Latest News
04th Aug 2021
EXPLAINED: WHAT IS NAUKA, THE MODULE RUSSIA SENT TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION?
Recently, Russia’s uncrewed Nauka laboratory module docked with the International Space Station (ISS) after an eight-day journey.
Nauka Module for ISS?
- It is the biggest space laboratory Russia has launched to date.
- The meaning of Nauka is "science" in Russian.
- It was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan using a Proton rocket.
- It will serve as a new science facility, docking port, and spacewalk airlock for the future operations.
- It is bringing to the ISS another oxygen generator, a spare bed, another toilet, and a robotic cargo crane built by the European Space Agency (ESA).
- It will be attached to the critical Zvezda module, which provides all of the space station’s life support systems and serves as the structural and functional centre of the Russian Orbital Segment (ROS).
- It is a large spacecraft which orbits around Earth in the low earth orbit.
- The first piece of the International Space Station was launched in 1998 launched by a Russian rocket.
- It has science labs from the United States, Russia, Japan and Europe.
- It serves as a microgravity and space environment research laboratory in which scientific research is conducted in astrobiology, astronomy, meteorology, physics, and other fields.
- The station is divided into two sections i.e. the Russian Orbital Segment (ROS) is operated by Russia, while the United States Orbital Segment (USOS) is run by the United States as well as many other nations.
- A space station is essentially a large spacecraft that remains in low-earth orbit for extended periods of time.
- It was launched from October 2020 for inclusive and holistic preparation of Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP).
- The objectives of ‘Sabki Yojana Sabka Vikas’ broadly include strengthening of elected representatives and Self Help Groups, evidence based assessment of progress made in 2020-21 and proposals for 2021-22 in all 29 subjects of XI Schedule.
- It is aimed to help Gram Panchayats (GPs) in preparation of convergent and holistic GPDP through identification of sectoral infrastructural gaps in respective areas.
- The approval of GPDP for the year 2021-22, well in advance, will provide GPs full year for implementation and effective monitoring of works.
- It is an effective strategy for ensuring the preparation of GPDP in a campaign mode by endeavouring to converge all resources available at Panchayat level related to 29 subjects listed in the Eleventh Schedule of the Constitution.
- No separate allocation has been earmarked for Sabki Yojana Sabka Vikas to States/UTs including State of Haryana, Assam and Bihar.
- Under Article 243 G of Constitution, Panchayats have been mandated for preparation and implementation of plans for economic development and social justice.
- Article 243A: A Gram Sabha may exercise such powers and perform such functions at the village level as the Legislature of a State may, by law, provide.
- Article-243B: Constitution of Panchayats- (1) There shall be constituted in every State, Panchayats at the village, intermediate and district levels in accordance with the provisions of this Part.
- (2) Notwithstanding anything in clause (1), Panchayats at the intermediate level may not be constituted in a State having a population not exceeding twenty lakhs.
- Article-243C: Composition of Panchayats- (1) Subject to the provisions of this Part, the Legislature of a State may, by law, make provisions with respect to the composition of Panchayats:
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- Provided that the ratio between the population of the territorial area of a Panchayat at any level and the number of seats in such Panchayat to be filled by election shall, so far as practicable, be the same throughout the State.
- (2) All the seats in a Panchayat shall be filled by persons chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies in the Panchayat area and, for this purpose, each Panchayat area shall be divided into territorial constituencies in such manner that the ratio between the population of each constituency and the number of seats allotted to it shall, so far as practicable, be the same throughout the Panchayat area.
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- Article-243D: Reservation of seats- (1) Seats shall be reserved for:
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- (a) the Scheduled Castes; and
- (b) the Scheduled Tribes, in every Panchayat and the number of seats so reserved shall bear the same proportion to the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in that Panchayat as the population of the Scheduled Castes or of the Scheduled Tribes in that Panchayat area bears to the total population of that area and such seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a Panchayat.
- (2) Not less than one-third of the total number of seats reserved under clause (1) shall be reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes or, as the case may be, the Scheduled Tribes.
