General Studies Paper 3

Introduction

• With their higher fuel economy and reduced carbon emissions, hybrid EVs offer an opportunity for economically developing countries to kick start the shift towards sustainable transportation while addressing infrastructure and cost challenges associated with full EV adoption.

Different types of EVs

• Any vehicle propelled by an electric drivetrain, taking electric power from a portable, electrical energy source, is called an Electric vehicle (EV).
• In a hybrid EV, an internal combustion engine (ICE) is used to produce electricity with an electrical generator. A small battery, typically 1-5kWh, is used in a hybrid EV as an energy buffer to store the electricity.
• A full EV – a.k.a. a battery EV or a plug-in EV – has no ICE and hence no tailpipe emissions. The battery typically is much larger at 20-120 kWh. And it can only be charged from the grid.
• A plug-in hybrid EV is still a hybrid EV with a much larger battery, typically 5-15 kWh. This larger battery can also be charged from the grid. This means a plug-in hybrid operates like a fully electric vehicle as long as there is energy in the battery.
• A fuel-cell EV uses a fuel cell to produce electricity for the drivetrain together with a small battery buffer to manage variations.

Fuel economy of hybrid and fully electric EVs

• The use of an ICE in combination with a generator and battery in a hybrid EV results in the fuel economy of these vehicles being 1.5-2x times higher than in conventional ICE vehicles for city driving and 1-1.5x times higher for highway driving.
• A plug-in hybrid EV combines the best of both hybrid and full EVs. Using a small battery (5-15kWh) that can be charged from the grid, it can cover 80-90% of all short, day-to-day commutes in a fully electric mode with 3-4x higher fuel economy than conventional vehicles.

Net emissions of hybrid EVs

• Apart from fuel economy, an important metric is the net emissions of a vehicle.
• Well-to-wheel emissions include both tailpipe emissions and emissions due to fuel production – electricity or fossil fuels.
• The life-cycle emissions is a more comprehensive index that includes well-to-wheel emissions and emissions due to vehicle and battery production, maintenance, and end-of-life recycling.
• The grids of different countries are decarbonised to different extents at present
• In the case of full EVs: the lower the emissions from power production, the lower the vehicle’s well-to-wheel and life-cycle emissions.

EVs’ life-cycle emissions compared  to ICE vehicles

• According to an analysis, switching to full EVs will result in 19-34% lower emissions by sedans and 38-49% by SUVs – even with the fossil-fuel-dominated energy mix in India.
• By 2030, when renewables account for a greater share in the grid, emissions are expected to be 30-56% lower..

Challenges to transitioning to electric mobility

• Successful transition to full EVs requires fast-charging infrastructure along highways.
• This is vital because people generally want to own one affordable car serving both short and long-distance travel needs over 5-15 years, and want to drive without range anxiety.
• Second, many parts of the world, especially economically developing nations, don’t yet have access to a grid or the grid isn’t 100% reliable.
• The relatively high charging power for slow-charging (<22kW) and fast-charging (<350kW) make the problem more prominent vis-à-vis generation and transmission capacities.
• Third, mass-market price points of cars in the economically developing world are much lower, ~$12,000 – whereas EVs with a range of 300-400 km will reach at a price of $25,000-35,000 in the short term.
• This is due to the high battery costs. Vs with higher range will need larger battery packs and thus be more expensive.

Help in decarbonising

• The current focus in the industry is on full EVs, which isn’t practical for the immediate future, given grid reliability, state of highway charging infrastructure, and prohibitive vehicle costs.
• Hybrid EVs – either full or plug-in hybrids – present a big opportunity to lower emissions in the interim.
• The 1.5-2x higher fuel economy of hybrids and 3-4x higher fuel economy of plug-in hybrids in electric mode drastically reduces fuel costs, emissions, and oil imports.
• Regenerative braking in hybrid EVs – i.e. recovering the kinetic energy of the vehicle while slowing down instead of dissipating it as heat in the braking system – can improve fuel economy esp. in urban areas with frequent stop-go conditions and in hilly conditions.

