administration/District Level Committee can also utilize the data of BPL beneficiaries receiving Old Age Pension under the NSAP or any other Scheme of the State/UT for identification of senior citizens belonging to BPL category.
- The devices will be distributed in Camp mode.
- The concept of a “Just Transition” was initiated in the 1970s when the Labour Unions of the United States expressed their concern for the workers whose jobs were threatened due to environmental regulations.
- Today, the concept is much broader and encompasses a wide range of aspects and actors influenced by the large-scale transition towards a cleaner environment.
What is Just Transition?
- The global understanding describes ‘Just Transition’ as a process “towards an environmentally sustainable economy, which needs to be well managed and contribute to the goals of decent work for all, social inclusion, and the eradication of poverty.”
- The International Labour Organisation (ILO) adopted the concept of Just Transition in the year 2013 and published the guidelines for Just Transition in the year 2015.
- Further, Just Transition found its space in the preamble of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change in 2015.
- The Just Transition Declaration agreed to at Glasgow supports the transition to net zero emissions following the guidelines of Just Transition.
- Support for workers in the transition to new jobs;
- support and promote social dialogue and stakeholder engagement;
- economic strategies;
- local, inclusive, and decent work;
- supply chains; and
- Paris Agreement reporting and Just Transition.
- Attempt to place the changes of transition to clean cooking fuels as per the first five principles of Just Transition Declaration.
- Support for workers in the transition to new job opportunities locally emerge such as for installations, repairs, and maintenance for electricity, solar, and biogas-based technologies. However, these new opportunities demand new skill sets.
- Support and promotion of social dialogue and stakeholder engagement is required at various levels including international, national, local, and industrial.
- The strategies towards environmentally sustainable economy would also demand meticulous planning for manufacturing/processing and distribution of clean cooking fuels and technologies as well as for mainstreaming the local population in the newly created opportunities.
- The creation of local, inclusive, and decent work for all through diverse range of new supply and service delivery chains.
- New or scaling up of supply and distribution networks along with repair services are required in the scenario where the entire population shifts to clean cooking fuels and technologies.
- To reduce household air pollution emissions to the level of WHO guidelines safe for health.
- They are ideal bridge fuels to non-intermittent, fully renewable energy options for household energy use.
- Household air pollution produced by rudimentary cookstoves is so toxic.
- Reliance on traditional use of solid biomass for cooking contributes to forest depletion and climate change.
- Cooking with biomass is also an enormous burden on families' livelihoods.
- In rural areas, women and girls can devote up to six hours per day gathering wood or spend a third of household income on fuel.
- A complete transition to clean cooking fuels and technologies by itself falls into the framework of ‘Just Transition’ where the benefit is for all, especially for the women. meticulous planning amplifies the potential towards an environmentally sustainable economy and decent jobs for all at the local level. Thus, ‘Just Transition’ can be the way to achieve universal access to clean cooking fuels and technologies.
Draft National Geospatial Policy
- Government of India hereby promulgates a comprehensive National Geospatial Policy to nurture and develop the geospatial ecosystem of the country to encourage spatial thinking, generate geospatial knowledge, strengthen geospatial infrastructure, promote use of Geospatial Data, Products, Solutions and Services and boost geospatial entrepreneurship for socio-economic development of the nation.
- The Policy seeks to empower citizens and enterprises to create, access and use geospatial data and information for addressing developmental needs of the country while also safeguarding its security interests.
- It provides for augmenting the geospatial ecosystem in the country, as well as globally, by encouraging geospatial knowledge generation, skill sets and expertise, strengthening of geospatial infrastructure, use of GDPSS and advancement of geospatial entrepreneurship for socio-economic development of the nation. In the process, the potential role of Geospatial Technology, Innovation and Information at every stage of Nation-building from education, skill development, incubation of ideas, investment and wealth creation would be unleashed.
- The Policy will support wider democratization of Geospatial data for enhanced commercialization with Value Added Services.
- The vision of this Policy is to increase the availability of high-quality, timely and reliable data and information to address the National priorities and UN-Sustainable Development Goals.