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- In October 2020, the residents of Assam and Mizoram had clashed over territory, in which at least eight people were injured and a few huts and small shops were torched.
- The violence spotlights the long-standing inter-state boundary issues in the Northeast, particularly between Assam and the states that were carved out of it.
- The residents of Lailapur village in Assam’s Cachar district clashed with residents of localities near Vairengte in Mizoram’s Kolasib district.
- The agreement between governments of Assam and Mizoram stated that the status quo should be maintained in no man’s land in the border area.
- The people from Lailapur broke the status quo and allegedly constructed some temporary huts and people from Mizoram side went and set fire on them.
- The then Deputy Commissioner of Cachar, had told that the contested land belongs to Assam as per the state’s records.
- The Mizoram officials said that the land claimed by Assam has been cultivated for a long time by residents of Mizoram.
- It is told that the contested land was historically cultivated by Mizoram residents, on paper it fell within the Singla Forest Reserve that is under Karimganj’s jurisdiction.
- In the Northeast’s complex boundary equations, showdowns between Assam and Mizoram residents are less frequent than they are between, say, Assam and Nagaland residents.
- The boundary between present-day Assam and Mizoram, 165 km long today, dates back to the colonial era, when Mizoram was known as Lushai Hills, a district of Assam.
- The dispute stems from a notification of 1875 that differentiated the Lushai Hills from the plains of Cachar, and another of 1933 that demarcates a boundary between the Lushai Hills and Manipur.
- Some minister of Mizoram believes that the boundary should be demarcated on the basis of the 1875 notification, which is derived from the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation (BEFR) Act, 1873.
- The Mizo leaders have argued in the past against the demarcation notified in 1933 because Mizo society was not consulted.
- The Governor has a power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites and remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person if the prisoner has not undergone 14 years or more of actual imprisonment.
- The court held that the power conferred on the Governor, though exercised on the aid and advice of the State, is without any restriction of the actual period of imprisonment undergone by the prisoner.
- The court said that the remission under Article 161 of the Constitution will override Section 433-A of the Code.
- The policies of the State Government are composite policies encompassing both situations under Article 161 of the Constitution and Sections 432, 433 and 433-A of the Code.
- The remission under Article 161 of the Constitution will override Section 433-A of the Code, if the State Government decides to be governed of its constitutional power.
- The court noted that a prisoner has to undergo a minimum period of imprisonment of 14 years without remission in the case of an offence.
- It implies that the conviction of which carries death sentence, to take benefit of policy of remission framed by an appropriate government under Section 432 of the Code in view of the overriding provision of Section 433-A of the Code.
- The court also observed that the policy prevalent at the time of conviction shall be taken into consideration for considering the premature release of a prisoner.
- The bench said that the cases of the prisoners who have completed 14 years of actual imprisonment can be decided by the State Government in terms of Sections 432 and 433 of the Code unless the State Government chooses to seek the approval of the Governor.
- Under Article 161, the Governor too has pardoning powers, but these do not extend to death sentences.
- The Governor of a State shall have the power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence against any law relating to a matter to which the executive power of the State extends.
- The Constitution of India provides the provisions of pardoning power of the president under Article 72.
- The President cannot exercise his power of pardon independent of the government because the Rashtrapati Bhawan forwards the mercy plea to the Home Ministry, seeking the Cabinet’s advice.
- The Ministry in turn forwards the plea to the concerned state government and based on the reply, it formulates its advice on behalf of the Council of Ministers.
- Under Article 74(1), the President can resend the advice for reconsideration given by the cabinet and if the Council of Ministers decides against any change, the President has no option but to accept it.
- The scope of the pardoning power of the President under Article 72 is wider than the pardoning power of the Governor under Article 161.
- The power differs in the following two ways:
- The power of the President to grant pardon extends in cases where the punishment or sentence is by a Court Martial but Article 161 does not provide any such power to the Governor.
- The study has also resolved the identity and taxonomic status of all known members of the genus from Peninsular India.
- It is named after former DU Vice-Chancellor and plant geneticist Deepak Pental.