Conclusion

• In an ideal future, all our electricity comes from renewable sources and we power our EVs using solar energy during the day and with wind energy at night. For countries that can already work towards this goal now, our priority must be to realise this vision. In places where transitioning to renewables for power and building fast-charging infrastructure will take a decade or more, we need to switch to hybrid EVs as a short-term solution due to the fuel-economy and emissions benefits.

General Studies Paper 3

Introduction

• In the human body, most of the DNA in a genome is neatly packed inside cells with the help of specific proteins, protecting it from being degraded. However, in a variety of scenarios,some fragments of DNA are ‘released’ from their containers and are present outside the cell, in body fluids. These small fragments of nucleic acids are widely known as cell-free DNA (cfDNA).

A useful tool

• cfDNA can be generated and released from a cell in a number of possible situations, including when a cell is dying and the nucleic acids become degraded.
• Since an array of processes modulates the degradation, the amount, size, and source of the cfDNA can vary across a range as well.
• The release of cfDNA could occur together with a variety of processes, including those required for normal development, those related to the development of certain cancers, and those associated with several other diseases.
• One of the initial reports of the levels of cfDNA in diseases came from studies that were taking a closer look at an autoimmune disease: systemic lupus erythematosus – where the body’s own immune system attacks specific cells.

Checking the baby

• By far, one of the most widely used applications of cfDNA has been in screening foetuses for specific chromosomal abnormalities, an application known as non-invasive prenatal testing.
• The availability of affordable genome-sequencing approaches will allow clinicians to sequence cfDNA fragments that correspond to foetal DNA.
• They can then use it to understand specific chromosomal abnormalities that involve changes in the chromosomal copy number.
• Such changes can lead to conditions such as Down’s syndrome, which is due to a change in chromosome 21 .
• As a result, thanks to a cfDNA-based technique, clinicians can now screen mothers from a few millilitres of blood, obtained after nine or ten weeks of pregnancy, to ensure the developing foetus is devoid of such chromosomal abnormalities.
• The test is almost 99% accurate for trisomy 21 or Down’s syndrome and a bit less so for other common trisomies (of chromosomes 13 and 18).
• Screening for such abnormalities before the genome-sequencing era would have entailed inserting a fine needle into the body to retrieve the amniotic fluid and cells covering the developing foetus, and analysing them in the lab. This method carries risks to both the foetus and the mother.

Catching a cancer

• Another emerging application of cfDNA is in the early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of cancers.
• Last month, researchers reported developing a new test they have dubbed ‘Genome-wide Mutational Incidence for Non-Invasive detection of cancer’, or ‘GEMINI’. They adopted a whole-genome-sequencing approach to cfDNA extracted from patients.
• Specifically, the researchers examined a type of genetic mutation that, when combined with machine-learning approaches, could provide a way to detect cancer early.
• Using a particular machine-learning model, some genomic data, and data from a computed tomography (CT) scan, the researchers could successfully detect lung cancer.
• It has also been found to detect over 300 individuals who were at high risk of developing lung cancer.

Almost infinite applications

• There are a number of emerging applications of cfDNA, including in understanding why a body is rejecting a transplanted organ.
• Here, some cfDNA obtained from the donor of the organ – called donor-derived cfDNA, dd-cfDNA – could provide an early yet accurate estimate of how well the organ is being taken up.
• Indeed, cfDNA seems to have an almost infinite number of applications, especially as nucleic-acid sequencing becomes rapidly democratised and finds more applications of its own in clinical settings.
• There have already been some reports suggesting that cfDNA could be used as a biomarker for neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s disease, neuronal tumours, stroke, traumatic brain injury, and even metabolic disorders such as type-2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Conclusion

• In a true sense, cfDNA genomics promises to set us on the path of more effective disease-screening and early diagnosis, and on course for a healthy world.

General Studies Paper 3

Context

• On July 24, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman took to Twitter to formally re-introduce Worldcoin, a project of his that was eclipsed by the popularity of ChatGPT.

Worldcoin

• Worldcoin is an initiative to create a digital network in which everyone can claim some kind of stake, and join the digital economy.
• Using a device called “Orb,” Worldcoin volunteers known as ‘Orb operators’ scan a person’s iris pattern to collect their biometric data and help them get a World ID through the World app.
• Worldcoin claims it is building the “world’s largest identity and financial public network” open to people worldwide.

