Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

Chile’s draft Constitution is an example of a framework for an enduring and egalitarian democracy.

Background

• In 2019, a wave of protests engulfed the country of Chile.
• These protests were triggered by familiar themes: social inequality, the cost of living, and probity in governance.
• But at the heart of the protests was also the fact that Chile’s Constitution was no longer fit for purpose.
• Drafted in 1980 previous constitution led to Chile becoming one of the most unequal countries in the world.
• Consequently, one of the demands of the Chilean protesters was to replace Pinochet’s Constitution with a democratic Constitution, written by the People of Chile, for themselves.

Inclusive constitution

• The Chilean government eventually conceded to this demand.
• This led to the formation of a directly-elected Constituent Assembly, which was strikingly representative: 51% of the Constituent Assembly members were women, and there were 17 reserved seats for indigenous peoples.
• Constituent Assembly members also included people from across the socio-economic and geographical spectrum of Chile, sexual minorities too.
• This intensely representative and participatory process has led to the drafting of a Constitution that is both inclusive and visionary.

Constitutionalism – Evolution

• In the early to mid-20th century, constitutional drafting around the world often followed the United States model.
• It was believed that the purpose of a Constitution was to constrain state power.
• To this end, Constitutions set out enforceable bills of rights, and divided power between the three wings of State — the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary.
• In the latter half of the 20th century, it came to be understood that this vision of constitutionalism was necessary, but inadequate, to address the many problems faced by countries across the world.
• In response, starting in the 1980s, Constitutions began to include “socio-economic rights” — such as the rights to housing, to education, and to health, among others — within their bills of rights.
• Second, it was recognised that the complexities of governance require a set of institutions that are independent of the State and can hold them to account. Some familiar examples include information commissions, human rights commissions, and electoral commissions.
• These are sometimes referred to as “integrity institutions”, as their task is to ensure integrity in the functioning of state agencies
• Third, it was recognised that mere periodic elections constitute only a thin and attenuated version of democracy.
• This has come to be known as the requirement of “public participation

It’s a document of vision

However, what is even more striking is that the Chilean draft Constitution not only draws upon past wisdom; it is a future-facing document as well

• The Constitution grapples with the pervasive role of technology in lives by stipulating the existence of a National Data Protection Authority, as well as guaranteeing a right to digital connectivity. The draft Constitution’s move to enshrine within it – the need for an independent data protection body.
• Similarly, the draft Constitution acknowledges the gravity of the climate crisis, and constitutionalises important principles of international environmental law, such as inter-generational equity.
• It also guarantees a right to nature, which is something that courts in different countries, from India to New Zealand, have recently explored.

Thus, when we consider the draft Chilean Constitution in its historical and present context, a remarkable picture emerges: this is a document, drafted through an intensely inclusive, participatory, and egalitarian process, and which — in its substantive content — both draws upon the wisdom of the past, and looks to the future. It is, in many ways, a model for how Constitutions in the modern world ought to be drafted, and a lesson to the rest of the world.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 1

The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (Amendment) Bill, 2022 has been listed by the government for introduction and passing in the monsoon session.

• The planned revision to Section 20 of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act is

Proposed provisions

• In a current law, Section 20 of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (AMASR) Act of 1958, last amended in 2010, prohibits construction within a 100 metre radius of all Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)-protected monuments and regulates activities within another 300 metre radius.
• The new Bill proposes to revise this section.
• Henceforth, expert committees will decide on the extent of the prohibited and regulated areas around each monument and activities permitted herein.
• The ASI would be given enforcement powers such as in the Forest Act which would empower it to act against those encroaching at protested sites.

Concerns

• Archaeological Sites across India have become commons for human and animal communities.
• Altering land around ASI-protected monuments into industrial, commercial, or even residential plots will thus deprive human and animal communities of much-needed commons.
• Permitting construction work risks weakening the foundations of centuries-old edifices.
• Also construction machines may disturb the art facets near the site, thus making the task of undertaking new research more difficult
• Domestic waste and greywater regularly seep into ancient sites any changes in protection status now will aggravate this problems.

• In recent years, the Government has built new highways, metro-rail systems, and industrial parks without methodical archaeological impact assessments.
• These projects have led to the shattering of an untold number of historical artefacts and the casual collection of many others. We cannot afford to lose more of our tangible heritage.