- It is to address economic, social and environmental factors which depend on location information in a continually changing world and provide a basis and guide for developing, integrating, strengthening and maximizing geospatial information management and related resources.
- Holistic approach to development of entire geospatial ecosystem from skill building to capacity development, igniting geospatial spark in young minds, encouraging Research & Development [R&D], nurturing enterprise, enabling and empowering policy regime and laying of interoperable standards would lead to spatial thinking for effective and efficient governance interventions, flourishing industry and socio-economic progress.
- Availability of real and near real time data and information, reduce duplication and wastage of efforts in producing Geospatial data Promote collaboration, including Public Private Partnerships, between various agencies in production and use of Geospatial data.
- Absence of a sizeable geospatial market in India.
- There is no demand for geospatial services and products on a scale linked to India’s potential and size due to the lack of awareness among potential users in government and private.
- Lack of skilled manpower across the entire pyramid.
- The unavailability of foundation data, especially at high-resolution, is also a constraint.
- The lack of clarity on data sharing and collaboration prevents co-creation and asset maximization.
- Need to publish the entire policy document and make government and private users aware of things.
- The data available with government departments should be unlocked, and data sharing should be encouraged and facilitated through an open data sharing protocol.
- The Government needs to invest in developing standards and must mandate the adoption of standards.
- There is a need to establish a geo-portal to make all public-funded data accessible through data as a service model, with no or nominal charge.
- Most important is to inculcate the culture of data sharing, collaboration and co-creation.
- Local technology and solutions should be promoted, and competition should be encouraged for quality output.
- It is understood that these issues cannot be resolved overnight and that the formulation of guidelines alone is not enough. The inertia and the mindset due to decades of restrictions will be difficult to shrug off. However, India needs to be aggressive to make a leapfrog; therefore, special attention is required as far as this sector is concerned.
- Unlike the West, India lacks a strata of core professionals who understand geospatial end-to-end. India should start a bachelor’s programme in geospatial also in the Indian Institutes of Technology and the National Institutes of Technology Besides these, there should be a dedicated geospatial university. Such programmes will propel research and development efforts which are crucial for the development of technologies and solutions locally.
- The geospatial sector in the country is rightly positioned for investment. However, clarity on the issues discussed and the creation of an enabling ecosystem are essential. By the time we celebrate the 10th anniversary, we should have achieved the projected market volume and have Indian entrepreneurs stand out internationally.
- The total number of sanctioned houses under PMAY(U) now stands at 114.04 lakh, of which around 93.25 lakh have been grounded for construction and around 54.78 Lakh have been completed and delivered to the beneficiaries.
- The total investment under the mission stands at Rs 7.52 lakh crore, with central assistance of Rs 1.87 lakh crore.
What is Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana?
- It is an initiative of the Government of India which aims at providing affordable housing to the urban poor by the year 2022.
- The scheme was first launched on 1 June 2015 under ‘Housing for All’
- The interest rate for the PMAY scheme starts at 50% p.a. and can be availed for a tenure of up to 20 years.
- The last date for availing the PMAY CLSS scheme for the LIG and EWS categories has been extended to 31 March 2022.
- The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Gramin (PMAY-G) was previously known as the Indira Awas Yojana and was christened as PMAY-G in 2016.
- The scheme is aimed at the provision of affordable and accessible housing units to eligible beneficiaries in rural regions of India (excluding Chandigarh and Delhi).
- The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAYU), as the name suggests, is focused towards the urban areas in India.
- At present, there are 4,331 towns and cities which are enlisted under this scheme.
- Under PMAY Scheme, subsidy interest rate is provided at 6.50% p.a. on housing loans for a term of 20 years to all the beneficiaries.
- Differently abled and senior citizens will be given preference in allocation of ground floors.
- Sustainable and eco-friendly technologies would be used for construction.
- The scheme covers entire urban areas in the country which includes 4041 statutory towns with the first priority given to 500 Class I cities. This will be done in 3 phases.
- The credit linked subsidy aspect of the PM Awas Yojana gets implemented in India in all statutory towns from the initial stages itself.
- The Union Home Ministry informed Parliament in 2019 that there was “no separate” definition for lynching under the IPC, adding that lynching incidents could be dealt with under Sections 300 and 302 of the IPC, pertaining to murder.