The working

• The users need to be willing to scan irises and/or get their own irises scanned.
• Volunteers sign up to be “Orb operators” in their locality and receive basic training and a biometric device with which to scan irises.
• Orb operators can even rent out the Orb to others to let them scan eyeballs as well.
• Those who have their irises scanned and collect a World ID can use this to claim the WLD crypto, which they may use for transactions or hold on to the asset in the hope that its price might rise, as it did after launching.
• However, users can also buy or sell WLD without getting scanned or using the app.
• In return for signing up more people to the Worldcoin network, Orb operators get WLD, which is a token based on the Ethereum blockchain.
• Ethereum has a native coin, Ether, which is the second-largest crypto by market capitalisation.
• However, anyone can create a token which runs on the Ethereum blockchain. WLD is one such cryptocurrency.

Scanning irises

• Worldcoin explained that it wanted to include everyone in its network and that using biometric information to avoid duplication was a valid method for this.
• The company claimed that India had “proven the effectiveness of biometrics” through its Aadhaar system.
• Worldcoin notes that Aadhaar IDs stopped people from signing up multiple times to benefit from social welfare schemes.
• The company said that it uses a technology known as zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) to maintain users’ privacy.
• Worldcoin has also said it is fully compliant with Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
• Individuals who want to receive a World ID are not required to share their name, phone number, email address, or home address. Images collected by the Orb are used to generate a unique iris code.
• By default these images are immediately deleted once the iris code is created, unless the user opts in to Data Custody.

The Criticism

• Worldcoin was criticised long before its re-launch.
• A whistleblower ointed out that even if a person’s biometric scans were deleted for privacy reasons — as Worldcoin said it would do — the unique identifier for the scan would match future scans of the same person’s eyes.

Worldcoin and India

• According to the company website, it has. Worldcoin lists 18 locations, largely in Delhi, Noida, and Bangalore, where Orb operators are scanning people’s eyes. Some locations include popular malls and metro stations in these cities.

Conclusion

• While the Worldcoin project’s ambition to create a secure digital identity system is commendable, it has also given rise to legitimate privacy concerns. The collection and storage of biometric data, such as iris scans, raise questions about the potential misuse of this sensitive information. Additionally, the idea of a global identification system may lead to fears of surveillance and centralized control over personal data.

General Studies Paper 2

Context

• The Sixteenth Finance Commission is due to be set up shortly. Many critical changes have taken place since the constitution of the Fifteenth Finance Commission in November 2017 that includes COVID-19 and the subsequent geopolitical challenges.

The vertical and horizontal dimensions

• The Fourteenth Finance Commission had raised the share of States in the divisible pool of central taxes to 42% from 32%.
• This was revised to 41% when the number of States in India was reduced to 28.
• During 2020-21 to 2023-24 (BE), the effective share of States in the Centre’s gross tax revenues (GTR) averaged close to 31%, which was significantly lower than the corresponding share of nearly 35% during 2015-16 to 2019-20.
• This was due to the inordinate increase in the share of cesses and surcharges to 18.5% of the Centre’s GTR during 2020-21 to 2023-24 from 12.8% during 2015-16 to 2019-20.
• This heavy reliance on cesses and surcharges requires scrutiny by the Sixteenth Finance Commission. One option is to freeze the share of cesses and surcharges to some base number.
• An issue of concern in recent years has been the poor performance of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the consequent decline in total divisible pool. Fortunately, this is not an issue now as GST collections have maintained good buoyancy in the last two years. GST still needs restructuring to make it a good and simple tax.
• The share of individual States in the Centre’s divisible pool of taxes is determined by a set of indicators that includes population, per capita income, area, and incentive-related factors such as forest cover and demographic change.
• In the case of per capita income, it is the distance of a State’s per capita income from a benchmark, usually kept at the average per capita income of the top three States that is used as a determining factor.
• However, due attention needs to be paid to the needs of the lower income States. These States are expected to provide a relatively larger share of ‘demographic dividend’ to India in future provided attention is paid to the educational and health needs of their populations.
• In fact, equalisation of the provision of education and health services should be prioritised in the overall scheme of resource transfers.
• Instead of using a large number of tax devolution criteria, the transfer of resources to individual States may be guided by the equalisation principle using a limited number of criteria such as population, area and distance, supplemented by a suitable scheme of grants.
• The equalisation principle is consistent with both equity and efficiency. It is used in federations such as Canada and Australia.