- It is endemic to the southern Western Ghats.
- It was discovered from the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot, extending along the southwest coast of the Indian Peninsula.
- It is among the smallest known Minervarya frogs.
- It was identified based on multiple criteria, such as external morphology, DNA and calling pattern.
- It is also known as Minervarya sahyadris.
- It is a species of frog in the family Dicroglossidae.
- It is endemic to Western Ghats of India.
- It is known from Gundia in Karnataka and Calicut and neighboring areas in Kerala at elevations between 40 and 200 m.
- It is a semi-aquatic, terrestrial species.
- It has been found from grassy areas adjacent to paddy fields, disturbed (open) moist tropical forest, stream banks and abandoned quarries.
- It is listed as ‘Endangered’ under the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
- It is an application of the Ministry of Rural Development.
- It is aimed at bringing more transparency and ensures proper monitoring of the schemes.
- It permits taking real time attendance of workers at Mahatma Gandhi NREGA worksites along with geo-tagged photograph.
- It helps in increasing citizen oversight of the programme.
- It is applicable for the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA workers for all the States/ Union Territories.
- It underlined the importance of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA in providing alternative employment to the rural people, especially during COVID-19 pandemic.
- The government had enhanced the outlay of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA for the year 2020-21 from Rs. 61,500 crore to 1.11 lakh crore for ensuring all needy households get work under the Scheme as per their need.
- The Ministry is making 99% wage payment directly into the bank account of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA workers by way of DBT through NeFMS.
- The Ministry opined that the successful implementation of Geo-MGNREGA, a provision for geo-tagging of assets, has helped in refuting the charge of ghost assets being financed through the Scheme.
- It is a phenomenon caused by algal blooms during which algae become so numerous that they discolor coastal waters.
- It is a global phenomenon found in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, England, France, Guatemala, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, the United States, and Venezuela.
- The name 'red tide' comes from the fact that overgrowth of algae can cause the color of the water to turn red, as well as green or brown.
- The species in the United States that release the harmful toxins include:
- Alexandrium fundyense - found along the Atlantic coast from the Canadian Maritimes to southern New England
- Alexandrium catenella - found along the Pacific coast from California to Alaska
- Karenia brevis - found in the Gulf of Mexico along the west coast of Florida
- The factors influencing red tide events include warm ocean surface temperatures, low salinity, high nutrient content, calm seas, and rain followed by sunny days during the summer months.
- The algae related to red tide can spread or be carried long distances by winds, currents, storms, or ships.
- Harmful algal blooms, or HABs, occur when colonies of algae (simple plants that live in the sea and freshwater) grow out of control while producing toxic or harmful effects.
- The algal bloom may also deplete oxygen in the waters and/or release toxins that may cause illness in humans and other animals.
- The red tide algae make potent natural toxins.
- It is unknown why these toxins are created, but some can be hazardous to larger organisms through the processes of biomagnification and bioaccumulation.
- Large fish kills and several mammalian diseases and deaths have been attributed to consumption of shellfish during red tide algal blooms.
- 1830: The first complete census of India was conducted in 1830 by Henry Walter in Dacca (now Dhaka) in which the statistics of the population with sex, broad age group, and the houses with their amenities were collected.
- 1836-37: The second Census was conducted in 1836-37 by Fort St.George according to the government website of Census India.
- 1881: The first synchronous census was taken under British rule in 1881, by W.C. Plowden, Census Commissioner of India.
- In this census, the main emphasis was not only laid on complete coverage but also on the classification of demographic, economic and social characteristic took in the entire continent of British India (except Kashmir).
- In Independent India, too, political disturbances led to the exclusion of Assam from the 1981 census and Jammu and Kashmir from the 1991 census.
- The census in independent India is a part of the Ministry of Home Affairs unlike British Census being controlled by an independent statistical authority answerable to the British Parliament directly.
- Every Census in independent India from 1951 to 2011 has published data on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, but not on other castes.
- The census until 1931 had data on caste but in 1941, caste-based data was collected but not published.