- In 2017, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) collected data on mob lynching, hate crimes and cow vigilantism but it was not published and discontinued as these crimes are not defined and the data were found to be unreliable.
- On December 22, the Jharkhand Assembly passed the Prevention of Mob Violence and Mob Lynching Bill, 2021, providing for punishment from three years to life imprisonment. The Bill awaits the Governor’s nod.
- On August 5, 2019, the Rajasthan Assembly passed the Rajasthan Protection from Lynching Bill, 2019, providing for life imprisonment and a fine from Rs. 1 lakh to 5 lakhs to those convicted in cases of mob lynching leading to the victim’s death.
- On August 30, 2019, the West Bengal Assembly passed a legislation- the West Bengal (Prevention of Lynching) Bill, 2019 that proposes a jail term from three years to life for those involved in assaulting and injuring a person and also defines terms such as “lynching” and “mob.” The government also proposed the West Bengal Lynching Compensation Scheme.
- In 2019, the MHA informed the Lok Sabha that it had received the bills passed by the State legislatures of Manipur and Rajasthan that have been reserved by the Governor for consideration of the President.
- The President has to go with the advice given by the Council of Ministers, in the case of such legislations, represented by the MHA.
- In 2018, the Supreme Court asked Parliament to make lynching a separate offence. Union Home Minister Amit Shah had informed Parliament that the government has decided to overhaul the IPC framed in 1860 and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and mob-lynching would also be examined by the committee.
- The suggestions received by the Committee for Reforms in Criminal Laws should be examined by the Ministry before the changes are adopted.
- On February 14, personnel of the Border Security Force (BSF) arrested two youths for allegedly smuggling near Hakimpur border outpost in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district.
- Phensedyl New Cough Linctus is a combination medicine used in the treatment of dry cough. It relieves allergy symptoms such as runny nose, stuffy nose, throat irritation, sneezing, watery eyes and congestion or stuffiness.
- Till 1965 India’s border with Pakistan were manned by the State Armed Police Battalion.
- On 09th April, 1965 Pakistan attacked Sardar Post, Chhar Bet and Beria Bet in Kutch.
- This exposed the inadequacy of the State Armed Police to cope with armed aggression due to which the Government of India felt the need for a specialized centrally controlled Border Security Force, which would be armed and trained to man the International Border with Pakistan.
- As a result of the recommendations of the Committee of Secretaries, the Border Security Force came into existence on 01st Dec 1965, with Shri K F Rustamji as the first chief and founding father.
- Sammakka Saralamma Jathara or Medaram Jathara is a tribal festival of honouring the goddesses celebrated in the state of Telangana, India.
- The Jathara begins at Medaram in Tadvai Mandal in Mulugu district.
- It commemorates the fight of a mother and daughter, Sammakka and Saralamma, with the reigning rulers against an unjust law.
- It is believed that after Kumbha Mela, the Medaram Jathara attracts the largest number of devotees in the country.
- Medaram Jatara is the second-largest fair of India, after the Kumbh Mela, celebrated by the second-largest Tribal Community of Telangana- the Koya tribe for four days.
- This year it is being celebrated from 16th-19th February, 2022.
- According to a tribal story, about 6-7 centuries ago, that is in the 13th century, some tribal leaders who went hunting found a new born girl (Sammakka) emitting enormous light playing amidst tigers.
- She was taken to their habitation. The head of the tribe adopted her and brought up as a chieftain (She later became the saviour of the tribals of the region) she was married to Pagididda Raju a feudatory tribal chief of Kakatiyas (who ruled the country of Andhra from Warangal City between 1000 AD and 1380 AD).
- She was blessed with 2 daughters and one son namely Sarakka, Nagulamma and Jampanna respectively.
- Jampanna vagu is a tributary to River Godavari.
- According to history, Jampanna is the tribal warrior and the son of Tribal Goddess Sammakka.
- The Jampanna vagu took his name as he died in a battle fighting against Kakatiyan Army in that stream.
- The Jampanna vagu is still red in colour marked with the blood of Jampanna (Scientifically the red colour of the water is attributed to the soil composition).