Recommendations

• The debt-GDP ratio for the combined account of central and State governments had peaked at 89.8% in 2020-21, of which the Centre’s debt-GDP ratio amounted to 58.7%, and that of States was 31%.
• While these numbers have begun coming down, these are still considerably above the corresponding Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) norms of 40% and 20%, as in the 2018 amendment.
• The Twelfth Finance Commission had recommended a target of 28% consistent with an underlying nominal GDP growth of 12%.
• It is also clear that the adjustment needed for the central government is larger than that for State governments.
• At the same time, a few State governments appear to have relatively larger debt and fiscal deficit numbers relative to their GSDPs.
• In this context, two concerns appear: these relate to the proliferation of subsidies and the re-introduction of the old pension scheme in States without a clear identification of the sources of financing and the resultant fiscal burdens.

Way forward

• One innovation which may be relevant in this context is to set up a loan council, as recommended by the Twelfth Finance Commission. This independent body should oversee the loan magnitudes and profiles of the central and State governments.
• The Sixteenth Finance Commission should examine the subject of non-merit subsidies in detail.
• The Finance Commission should be strict about States maintaining fiscal deficit within limits. It should provide carrots to States maintaining fiscal deficit.

General Studies Paper 2

Context

• By allowing ED chief’s continuance, the SC has undermined its own authority.

Details

• The order allowing Sanjay Kumar Mishra, head of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), to continue till September 15 at the Centre’s request is needlessly accommodative.
• Yet, without any submission that the process to select his successor has been set in motion, the Court has invoked an undefined “larger national interest” to allow him to go on up to September 15. It was a self-serving application in the first place.
• The ostensible reason that the government finds his services indispensable is that he is helming the country’s efforts to demonstrate its framework to counter money laundering and the financing of terrorism during a country review before the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Enforcement Directorate (ED)

• The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is a specialized financial investigation agency under the Ministry of Finance.
• It is responsible for enforcing the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) and the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA) in cases of economic offences and cross-border crimes.
• The ED was established in 1956 as a wing of the Department of Revenue to deal with foreign exchange violations under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act 1947 (FERA).
• Over the years, it has evolved into a multi-disciplinary agency with expertise in financial intelligence, cyber forensics, legal analysis and international cooperation.

The enforcement Directorate deals with 4 laws

• The Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA).
• The Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA).
• The Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018 (FEOA).
• Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974 (COFEPOSA)

Significance

• The ED plays a vital role in combating economic crimes and safeguarding the national security and economic interests of the country.
• It works closely with other agencies such as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Income Tax Department (ITD), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).
• The ED also represents India in various international forums such as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) and the G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group.
• It participates in bilateral and multilateral dialogues and joint investigations with foreign agencies on issues related to money laundering, terrorist financing, tax evasion, black money, cybercrime and other cross-border offences.

Challenges

• Used as a Political Tool by the ruling party
• Poor track record of conviction and recovery
• Lacks adequate resources and manpower

Addressing the challenges

• Strengthening the autonomy
• Enhancing the Professionalism
• Expanding the infrastructure
• Improving the coordination and cooperation
• Streamlining the legal framework

Conclusion

• As the agency that administers the law against money laundering, the ED may have a key role in preparing the country’s presentation, but it is difficult to believe that the process depends on one individual. The Court’s permissiveness detracts from its resolve to hold the government to account for actions that it had itself declared illegal.
• By implementing necessary reforms and improvements, the ED can enhance its credibility and reputation as a professional and independent agency that works for the public interest.

General Studies Paper 3

CONTEXT

• The Lok Sabha passed the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023, on July 26, with no substantive changes from the original version introduced in March.