- There is no proper estimate for the population of OBCs, various groups within the OBCs, and others.
- The Mandal Commission estimated the OBC population at 52%, some other estimates have been based on National Sample Survey data, and political parties make their own estimates in states and Lok Sabha and Assembly seats during elections.
- Basis for reviewing the country's progress in the past decade: It provides comprehensive and detailed data on the whole population in addition to demographic, social and economic characteristics by the lowest administrative or geographical level and related rates and indicators.
- Monitoring the ongoing schemes of government & plan for future: The census deeply reflects the social and economic changes and also the influences of the political processes.
- Its role has changed from an instrument of governance to an instrument in development planning.
- Proper assessment of population status: It provides necessary data enabling the assessment of the population status in India during the inter-census period.
- It aims to monitor demographic, social and economic changes taking place during the same period in various administrative divisions.
- Use of Census Data in Business: The census data are used by business to determine where to start or expand a business and to determine potential customers for new products.
- Use of Census Data in Civil Rights Protection: In addition to heavy use of Decennial Census data in the context of redistricting and voting rights, data from the Census are used to examine equality in jobs and education opportunities.
- The NCBC was granted constitutional status in 2018.
- The government has constituted a commission under chairmanship of former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court Justice G Rohini to sub-categorise OBCs.
- The Rohini Commission is facing difficulties due to unavailability of data on various communities classified under OBCs.
- The panel had written to Social Justice and Empowerment Minister and requested for appropriate Budget provision for a proposed all-India survey for an estimate of caste-wise population of OBCs.
- The parliamentary standing committee on welfare of OBCs has recommended that a headcount of OBCs be conducted in the upcoming census.
- There have been concerns because the last time a comprehensive data on caste was collected in India was way back in 1931.
- The category of ‘Race, Caste or Tribe’ was replaced by the ‘Scheduled Tribe/ Scheduled Caste’ after India got independence.
- There is little documentation about the discussion or debate that had transpired between leaders of the time on what the census would include.
- The leaders attributed that this shift to the belief that “including caste data in census enumeration will perpetuate the caste system and deepen social divisions”.
- The recording of caste was abandoned after Indian Independence in 1947 in order to help smooth the growth of a secular state.
- The leaders had wanted to drop the question of caste as it was thought of as a British policy to divide and rule.
- The British wanted to understand and control India through their understanding of religion and caste.
- The issue of the caste census has always been a politically-charged one because of its implications on the percentage of reservation in education and jobs.
- Under Section 151 of The Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) preventive detention is action taken on grounds of suspicion that some wrong actions may be done by the person concerned.
- A police officer can arrest an individual without orders from a Magistrate and without any warrant if he gets any information that such an individual can commit any offense.
- Article 22 of the Indian Constitution provides protection against arrest and detention in certain cases.
- The Article 22 of the Indian Constitution provides safeguards against the misuse of police powers to make arrests and detentions.
- The clause(2) of Article 22 reads that every person who is arrested and detained in custody shall be:
- Produced before the nearest magistrate within a period of twenty four hours of such arrest excluding the time necessary for the journey from the place of arrest to the court of the magistrate; and
- No such person shall be detained in custody beyond the said period without the authority of a magistrate
- The clause (4) of the article states that no individual can be detained for more than 3 months unless a bench of High court judges or an Advisory board decides to extend the date.
- An Advisory Board consisting of persons who are, or have been, or are qualified to be appointed as, Judges of a High Court has reported before the expiration of the said period of three months that there is in its opinion sufficient cause for such detention.
- The clause(5) of the Article 22 states that the detained individual should be made aware of the grounds he/she has been detained (in pursuance of the order) and should provide him/her with an opportunity of making a representation against the case.
- Under Entry 9 of List I (Union List), Parliament has the exclusive power to enact a law for preventive detention for the reasons connected with defence, foreign affairs, or security of India.
- Under Entry 3 of List III (Concurrent List), both Parliament and State Legislature have powers to enact such laws for the reasons related to maintenance of public order or maintenance of supplies or services essential to the community.