Now is the time to learn from painstaking efforts to preserve our composite tangible heritage and the ecosystems that they are in. Any modification to the present act requires proper examination with the involvement of various stakeholder and proper analysis of its consequences.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Union Finance Minister stated that Crypto legislation can only work with global collaboration

• She stated that a law to regulate or ban cryptocurrencies can only be effective once there’s some form of international agreement in place.
• Finance Minister Statement in Parliament signals law on cryptocurrencies may be off the table for now.

What is Cryptocurrency?

• Cryptocurrency, sometimes called crypto-currency or crypto, is any form of currency that exists digitally or virtually and uses cryptography to secure transactions.
• Cryptocurrencies don’t have a central issuing or regulating authority, instead use a decentralized system to record transactions and issue new units.
• It is supported by a decentralized peer-to-peer network called the blockchain.

Benefits of Cryptocurrency

• Inherent security: Use of pseudonyms and ledger systems conceals the identities.
• Low transaction cost: Very low fees and charges for transactions.
• Lack of interference from the banking system: Outside ambit of banking systems.
• Lower Entry Barriers: No entry barriers, unlike conventional banking systems.
• Universal recognition: Lots of cryptocurrencies and acceptable in many nations.

Challenges

• Security risks: Cyberattacks on wallets, exchange mechanism (Cryptojacking).
• Shield to Crime: Used for Illicit Trading, Criminal Activities, & organised crimes.
• Threat to the domestic currency: If a large number of investors invest in digital coins rather than domestic currency based savings like provident funds, the demand of the latter will fall.
• Lack of Liquidity and Lower Acceptability: Outside the traditional banking systems.
• Price Volatility: Prone to price fluctuations & waste of computing power.
• Lack of Consumer Protection: No Dispute Settlement Mechanisms and control of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

The three economic terms have gained focus in the present global economic scenario.

• Many observers have pointed to an inversion of the US yield curve to argue that the US central bank will not be able to achieve a soft-landing for the economy.
• And yet, the US dollar continues to gain against all other currencies.
• In what is being seen as a reverse currency war, most central banks across the world are trying to raise their interest rates to counter the Fed’s actions and ensure their respective currency claws back value against the dollar.
• There are three key terms that one is likely to hear repeatedly in the coming days: Yield inversion, soft-landing and reverse currency war.

Bond Yield Curve Inversion

• A yield curve illustrates the interest rates on bonds of increasing maturities.
• An inverted yield curve occurs when short-term debt instruments carry higher yields than long-term instruments of the same credit risk profile.
• Inverted yield curves are unusual since longer-term debt should carry greater risk and higher interest rates, so when they occur there are implications for consumers and investors alike.
• An inverted yield curve is one of the most reliable leading indicators of an impending recession.

Soft Landing

• A soft landing is a cyclical slowdown in economic growth that avoids recession.
• A soft landing is the goal of a central bank when it seeks to raise interest rates just enough to stop an economy from overheating and experiencing high inflation, without causing a severe downturn.
• Soft landing may also refer to a gradual, relatively painless slowdown in a particular industry or economic sector.
• But when the actions of the central bank bring about a recession, it is called a hard-landing.

Reverse Currency War

• A flip side of the US Fed’s action of aggressively raising interest rates is that more and more investors are rushing to invest money in the US.
• This, in turn, has made the dollar become stronger than all the other currencies.
• Every central bank is trying to figure out ways to counter the US Fed and raise interest rates themselves in order to ensure their currency doesn’t lose too much value against the dollar.
• That’s because a currency which is losing value to the dollar, on the other hand, finds that it is getting costlier to import crude oil and other commodities that are often traded in dollars.
• But raising the interest rate is not without its own risks. Just like in the US, higher interest rates will decrease the chances of a soft-landing for any other economy.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

The Centre has constituted a committee to look into the issues of minimum support price (MSP).

Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare issued a notification stating:

• A committee will be constituted to promote Zero budget based farming, to change crop pattern keeping in mind the changing needs of the country, and to make MSP more effective and transparent
• The committee will consist of representatives of the Central Government and State Governments, Farmers, Agricultural Scientists and Agricultural Economists.”
• The committee, headed by former Agriculture Secretary Sanjay Agrawal, has 26 members including farmer representatives.