THE PROBLEM AREAS

• The 2023 Bill commences with a promising Preamble, expressing a commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2070, creating a carbon sink, increasing forest cover, and improving the livelihoods of forest-dependent communities.
• The Forest Conservation Act of 1980, which this Bill aims to amend, admittedly and justifiably adopted a rather protectionist stance which made forest clearances time consuming and costly to obtain.
• Three points that emerge from the Bill have caused considerable consternation among environmental experts: the narrowed definition of forests under its scope; the exclusion of significant tracts of forest areas; and the granting of sanction to additional activities that were regulated earlier.
• The Bill will significantly restrict the application of the landmark Godavarman judgment of 1996 which had extended the scope of the 1980 Act to the dictionary meaning of ‘forest’ — that is, areas with trees rather than just areas legally notified as forest.
• The present Amendment restricts the Forest Conservation Act to only legally notified forests and forests recorded in government records on or after October 25, 1980.
• This change could potentially impact around 28% of India’s forest cover, encompassing almost 2,00,000 square kilometres.
• Perversely, States that have refused to identify important forest areas despite the Godavarman judgment, may now be free to allow the destruction of these forests for construction and development.
• Furthermore Bill excludes some of India’s most fragile ecosystems as it removes the need for forest clearances for security-related infrastructure up to 100 km of the international borders.
• These include globally recognised biodiversity hotspots such as the forests of northeastern India and high-altitude Himalayan forests and meadows.
• Also the Bill introduces exemptions for construction projects such as zoos, safari parks, and eco-tourism facilities.
• What is worrying is that the Bill also grants unrestricted powers to the Union government to specify ‘any desired use’ beyond those specified in the original or amended Act.
• Such provisions raise legitimate concerns about the potential exploitation of forest resources without adequate environmental scrutiny.

DISENFRANCHISING FOREST PEOPLE

• Another important concern is that the Bill makes no reference to other relevant forest laws.
• For instance, the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest-dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 finds no mention.
• Instead, the exclusion and ease of diversion of forest areas will mean that forest people’s institutions no longer need to be consulted.
• If India is to meet its net zero carbon commitments and increase forest cover (as the Bill envisages in its Preamble), it would be wise to further the participation of forest people, rather than disenfranchise them.

EXCLUSIONS THAT RAISE EYEBROWS

• The system of forest clearances under the FCA (1980) may have been flawed but this Bill does little to rectify these deficiencies. Instead, it just excludes certain privileged sectors from its ambit.
• When democracy’s gears grind a little too slowly, it is better to fix them than to dismantle them.
• These systems provide an essential check to assess the impact of projects which change land use and to mitigate the impacts resulting from environmental destruction.

CONCLUSION

• The objective of fast-tracking strategic and security related projects is a fair ask. Administrative processes can and should be speeded up and needless delays in environmental clearance avoided. However, giving blanket exemptions from regulatory laws is not the answer. Forests and other natural ecosystems cannot be considered a luxury. They are an absolute necessity.

General Studies Paper 3

INTRODUCTION

• Battered by heavy rains, the Yamuna looks slow, sluggish and swollen. Last week, the water levels hit a 60-year-high, gushing through elite neighbourhoods built close to the floodplains. Waters advanced towards the Taj Mahal for the first time in half a century.

IMPORTANCE OF YAMUNA

• We talk about rivers in isolation, but floodplains are inseparable from the river channel.
• The river system includes both water and land. Yamuna is a lifeline to five States, and its floodplains are a charging point.
• Yamuna courses east of Delhi, entering the city from Palla village and exiting at the Okhla barrage.
• Farmers near Palla and Hiranki villages traditionally grow rice, wheat, and flowers on the rich silt deposited by the river.
• The floodplains are two km wide on each side. The floodplain along Yamuna’s 22 km run in Delhi, designated as the O zone by the Delhi Development Authority, has an area of approximately 9,700 hectares.
• Zone O supports a large variety of nature-based livelihoods with a low ecological footprint.
• Between Palla and Okhla, the composition of the floodplains changes from farmlands to slums, colonies, flyovers and bridges.
• A river has the “right to expand” and needs to breathe through its flood plains. Any attempt to concretise constricts its air supply.
• As part of river systems, floodplains slow water runoff during floods, recharge groundwater and store excess water, replenishing the city’s water supply.
• When you have sluggish flow, the surplus water stored in the floodplain is released back during the non-monsoon season.
• If you lose the floodplain, you also lose the storage of water.
• Delhi recorded similarly devastating floods in 1978, 1988 and 1995 which inundated floodplains, adversely impacting their health.