- In the pre-independence era, the British government enacted several laws providing for preventive detention, such as the Defence of the Realm Act, 1914 and the Emergency Powers (Defence) Act, 1939.
- The emergency legislations were replaced by regular legislation, such as the Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act, 1919 (better known as the ‘Rowlatt Act’) and the Bengal Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1930, both of which were notoriously unpopular.
- India got its first preventive detention law, the Preventive Detention Act, 1950 (PDA) which was initially effective for one year, but was allowed to continue till 1969.
- The Maintenance of Internal Security Act, 1971 (MISA) is infamous for its use during the Emergency period in the 1970s to arrest opposition party leaders and remained effective till 1978.
- The National Security Act, 1980 (NSA) was enacted which continues to be effective to date.
- An ‘arrest’ is done when a person is charged with a crime.
- An arrested person is produced before a magistrate within the next 24 hours.
- In case of preventive detention, a person is detained as he/she is simply restricted from doing something that might deteriorate the law and order situation.
- The bench of Justices has said that a liberal meaning cannot be given to the expression public order in the context of preventive detention statute.
- The court said that it must ensure that the facts brought before it directly and inevitably lead to a harm, danger or alarm or feeling of insecurity among the general public or any section thereof at large.
- The bench highlighted that the charges of cheating against the detenu fall in the realm of law and order.
- It said that a preventive detention order can only be passed if the activities of the detenu or detainee affects, or are likely to adversely affect, the maintenance of public order.
- The report has found that the river which flows through five states covering about 2,500 km before flowing into the Bay of Bengal, is heavily polluted with microplastics.
- The samples of Ganga’s water were collected from Haridwar, Kanpur and Varanasi and microplastics were found in all of them.
- The study found out that apart from microplastics, there were other kinds of plastics as well such as single-use plastic and secondary plastic products in Ganga water.
- The report highlighted that the samples taken at Varanasi had the highest concentration of plastic pollution.
- The study notes that untreated sewage from densely populated cities across the river’s course, along with industrial waste and religious offerings that are wrapped in non-degradable plastic add a significant amount of pollutants into the river.
- The study found out that the waste and plastic materials break down further and are eventually carried into the Bay of Bengal and then into the ocean which is the “ultimate sink”of all plastics that are used by humans.
- Microplastics are plastic debris smaller than 5mm in length, or about the size of a sesame seed.
- Microplastics come from a variety of sources, including from larger plastic debris that degrades into smaller and smaller pieces.
- Microbeads, a type of microplastic, are very tiny pieces of manufactured polyethylene plastic that are added as exfoliants to health and beauty products.
- They are the most notorious because of their small size, on average microplastics are less than 5 mm in length or roughly equal to five pinheads.
- According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), at least 8 million tonnes of plastic end up in the oceans every year and makes up about 80 per cent of all marine debris from surface waters to deep-sea sediments.
- The plastic can take hundreds to thousands of years to decompose depending on the type of plastic and where it has been dumped.
- The plastic pollution impacts marine life, ocean health, coastal tourism and even human health.
- More than 663 marine species are affected by marine debris and 11 percent of them are said to be related to microplastic ingestion.
- They are ingested by marine habitants including fish, corals, planktons and sea mammals and are then carried further into the food chain.
- In the case of humans, most of the microplastics can be found in food, water and food containers and their ingestion can cause health problems.
- It is a sub-scheme under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM).
- It is a flagship rural livelihood mission of Ministry of Rural Development.
- It was approved during 2015-16 and the enterprise formation started in 2017-18.
- The NRLM SHG's and federations are a critical pre-requisite for the implementation of the SVEP project.
- Create a Block Resource Centre – Enterprise Promotion (BRC-EP); The BRC should act as a nodal centre to implement SVEP. Block Level Federation (BLF) to come up under NRLM could be one of institutional platforms for BRC.
- Cluster Level Federation (CLF) /VOs shall hold the entity till BLF comes into existence. BRC should follow a self-sustaining revenue model.
- BRC is to be assisted by CRP-EP and the Bank Coordination System (Bank Mitra). BRC is to provide resource and reference material including videos, manuals etc.