The committee will provide suggestions/measures

• To make available MSP to farmers of the country by making the system more effective and transparent and will also give suggestions to give more autonomy to Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) and measures to make it more scientific.
• To strengthen the Agricultural Marketing System as per the changing requirements of the country to ensure higher value to the farmers through remunerative prices of their produce by taking advantage of the domestic and export opportunities.
• On 5 points regarding natural farming including suggestions for programmes and schemes for value chain development, protocol validation & research for future needs and support for area expansion under the Indian Natural Farming System by publicity and through involvement and contribution of farmer organizations.
• On 4 points related to crop diversification including
• mapping of existing cropping patterns of agro-ecological zones of producer and consumer states;
• strategy for diversification policy to change the cropping pattern according to the changing needs of the country;
• arrangement for agricultural diversification & system to ensure remunerative prices for the sale of new crops; review and suggestion on micro irrigation scheme.

Minimum Support Price (MSP)

• The MSP is the rate at which the government purchases crops from farmers, and is based on a calculation of at least one-and-a-half times the cost of production incurred by the farmers.
• The Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices (CACP) recommends MSPs for 22 mandated crops and fair and remunerative price (FRP) for sugarcane.
• CACP is an attached office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
• The mandated crops include 14 crops of the kharif season, 6 rabi crops and 2 other commercial crops.
• In addition, the MSPs of toria and de-husked coconut are fixed on the basis of the MSPs of rapeseed/mustard and copra, respectively.

Factors for Recommending the MSP:

The CACP considers various factors while recommending the MSP for a commodity, it considers following factors

• Cost of production
• Changes in input prices
• Input-output price parity
• Trends in market prices
• Demand and supply
• Inter-crop price parity
• Effect on industrial cost structure
• Effect on cost of living
• Effect on general price level
• International price situation
• Parity between prices paid and prices received by the farmers
• Effect on issue prices and implications for subsidy

Crops covered

The list of crops is as follows.

• Cereals (7) – paddy, wheat, barley, jowar, bajra, maize and ragi
• Pulses (5) – gram, arhar/tur, moong, urad and lentil
• Oilseeds (8) – groundnut, rapeseed/mustard, toria, soyabean, sunflower seed, sesamum, safflower seed and nigerseed
• Raw cotton
• Raw jute
• Copra
• De-husked coconut
• Sugarcane (Fair and remunerative price)
• Virginia flu cured (VFC) tobacco

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

Supreme Court says that Minority status of religious, linguistic communities is State-dependent.

• It held that every person in India can be a minority in one State or the other.
• Minority status of religious and linguistic communities is “State-dependent”.
• It says a religious or linguistic community which is a minority in a particular State can claim protection and right to run own educational institutions under Articles 29 and 30.

Background

• The court was hearing a petition filed by a Mathura resident, complaining that followers of Judaism, Bahaism and Hinduism, who are the real minorities in some states cannot establish and administer educational institutions of their choice because of non-identification of ‘minority’ at State level, thus jeopardising their basic rights guaranteed under Articles 29 and 30.
• The petition has argued that the recognition of Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis nationally by the Centre as ‘minorities’ ignored the fact that religious communities like Hindus were “socially, economically, politically non-dominant and numerically inferior” in several States.
• It pointed out that Hindus were a mere 1% in Ladakh, 2.75% in Mizoram, 2.77% in Lakshadweep, 4% in Kashmir, 8.74% in Nagaland, 11.52% in Meghalaya, 29% in Arunachal Pradesh, 38.49% in Punjab and 41.29% in Manipur.
• The petition also challenged Section 2(c) of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) Act 1992, which gave “unbridled power” to the Centre to notify minorities in defiance of the Supreme Court’s 11-judge Bench judgment in T.M.A Pai case

Judgements related to determination on minority status

TMA Pai Case:

• The SC had said that for the purposes of Article 30 that deals with the rights of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions, religious and linguistic minorities have to be considered state-wise.