DELHI’S MASTER PLAN OUTLINE

• The Yamuna floodplain was designated as a protected area free from construction in the Delhi Masterplan of 1962.
• The Central Ground Water Authority in 2000 also notified the floodplains as ‘protected’ for groundwater management.
• The draft Master Plan For Delhi 2041 divides Delhi into 18 zonal areas, designating Yamuna’s floodplains as ‘Zone O’, delineated in two parts: river zone (active floodplain) and riverfront (regulated construction is allowed).
• The South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP) in 2020 found large parts of the Yamuna floodplains and riverbed were “grossly abused” due to lax implementation
• The areas proposed under the Yamuna Riverfront Development (YRDF) plan — which proposes biodiversity parks and ‘recreational’ activities — were within the active floodplain, which could affect the topography, increase pollution and affect flood-carrying capacity.
• The layers of sediments of floodplains create aquifers contributing to the river channel, which in turn rejuvenates the groundwater. But encroachments stop this two-way exchange.
• The river is unable to transport flood waters downstream during monsoons, wet the lands or deposit soil along its banks to preserve the riverine ecosystem.

ROLE OF ENCROACHMENTS

• Floodplains also protect against devastating flash floods by allowing excess water to spread out and storing that surplus.
• However, encroachments restrict the river to a small channel. Any intense rainfall activity swells the river, expanding in height not in width, eventually spilling over with devastating intensity.
• Climate change has intensified rains in frequency and severity, and seen in the Yamuna floods, runoff water comes as a huge gushing flow in a small span of time.
• Floods are inseparable from the hydrological cycle and are required for sediment transport, cleaning the riverbed, rejuvenating the river itself.

WAY FORWARD

• The concept of floodplain zoning is not mainstreamed in the Master Plan and authorities haven’t yet taken cognisance of the river’s right to expand.
• This gap, along with poorly implemented policies, frees up river land for private and public real estate.
• A model draft Bill for defining floodplains and zoning was circulated in 1975. Only four States have drafted a National Floodplains Zoning Policy so far.
• Action can be focused on creating climate-resilient infrastructures, de-silting drains, creating green areas and improving drainage systems.

General Studies Paper 3

CONTEXT

• Mysterious emissions of radio light from the far reaches of the universe are the next big thing in modern radio astronomy. Fleeting flurries of radio waves, called fast radio bursts (FRBs) reach Earth from faraway galaxies, emitting as much energy in a millisecond as-the sundowns over weeks.

FRBS

• We know almost nothing about the precise origins of FRBs and why they appear in such short, sharp bursts – other than that these celestial electromagnetic impulses probably come from the embers of dying stars.
• Some FRBs are ‘one-off’ phenomena: spotted just once and never detected again; others are repeaters, flashing Earth intermittently like some ghostly lighthouse in the depths of space.
• An international team of astronomers has now published the results of its exhaustive study on a repeating FRB from a distant galaxy that offers new clues about the origins of these mysterious radio flashes.
• They targeted a repeating FRB, called FRB 20190520B using the Green Bank Telescope in the U.S. and the Parkes Observatory in Australia, and recorded hundreds of bursts from it.

FINDINGS

• They discovered that the FRB’s Faraday rotation measure – an indicator of its magnetic field strength – was highly variable and that it reversed direction twice.
• This magnetic reversal, they believe, has to do with the FRB source orbiting a binary star system where the companion star is probably a massive star or a black hole.
• They saw that the value of the magnetic field and electron density was also found to vary around this source which indicates a very turbulentmagnetisedplasma environment.

CONCLUSION OF THE FINDINGS

• This conclusion ties in with an older discovery of a strikingly similar binary system in the Milky Way galaxy, including the magnetic field reversal.
• This FRB, called FRB 20190520B, is very similar to other repeating FRBs in energy scales, narrow banded emission, temporal widths etc.
• They concluded that it is possible that all repeating FRBs could be in binaries but differ in their local conditions, like the orbital period or the orbital inclination.
• Constant long-term monitoring of these FRBs is necessary to make a final call on this.
• Cosmologists believe that learning more about such changes in the magnetised environment around FRBs could eventually help track down their origins.
• To do this, astronomers have a whole new generation of radio telescopes at their disposal.