- Help enterprises get bank finance using tablet based software for making the business feasibility plan, doing credit appraisal and tracking business performance.
- Use the Community Investment Fund (CIF) to provide seed capital for starting the business till it reaches a size where bank finance is needed.
- Develop local resources by training a pool of village level community cadre (CRP EP) and build the capacity of the NRLM and SHG federations to monitor and direct the work of the CRP-EPs.
- Help the rural entrepreneurs to access finance for starting their enterprises from the NRLM SHG and federations, the banking systems including the proposed MUDRA bank.
- Handhold the rural entrepreneurs/ enterprises in the initial six months of start-up, with visits from the CRP-EP's supported by guidance from an advisory panel of experts for the relevant enterprise.
- To enable rural poor to set up their enterprises, in its proof of concept phase, by developing a sustainable model for Village Entrepreneurship promotion through integrated ICT techniques and tools for training and capacity building
- It focuses on providing self-employment opportunities with financial assistance and training in business management and soft skills.
- It provides skill building support to all the entrepreneurs through Community Resource Persons for Enterprise Promotion (CRP-EP).
- It has the objective of helping rural households including women to set-up enterprises.
- The long term vision of the SVEP is to provide support for start-up to 1 crore village enterprises and provide direct employment to 2 crore people.
- It mandates the preparation of a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for each block which provides estimates of the potential of enterprises in various sectors in the block.
- It is a central sector scheme where 100% of the funding is provided by the Government of India through the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
- Under this Scheme, the District Project Societies (DPS) are set up at the district level under the Chairmanship of the Collector/District Magistrate for overseeing the implementation of the project.
- It withdraws the children in the age group of 9-14 years from work and put into NCLP Special Training Centres.
- They are provided with bridge education, vocational training, mid-day meal, stipend, health care etc. before being mainstreamed into formal education system.
- Under NCLP, the funds are provided directly to the District Project Societies who in turn engage and allocate the funds to NGOs/Voluntary Agencies/Civil Societies Organisation etc. for running of Special Training Centres.
- To eliminate all forms of child labour through
- Identification and withdrawal of all children in the Project Area from child labour
- Preparing children withdrawn from work for mainstream education along with vocational training
- Ensuring convergence of services provided by different government departments/agencies for the benefit of child and their family
- To contribute to the withdrawal of all adolescent workers from Hazardous Occupations / Processes and their skilling and integration in appropriate occupations through:
- Identification and withdrawal of all adolescent workers from hazardous occupations / processes
- Facilitating vocational training opportunities for such adolescents through existing scheme of skill developments
- Raising awareness amongst stakeholders and target communities, and orientation of NCLP and other functionaries on the issues of 'child labour' and 'employment of adolescent workers in hazardous occupations/processes'; and
- Creation of a Child Labour Monitoring, Tracking and Reporting System.
- All child workers below the age of 14 years in the identified target area
- Adolescent workers below the age of 18 years in the target area engaged in hazardous occupations / processes
- Families of Child workers in the identified target area
- A dedicated online portal named PENCiL (Platform for Effective Enforcement for No Child Labour) is developed in order to make the NCLP successful through better monitoring and implementation.
- Its aim is to create an enabling environment in the target area, where children are motivated and empowered through various measures to enroll in schools and refrain from working.
- It will be implemented in close coordination with State, District Administration and Civil Society.
- It aims to contribute to the identification and withdrawal of adolescents from hazardous occupations and processes in the target area.
- It promotes better informed communities, specific target groups and the public at large as a result of the Social Mobilization Programme(s) and Awareness about the ill effects of child labour.
- Net-zero, which is also referred to as carbon-neutrality, does not mean that a country would bring down its emissions to zero.
- It would be gross-zero, which means reaching a state where there are no emissions at all, a scenario hard to comprehend.
- A net-zero is a state in which a country’s emissions are compensated by absorption and removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
- In 2019, the New Zealand government passed the Zero Carbon Act, which committed the country to zero carbon emissions by 2050 or sooner.