Bal Patil Case:

• In 2005, the SC in its judgement in ‘Bal Patil’ referred to the TMA Pai ruling.
• The legal position clarifies that henceforth the unit for determining status of both linguistic and religious minorities would be ‘state’.

How is a community notified as a minority?

• Under Section 2(c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act of 1992 central government has the power to notify a community as a minority

Notified Minorities in India

• Currently, only those communities notified under section 2(c) of the NCM Act, 1992, by the central government are regarded as minority.
• In 1993, the first Statutory National Commission was set up and five religious communities viz. The Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Zoroastrians (Parsis) were notified as minority communities.
• In 2014, Jains were also notified as a minority community.

Constitutional Provisions for Minorities

Article 29

• It provides that any section of the citizens residing in any part of India having a distinct language, script or culture of its own, shall have the right to conserve the same.
• It grants protection to both religious minorities as well as linguistic minorities

Article 30:

• All minorities shall have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.
• The protection under Article 30 is confined only to minorities (religious or linguistic) and does not extend to any section of citizens (as under Article 29).

Article 350-B:

• The 7th Constitutional (Amendment) Act 1956 inserted this article which provides for a Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities appointed by the President of India.
• It would be the duty of the Special Officer to investigate all matters relating to the safeguards provided for linguistic minorities under the Constitution.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

Recently Union Health Ministry released a draft of a proposed The Drugs, Medical Devices and Cosmetics Bill, 2022.

• The Bill replaces the existing The Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, and several sets of Rules by which the industry is currently run.
• The draft focuses on regulating medical devices as a separate entity, makes provision for fines and imprisonment for injury and death related to clinical trials or investigations, and seeks to regulate e-pharmacies.

Major provisions of the Bill

Regulation:

• It seeks to regulate e-pharmacies and medical devices and provides for penalties including imprisonment for failing to pay compensation for injury or death during clinical trials for both drugs and medical devices.

Drugs and Cosmetics Act of 1940:

• For the first time, regulations for conduct of clinical trials for new drugs and medical devices have been brought under the draft New Drugs, Medical Devices and Cosmetics Bill, 2022 which seeks to replace the existing Drugs and Cosmetics Act of 1940.

AYUSH drugs:

• The draft bill has a separate chapter for AYUSH drugs which proposes to regulate Sowa Rigpa and Homoeopathy for the first time.
• The existing act regulates Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha drugs and cosmetics.

New definitions:

• The draft bill introduces various new definitions or provisions like bioequivalence study, bioavailability study, clinical trial, clinical investigation, controlling authority, manufacturer, medical device, new drugs, over the-counter (OTC) drugs, adulterated cosmetics, etc. for more clarity and smooth functioning and implementation.

Drugs Technical Advisory Board (DTAB) and Medical Devices Technical Advisory Board (MDTAB):

• It proposes the constitution of a separate Drugs Technical Advisory Board (DTAB) and Medical Devices Technical Advisory Board (MDTAB), comprising experts from various associations to advise the central government in technical matters.

Penalties:

• The penalties for offences related to import of drugs and cosmetics have been enhanced appropriately.
• It mentions where any person permitted under sub-section (1) of section 72 fails to provide the required medical management or compensation under section 73, shall be punishable with imprisonment which may extend to one year or with fine which shall not be less than twice the amount of compensation.

Central Licensing Authority:

• In the interest of public health or extreme urgency of drugs, the central government is empowered to make provisions for Central Licensing Authority to waive the requirement of conducting clinical trials for manufacture or import of new drugs or investigational new drugs in the country.

Compensation:

• Where a participant during a clinical trial suffers injury or death on account of his participation in such investigation, provision has been made to provide compensation and medical management to such participants.

E-pharmacy:

• Permission has to be taken to operate an e-pharmacy.
• No person shall himself or by any other person on his behalf sell, or stock or exhibit or offer for sale, or distribute, any drug by online mode (e-pharmacy) except under and in accordance with a licence or permission issued in such manner as may be prescribed.

Medical device testing centres:

• Provisions have been incorporated to designate or establish medical device testing centres by the central government for testing and evaluation of medical devices for regulators and industry.

About Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940

• The Act regulates the import, manufacture, and distribution of drugs in India.
• The primary objective of the act is to ensure that the drugs and cosmetics sold in India are safe, effective and conform to state quality standards.