- Tribal's believe that taking a holy dip in the red water of Jampanna Vagu reminds them the sacrifice of their gods who save them and also induces courage into their souls.
- There is a bridge constructed on top of Jampanna Vagu, known as Jampanna Vagu bridge.
- It is a new law that was introduced by the State government to ban online gambling and skill based gaming platforms like rummy, poker and fantasy sports that involved any wagering or risking of money on an uncertain event.
- Many social activists, government officials and those in law enforcement believe that online games like rummy and poker are addictive in nature; and when played with monetary stakes leads to depression, mounting debts and suicides.
- Reportedly, there have been a few instances where youngsters, faced with mounting debts due to losses in online games, have committed other crimes like theft and murder.
- Some experts also believe that online games are susceptible to manipulation by the websites operating such games.
- There is a possibility that users are not playing such games against other players, but against automatic machines or ‘bots’, wherein there is no fair opportunity for an ordinary user to win the game.
- An outright ban may not entirely curtail the playing of such online games, with or without stakes.
- Telangana, which was the first State to ban online games for stakes in 2017 has seen a spurt of illegal or underground online gambling apps, most of which originate from China or other foreign countries, and except payments from players through dummy companies or hawala channels.
- Both the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and local cybercrime authorities have tried to crack down on such apps but with limited success.
- Shifting of users to grey or illegal offshore online gaming apps not only results in loss of tax revenue for the State and job opportunities for locals, but results in users being unable to avail remedies for any unfair behaviour or refusal to pay out winnings.
- Experts believe that instead of a complete ban, one could look at licensing and regulating the industry with various checks and balances such as diligent KYC and anti-money laundering processes, barring minors from accessing real money games, placing weekly or monthly limits on the money that can be staked or time that can be spent, counselling for addictive players and allowing self-exclusion of such players etc.
- The Tamil Nadu government has filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against the August 2021 order of the Madras High Court striking down its online gaming law.
- Presently, it is unclear whether the Karnataka government is also planning to file an appeal to the Supreme Court.
- However, at least Tamil Nadu government’s appeal is expected to be listed before the apex court in the coming weeks.
- It is expected that the Supreme Court will give its conclusive verdict on the issue of whether online real money games can be outrightly banned and whether the State or Central government has the power to enact legislation on the subject.
- For now, online gaming companies will continue to offer different formats and variations of online real money games, with the distinction between skill based and chance-based games at times becoming blurry and debatable.
- It is mainly on account of transformation of the category and rejuvenation or developmental activities.
- The report revealed that the total wetland area, which was 2,537 hectares in 2006-07, stood at 2,773 hectares in 2017-18 — a jump of 236 hectares.
- While the natural inland wetland area increased by 24 hectares, from 1,333 hectares to 1,357 hectares, the manmade inland wetland area saw a significant rise and went up from 1,204 hectares to 1,416 hectares in the same period.
- Decadal changes (2017-18 vs 2006-07) show an overall 9. 3% increase in wetland area.
- The major change has been mainly observed in the waterlogged and tank/pond category.
- They are due to transformation of wetland category and also rejuvenation or developmental activities.
- According to the report, the Yamuna is perhaps the only water body that fulfils the day-today requirements of the residents of Delhi.
- The National Wetland Decadal Change Atlas is prepared by the Space Applications Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad.
- It was also released highlighting the changes which have happened in Wetlands across the country in the past decade.
- The original Atlas was released by SAC in 2011 and has over the years been used extensively by all the State Governments also in their planning processes.
Impact of pandemic on women workforce
- The virus is significantly increasing the burden of unpaid care, which is disproportionately carried by women. They spent, on average, 62 hours per week caring for children (compared to 36 hours for men) and 23 hours per week doing housework (15 hours for men).
- A surge in domestic violence National Commission for Women’s (NCW) data showed that domestic violence complaints doubled after the nationwide lockdown was imposed in India.
- Women were at the frontline tackling the pandemic, 76% of healthcare and social-care workers, 86% of personal care workers in health services are women. With the pandemic, women in these sectors saw an unprecedented rise in workload, health risk and challenges to work-life balance.