- In 2019, the UK’s parliament passed legislation requiring the government to reduce the UK’s net emissions of greenhouse gases by 100 per cent relative to 1990 levels by the year 2050.
- The US president Joe Biden announced that the country will cut its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.
- The European Commission has asked all of its 27 member countries to cut emissions by 55 per cent below 1990 levels by 2030 under Fit for 55.
- In 2020, China also announced that it would become net-zero by the year 2060 and that it would not allow its emissions to peak beyond what they are in 2030.
- The report says that if the challenge of change is tackled only by way of planting more trees, then about 1.6 billion hectares of new forests would be required to remove the world’s excess carbon emissions by the year 2050.
- It says that to limit global warming below 1.5°C and to prevent irreversible damage from climate change, the world needs to collectively be on track and should aim to cut emissions by 45 per cent by 2030 from 2010 levels.
- It states that if only land-based methods to deal with climate change are used, food rises are expected to rise even more.
- It highlighted that if the entire energy sector -whose emissions continue to soar- were to set similar ‘net-zero’ targets, it would require an area of land nearly the size of the Amazon rainforest.
- It emphasizes that reducing emissions cannot be considered a substitute for cutting emissions.
- According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), even if the current net zero commitments were fully implemented, our world would still see 2.7°C of warming by the end of the century.
- It would have profound consequences for people and vulnerable communities, increasing the likelihood of them facing more frequent and more intense droughts and flooding.
- Many of the net zero targets are vague and poorly defined, which means that they can be used as a way for countries and companies to ‘greenwash’ their activities as they go about business as usual.
- The vast majority of net zero commitments (over 80%) are no further advanced than the proposal or strategy stage.
- Most countries, states and cities cover only CO2 emissions, while only 27% of companies cover Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions (as defined by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol) in their targets.
- The long-term net zero targets distract attention from delivering near-term and tangible climate action.
- Another consequence of net zero pledges is that they have shifted the framework for climate commitments from a focus on reducing emissions to a scenario that involves a mix of emissions reductions and removals.
- The net zero commitments could dramatically increase demand for land to be used for carbon sequestration, jeopardizing people’s rights to food and to land.
- The net zero targets must prioritize ambitious emissions reductions to align with the goal of limiting warming to below 1.5°C and ensure rapid decarbonization by 2030.
- For companies, it is important that long-term net zero targets are based on robust science-based targets aligned with the goal of limiting warming to below 1.5°C.
- The net zero commitments must be backed by meaningful transparency and disclosure.
- The land-based climate action must be anchored in food first, rights-based approaches that help to achieve zero hunger and zero emissions.
- The spacecraft, which is called the Crew Space Transportation-100 (CST-100), is part of an uncrewed test flight to the International Space Station (ISS) which is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
- The Starliner, which is supposed to carry more than 400 pounds of NASA cargo and crew supplies, will take roughly 24 hours to reach the ISS, after which it will dock there.
- The spacecraft has been designed to accommodate seven passengers or a mix of crew and cargo for missions to low-Earth orbit.
- It will carry up to four NASA-sponsored crew members and time-critical scientific research.
- The Starliner has an innovative, weldless structure and is reusable up to 10 times with a six-month turnaround time.
- It features wireless internet and tablet technology for crew interfaces.
- It will help NASA to ascertain and certify the transportation system to carry astronauts to and from the space station in the future.
- It is delivering on its goal of safe, reliable, and cost-effective human transportation to and from the International Space Station from the United States through a partnership with American private industry.
- Its primary objective is to make access to space easier in terms of its cost, so that cargo and crew can be easily transported to and from the ISS, enabling greater scientific research.
- NASA plans to lower its costs by sharing them with commercial partners such as Boeing and SpaceX though Commercial Crew Program.
- It will give the companies incentive to design and build the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS).
- It will allow NASA to focus on building spacecraft and rockets meant for deep space exploration missions.
- It represents a revolutionary approach to government and commercial collaborations for the advancement of space exploration.
POSTED ON 04-08-2021 BY ADMIN
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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.