RADIO TELESCOPES

• Until the early 1930s, astronomers depended on the limited visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum to make observations, unaware of the enormous potential of the radio band lying at one end of the spectrum.
• Their long wavelengths allow radio waves to traverse intergalactic space without interruption, making them an ideal tool to identify radio emissions from faraway heat sources.
• Fortunately, scientists pioneering findings endured and inspired others to develop radio astronomy, thanks to which we know about intergalactic phenomena like pulsars (fast spinning neutron stars), dark matter, the cosmic microwave background (signals left over from the universe’s birth) and, of course, FRBs.
• Radio astronomers today are much better off with telescopes that can even localise FRBs with arc-second precision, so that observations in other wavelengths could hunt for the FBR’s host galaxy.

CONCLUSION

• By connecting dots like these, astronomers try to unravel cosmic mysteries and better understand the universe, of which hardly a fraction is known.

General Studies Paper 3

INTRODUCTION

• The elevated levels of India’s fiscal deficit and public debt have been a matter of concern for a long time in India. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, debt levels were among the highest in the developing world and emerging market economies. The pandemic pushed the envelope further and relative to GDP, the fiscal deficit in 2020-21 increased to 13.3% and the aggregate public debt to 89.6%. As the economy recovered after the pandemic, the deficit and debt ratios have receded to 8.9% and 85.7%, respectively.

FINANCIAL REPRESSION

• The debt-dynamics equation states that when there is no primary deficit, if the growth rate of GDP exceeds the effective interest rate paid on government bonds, the overall debt will decline.
• However, what is missed in these discussions are the distortions caused by financial repression to keep the interest rates on government borrowing low to reduce the cost.
• The statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) stipulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) requires the banking system to hold 18% of their demand and time liabilities in government securities.
• Besides, the RBI intervenes in the market through open market operations around the time when government borrowing is taken up to keep the interest rates on government borrowing repressed.
• When the interest rate on government debt is lower than the growth of GDP, the debt may decline but the financial market gets distorted.
• Thus, even when the sustainability of debt may not be threatened in the medium term, the costs of carrying high deficits and debt to the economy are heavy.
• First, on average, interest payments constitute over 5% of GDP and 25% of the revenue receipts, this is more than the government expenditure on education and health care put together.
• Second, high levels of debt make it difficult to calibrate counter-cyclical fiscal policy and constrain the ability of the government to respond to shocks.
• Third, the debt market in India is largely captive with mainly the commercial banks and insurance companies participating in it to meet SLR requirements.
• Furthermore, the rating agencies keep the sovereign rating low when deficits and debt are higher, and this increases the cost of external commercial borrowing.
• Finally, ‘today’s borrowing is taxing tomorrow’ and the burden of large deficits and debt will have to be borne by the next generation.

ON THE DEBT BURDEN

• It is clear that in the present fiscal environment, even achieving a consolidated debt-to-GDP ratio of 58.2 recommended by the 14th Finance Commission for 2019-20 would be unfeasible in the medium term.
• The Finance Commission had recommended that the Union government bring down its deficit relative to GDP from 43.6% in 2015-16 to 36.3%, and the States maintain their deficit at about 22%.
• The issue is of critical importance; therefore, the fast pacing of fiscal consolidation is imperative.
• Fortunately, after six years, Goods and Services Tax (GST) has stabilised and has shown high growth potential.
• The technology has helped to improve tax administration and improved compliance.
• With the cross-matching of GST returns with income-tax returns, income-tax compliance too is expected to improve.

ROLE OF STATE AND CENTRE

• In terms of policy interventions, this is the time to rethink the role of the state and vacate activities that should really belong to the market rather than competing with it.
• At the central level, even after much talk about disinvestment, progress has been slow.
• Equally disturbing are the employment melas to fill so-called vacant posts which have been found to be redundant.
• At the State level, it is important to guard against the return to the old pension scheme and indulge in large-scale giveaways for electoral reasons.
• Of course, redistribution is a legitimate government activity, and that is best done through cash transfers rather than subsidising commodities and services.
• Giving subsidies alters relative prices, resulting in unintended resource distortions.
• Equally important is the need to impose hard budget constraints by enforcing Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management rules in allowing States to borrow.