Section 3 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940:

• The Central Government, after consultation with the Drugs Technical Advisory Board (DTAB), specifies the devices intended for use in human beings or animals as drugs.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Europe is battling intense wildfires with countries like Spain, Greece and France struggling to stamp out fires and contain the damage.

Why are wildfires worsening?

• Wildfires require right climatic conditions, burnable fuel and a spark.
• Rising temperatures suck moisture out of plants, creating an abundance of dry fuel.
• Drought and high heat can kill plants and dry out dead grass, and other material on the forest floor that fuel the fire once it starts sweeping through a patch.
• While dry vegetation is the burnable fuel that serves as kindling for fires, the spark is sometimes caused by lightning, at other times by accident or recklessness of the local population.

Forest fires in India

Forest Fires

• Also called bush or vegetation fire or wildfire, it can be described as any uncontrolled and non-prescribed combustion or burning of plants in a natural setting such as a forest, grassland, brush land or tundra, which consumes the natural fuels and spreads based on environmental conditions.
• There are three conditions that need to be present in order for a wildfire to burn: fuel, oxygen, and a heat source.

Recent Data on forest Fires

• A total of 381 forest fires have been reported in India by 30th March, 2022, according to the Forest Survey of India. Madhya Pradesh has recorded the highest number of fires at 133.
• In March 2022, significant forest fires were reported in states such as Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
• The recent fire at Rajasthan’s Sariska Tiger Reserve was also considered to have been unseasonal, with high temperatures exacerbating the spread of the fire.
• January 2021 saw prolonged fires in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh (Kullu Valley) and Nagaland-Manipur border (Dzukou Valley)
• Recent fires also include those in Bandhavgarh Forest Reserve in Madhya Pradesh.

Impact of Forest Fire:

• Loss of Ecosystems and Biodiversity: Forest fires destroy the habitats and the intricate relationships of diverse flora and fauna leading to loss of ecosystems and biodiversity.

Forest Degradation:

• Almost every year, forest fires are witnessed across different forest regions which persistently reduce the quality of certain forest features like soil fertility, biodiversity, and ecosystems.

Air Pollution:

• The huge clouds of smoke instigated by wildfires lead to massive air pollution.
• Wildfire smoke, and particularly the concentration of PM 2.5, or particles smaller than 2.5 microns, can also affect the respiratory and cardiovascular systems

Global Warming:

• When plant life is exterminated by fires greenhouse gasses increase in the atmosphere leading to climate change and global warming
• Trees and vegetation when are burned, it means more greenhouse gases increases in the atmosphere, resulting in global warming

Soil Degradation:

• Forest fires kill beneficial soil microorganisms that are responsible for breaking down the soil and promoting soil microbial activities.
• The burning of trees and vegetation cover also leaves the soil bare making it readily vulnerable to soil erosion.

Measures to be taken

• Recognise as a Disaster:
• The forest fires should be treated as “natural disasters” and be brought under the National Disaster Management Authority.
• Moreover, by designating forest fires as natural disasters, there will also be a financial allotment made to manage them.

Develop Alert system:

• A forest fire alert system needs to be developed that can provide real time impact-based alerts.

Enhance Adaptive Capacity:

• Capacity-building initiatives targeted at district administrations and forest-dependent communities can avert the extent of loss and damage due to forest fires.

Provide Clean Air Shelters:

• The state government/ state forest departments (SFDs) should repurpose public buildings like government schools and community halls by fitting them with clean air solutions – like air filters – to create clean air shelters for communities worst impacted by fires and smoke from forest fires.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

The presence of a vigilant Opposition is necessary not just for a vibrant democracy but for its very survival

Parliamentary Democracy

• The Indian Constitution adopted the parliamentary system
• The rationale quoted by R. Ambedkar for this is – A democratic executive must satisfy two conditions –
• It must be a stable executive and
• It must be a responsible executive.
• Unfortunately it has not been possible so far to devise a system which can ensure both in equal degree.