- Women in the labour market were hit hard by the pandemic. Women also had more difficulties re-entering the labour market during the partial recovery last summer 2020 with employment rates rising by 1.4% for men but only by 0.8% for women
- A striking lack of women in COVID-19 decision-making bodies. Of 115 national dedicated COVID-19 task forces in 87 countries, including 17 EU Member States, 85,2% were made up mainly of men, 11.4% comprised mainly women, and only 3.5% had gender parity.
- Expanding educational opportunities and increasing awareness for sharing of workload at home between man and woman.
- There is also an urgent need to ensure that significant interventions take place to provide easier access to finance from banks and other financial institutions, as well as tax incentives.
- Additional relief measures would include increasing the overdraft facility in the Jan Dhan accounts of those running their own businesses in the informal sector by 10,000 rupees.
- Another measure which could help is if those who were previously employed could withdraw funds from their provident funds.
- Skilling from an early age, amassing traditional skills (tailors, beauty therapists, hair stylists, yoga trainers) and non-traditional skills (engineers, doctors, artificial intelligence, and data analytics) encourages self-reliance (through education and counselling) and enables them to challenge societal limitations.
- A comparison of the R&D spending in terms of GERD as a percentage of GDP shows India to be a low spender (only 0.66 per cent of the GDP) in comparison to the developed countries and emerging economic powers of East Asia.
- The percentage expenditure for the last couple of years shows a downward trend. A quick analysis of the allocations to various R&D organisations in the recently presented 2022-23 budget shows continued stagnation.
Budget 2022-23:
- Budget speech for 2022-23 contains two references to R&D-related issues.
- One defence R&D will be opened for industry, start-ups, and academia with 25 per cent of the defence budget earmarked for such activities.
- The other, identification of sunrise opportunities in areas like artificial intelligence, geospatial systems and drones, semiconductors, space, genomics and pharmaceuticals, green energy, and clean mobility systems.
- For R&D in these sunrise opportunities, in addition to efforts of collaboration among academia, industry and public institutions, government contribution will be provided. However, the budget has no extra provisions for R&D in the flagged sunrise opportunities.
- India is dependent on China for imports related to electronics, solar equipment, pharmaceutical (Active pharmaceutical ingredients) and Capital goods.
- Information asymmetry with respect to Central and State governments can act as a roadblock on ease of doing business.
- India missed out on the ‘third industrial revolution’ comprising electronic goods, micro-processors, personal computers, mobile phones and decentralized manufacturing and global value chains.
- Mere setting up of manufacturing facilities in India is no guarantee of absorption of technologies.
- Lack of Human Capital in R&D field.
- Economic Survey 2020-21 suggested that the country needs to increase its GERD from around 0.7 per cent to over 2 per cent of its GDP as is the situation with the Western and East Asian economies.
- The survey suggested that the private sector needs to raise its share of spending from 37 per cent to 68 per cent of the total spending on R&D like the other high spenders.
- The Centre needs to cover the current deficits in R&D and cater to the present and future needs by committing to raise the spending on R&D to 1 per cent of the GDP.
- In most of the developed capitalist countries, defence-related R&D is undertaken by the private sector. In India, this expenditure is mostly borne by public funding.
- The SERB (Science Engineering Research Board), that’s already performing the job of funding projects on a competitive basis, can be upgraded to play the role envisaged for NRF.
- A virtual platform that will hold all the information on the projects granted with public funding could be developed for better information sharing.
- With increased allocations, joint R&D projects between public institutions and start-ups/industries can also be supported. Funding of projects could become comprehensive and cover their entire expenditure.
- To make India self-reliant, the country requires the upgradation of human resources in R&D.
- In the next five to six years, around 5,000 students/scientists need to be trained at the doctoral and post-doctoral level in the best laboratories abroad in areas of R&D where India needs to do better for national prosperity and areas of strategic importance.
- Joint projects with some of the leading laboratories worldwide could also be funded by enhanced funding allocation. India should be an equal partner in such projects and share the benefits of intellectual property that emerges from the joint work.