WAY FORWARD

• Macroeconomic stabilisation is predominantly a Union government responsibility. Therefore, the Union government should follow the rules it makes, and enforce the rules on the States effectively.

General Studies Paper 3

Context

• Recognising the need to switch from the ‘take-make-dispose’ to ‘reduce-reuse-recycle’ model, India has prioritised ‘Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy’ as one of the three core themes for deliberations in the G-20 forum.

Circular economy

• A Circular Economy is the one where products are designed for durability, reuse and recyclability and thus almost everything gets reused, remanufactured, and recycled into a raw material or used as a source of energy.
• It includes 6 R’s – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Refurbishment, Recover, and Repairing of materials.
• India has embraced four priority areas for the circular economy during its G-20 presidency: circularity in the steel sector; Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR); circular bioeconomy and establishing an industry-led resource efficiency and circular economy industry coalition.
• There is now heightened recognition of resource efficiency and circular economy strategies within the G-20 community.

Moving to a circular steel sector

• Most G-20 member countries have committed to net zero ambitions and are working to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.
• Given the crucial role of steel in infrastructure development, its efficient utilisation is important.
• The demand for steel is poised to grow especially in growing economies such as India.
• Globally, about 7% of energy sector emission is attributed to iron and steel production.
• Transitioning towards a circular steel sector is a key strategy to tackle steel sector emissions.
• The key lies in ensuring collaboration among the G-20 member countries for knowledge sharing, technology co-development and technology transfer.
• Under India’s G-20 presidency, there is an emphasis on the significance of the EPR framework in integrating circularity throughout the value chain.

Recycling, a bioeconomy and biofuels

• Effective implementation of EPR plays a pivotal role in promoting the growth of the recycling infrastructure and establishing a streamlined waste collection system.
• With over 20,000 registered Producers, Importers, and Brand Owners (PIBOs) and over 1,900 plastic waste processors on the centralised EPR portal, India boasts one of the largest frameworks for EPR.
• India has also notified comprehensive rules for e-waste and battery waste management.
• Biowaste such as municipal and industrial waste and agricultural residue has become a global issue as much of it is burned, causing pollution, biodiversity loss and global warming.
• Combined with crops well-suited for degraded lands, biowaste can serve as valuable primary raw materials and viable substitutes for mineral resources.
• Adopting a circular bioeconomy approach will reduce the need for extracting virgin resources and provide an effective waste disposal solution.

Government initiatives

• The Government of India has been working towards the adoption of biofuels. The Pradhan Mantri JI-VAN Yojana provides financial support to integrated bio-ethanol projects to set up second generation (2G) ethanol projects.
• 2G bioethanol technology produces bioethanol from waste feedstock such as crop residues and municipal solid waste that would otherwise have no value.
• Additionally, India has also made it mandatory for coal-burning thermal power plants to use a 5% blend of biomass pellets along with coal.
• The Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources (GOBAR) Dhan scheme was launched by the Government of India to convert cattle dung and other organic waste into compost, biogas, and biofuels to promote sustainable agriculture and reduce pollution.
• With over 500 functional biogas plants, the scheme has also helped create rural livelihoods and ensured improved sanitation.
• The Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) Scheme, launched in 2018 to promote the use of Compressed BioGas (CBG) as an alternative green transportation fuel, has aided the bioenergy sector by accelerating the development of infrastructure for the production, storage and distribution of CBG.

Way forward

• As industries are crucial in advancing resource efficiency and circular economy practices, India has envisioned an industry coalition in these areas.
• The coalition will also aim to achieve enhanced technological collaboration, build advanced capabilities across sectors, mobilise de-risked finance, and facilitate a proactive private sector engagement.

Conclusion

• Global platforms such as the G-20 play an important role in addressing key issues and presenting solutions by adopting a collaborative approach. Resource efficiency and circular economy have emerged as key solutions in collective efforts in tackling triple planetary challenges.