Role of Opposition

• Parliamentary democracy does not envisage a condition where a one party-government becomes permanent.
• The presence of a vigilant Opposition is necessary not just for a vibrant democracy but for its very survival.
• When the Opposition criticises the government or carries on an agitation to arouse public opinion against a party’s misdeeds, it is performing a duty that is assigned by the Constitution.
• Without an effective Opposition, democracy will become dull and legislature will become submissive.
• The public will then think that the legislature is a sham and is unable to perform its functions and will lose interest in the functioning of Parliament.

Failed Anti-defection law

• Encouraging defections from the parties in power in States will sound the death knell for democracy.
• The whip system is part of the established machinery of political organisation in the House and does not infringe on a member’s rights or privilege in any way.
• That is why some political thinkers have recognised as an additional device the ‘theory of recall,’ so that a member whose personal behaviour falls below standards expected of his constituents goes back and seek their approval.
• This power is particularly apt when a member shows disloyalty to his party but declines to resign from his seat and to fight an immediate by-election. The anti-defection law was supposed to be the justification underlying the power of recall And the law failed.

Reasons

• The law does not provide a time-frame within which the presiding officer has to decide a defection case.
• There have been many instances where a Speaker has misused this in not determining the case of a defecting MLA until the end of the legislature term.
• Parties often sequester MLAs in resorts to prevent them from changing their allegiance or getting poached by a rival party.
• Recent examples are Maharashtra (2019) & (2022), Karnataka (2019 and 2018), and Tamil Nadu (2017).

Misuse of Powers

• Recent trend of the use of draconian powers, especially the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, Investing agencies against Opposition members

Way Forward

• Political parties, the judiciary and civil society must take steps to ensure that democracy does not fail.
• The Opposition must be tolerated because if it is left for the party in power to decide what is healthy and unhealthy criticism, then every criticism of the latter will be treated as unhealthy.
• At the same time, while the Opposition must be credible and strong, it is for the Opposition to make itself credible and strong.

Learn from best practices

• In England, where the parliamentary system prevails, the assessment of responsibility of the executive is both daily and periodic.
• The daily assessment is done by members of Parliament, through questions, resolutions, no-confidence motions, adjournment motions and debates on addresses.
• Periodic assessment is done by the electorate at the time of the election.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Since the onset of the pandemic and over the past few months, after the Ukraine-Russia war, commodity prices, especially that of energy, have surged worldwide.

• With inflation at unprecedented levels in many countries, concerns over energy security have gained centre stage.

Coal Crisis

• For the last six months, national coal index (NCI) has jumped from about 165 to about 238 reflecting the sharp increase in international coal prices.
• This development shows the importance of increasing domestic coal production to reduce the exposure of the domestic economy to the price volatility of international markets.
• A big effort toward permitting commercial mining has been made to get the private sector to produce more coal, but that’s not sufficient.

What’s need to be done?

• First, the financial community has to be sensitised to the need of increasing domestic coal production to meet the growing energy demand.
• The Ministry of Power recognised the need to increase coal-based generation in the country in its draft National Electricity Policy
• This policy has not yet been finalised. It should clearly articulate the importance of domestic coal-based generation.
• Second, is the need for a regulator to address the issues arising from a greater role of the private sector
• There are several issues where new private commercial miners would need help.
• A single point of contact for the industry in the form of a dedicated regulator would give great comfort to private players and would help to overcome problems that could arise in due course.
• Third, increasing domestic production of coal and diversifying the production base are both needed.
• This must be complemented with efforts to improve the quality of the coal produced.
• Fourth, the undue financial burden on the coal sector due to various cross subsidies needs attention. The regime needs to be reformed.
• And Fifth the path to achieving 500 GW of renewables needs to be gradual, ensuring an orderly transition as coal is unavoidable in the near future

The changes in the coal industry in the last few years are in the right direction. These were long overdue. Action on the issues discussed above will only help to deepen and strengthen these reforms which are needed to overcome the challenges that have resurfaced in recent world order.

National Coal Index (NCI)

• NCI was rolled out in June 2020.
• It is a price index which reflects the change of price level of coal in a particular month relative to the fixed base year.
• The base year for the NCI is Financial Year 2017-18.

Compilation:

• Prices of coal from all the sales channels of coal, including import, as existing today are taken into account for compiling the NCI.
• The amount of revenue share per tonne of coal produced from auctioned blocks would be arrived at using the NCI by means of defined formula.