- To move from stagnation in R&D to a more dynamic ecosystem would require action on many fronts. Science and technology departments will have to work out how to fast-track decision-making, information sharing, and allow investigators more flexibility in utilising the funds. It will be useful if the science academies of India become more communicative, both with the public and government, on issues related to R&D.
- A commitment from the Centre to raise GERD to 1 per cent of the GDP in the next three years could be one of the most consequential decisions taken in the 75th year of India’s independence.
- According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, global emissions need to be halved over the next decade, with net-zero emissions achieved by the middle of the century, to successfully bend the temperature curve towards 1.5°C and below.
BRICS Climate Actions
- The BRICS grouping—comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—has prioritized climate action as one of its fundamental areas of focus and has strived to support the United Nations (UN) and G20 on climate change mitigation and biodiversity protection.
- The BRICS has emphasized the need for cooperation in adopting the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework drafted by the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, and the BRICS countries have regularly used their position within the G20 to nudge the bloc to consider deep-rooted reforms on climate change, energy efficiency, environmental assessment benchmarking and energy security.
- Additionally, the BRICS summits have made several futuristic commitments to climate action since the group’s inception.
- At the seventh iteration of the BRICS Environment Ministerial in August 2021, held ahead of the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity in October and the Glasgow Climate Change Conference (COP26) in November, the BRICS reaffirmed its collective cooperation in the fight against climate change, anchored in equity, national priorities and circumstances, and the principles of ‘common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities’.
- Average annual mean surface temperature change (2016-2019), BRICS performs below the G20, OECD and the world on this indicator. The G20 and OECD perform better than the world, while the BRICS’s performance is below that of the world by a mere 1.07 percent.
- As per, Per capita greenhouse gas emissions (2018) the BRICS’s performance exceeds that of the G20 and OECD on GHG emissions but falls below the world average.
- Per capita CO2 emissions from fuel consumption as part of production (2019) the BRICS performs better than the G20 and OECD, it falls below world performance by a mere 3.65 percent.
- Effective expenditure incurred on carbon savings (2019) the expenditure incurred on carbon savings is then adjusted with a correction factor based on per capita GDP to result in what is referred to as the proxy indicative of the ‘effective expenditure on carbon savings. The BRICS outperforms the G20, OECD and the world on this indicator.
- Effective proportion of coal-powered energy (2019) the BRICS outperforms the G20 and OECD, its performance is below that of the world.
- By end-2019, India’s total renewable energy installed capacity (including large hydropower and nuclear power) had reached more than 136 GW, and the proportion of renewable energy in electricity installed capacity was 37.18 percent.
- Launched in January 2015, Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) and LED Street Lighting National Programme (SLNP) are the world’s largest domestic lighting projects and streetlight replacement programmes, respectively.
- The Buildings Energy Efficiency Programme has covered 10,344 buildings, including railway stations and airports, contributing to energy savings of 224 million kWh per year.
- As part of the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan 2020, the Department of Heavy Industry formulated the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME India) Scheme in 2015.
- The Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana aims to expand irrigation coverage and promote water-use efficiency.
- This report has evaluated the climate action performance of the BRICS, G20 and OECD groupings in relation to average annual mean surface temperature change, per capita GHG emissions, per capita CO2 emissions from fuel consumption as part of production, proxy indicative of effective expenditure incurred on carbon savings, and effective proportion of coal-powered energy.
- Countries can explore cooperation opportunities in energy efficiency, renewable energy, circular economy and ecosystem, and biodiversity protection. The three blocs must consider collaboration in innovation, technology transfer and information and knowledge sharing, and develop best practices in energy efficiency, renewable energy, circular economy and ecosystem, and biodiversity protection. Climate cooperation should also leverage avenues to boost the flow of climate finance to the country's most in need of it within these blocs.
POSTED ON 20-02-2022 BY ADMIN
Next previous 
General Studies
Political Science and International Relations
Some Reference Essays
List of previous year essay topics (1997-2019)
IAS GOOGLE is googled by the team of Raja Sir’s Cracking IAS Academy. Sources include The Hindu, Indian Express, pib.nic.in, Down To Earth, Economic Times, Vigyan Prasar, AIR and the like. IAS GOOGLE has been prepared in pace with emerging UPSC Trends.