Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

The government gave nod to the final sovereign green bonds framework in line with the Budget announcement. 

The issuance of green bonds, which are intended to raise funds for public sector projects to help in reducing carbon intensity of the economy.

Green Bonds

• Green bonds are issued by companies, countries and multilateral organisations to exclusively fund projects that have positive environmental or climate benefits and provide investors with fixed income payments.
• The projects can include renewable energy, clean transportation and green buildings, among others.

Projects under Green Bonds

• The proceeds from the green bonds, which are a part of the scheduled borrowing plan of the governmentwould be used to fund

• Renewable energy, 

• Energy efficiency, 
• Clean transportation, 
• Water and waste management, 
• Pollution prevention and control and 
• Green buildings among others. 

Projects excluded from the framework.

• Nuclear power generation, 
• Landfill projects, 
• Alcohol/weapons/tobacco/gaming/palm oil industries 
• Hydropower plants larger than 25 MW 
• All eligible ‘green expenditures’ will include public expenditure by the government in the form of investment, subsidies, grant-in-aids, or tax foregone or select operational expenditures, R&D expenditures in public sector projects that help in reducing the carbon intensity of the economy. 
• Equity is allowed only in the sole case of metro projects under the ‘Clean Transportation’ category.

Sovereign Green Bonds Framework

• Aim: To mobilize Rs 16,000 crore through the issuance of green bonds in the current fiscal ending March 2023.
• Under the framework, the Finance Ministry will, every year, inform the RBI about spending on green projects for which the funds raised through these bonds will be used.
• The Ministry of Finance has constituted a Green Finance Working Committee (GFWC) including members from relevant line ministries and chaired by the Chief Economic Advisor.
• Eligible Sectors: The proceeds from the green bonds would be used to fund renewable energy, energy efficiency, clean transportation, water and waste management, pollution prevention and control and green buildings among others. 
• Excluded sectors: Nuclear power generation, landfill projects, alcohol/weapons/tobacco/gaming/palm oil industries and hydropower plants larger than 25 MW have been excluded from the framework.
• The proceeds from the issuance of the green bond will be deposited in the Consolidated Fund of India (CFI) in line with the regular treasury policy, and then funds from the CFI will be made available for the eligible green projects.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

The European Union’s financial markets regulator European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) said it will withdraw recognition of six Indian clearing bodies or central counterparties (CCPs). 

These six CCPs are :

• Clearing Corporation of India (CCIL), 
• Indian Clearing Corporation Ltd (ICCL), 
• NSE Clearing Ltd (NSCCL), 
• Multi Commodity Exchange Clearing (MCXCCL),
• India International Clearing Corporation (IFSC) Ltd (IICC) and 
• NSE IFSC Clearing Corporation Ltd (NICCL).

As per the European Market Infrastructure Regulations (EMIR), a CCP in a third country can provide clearing services to European banks only if it is recognized by the ESMA.

What’s the role of CCP?

• CCPs perform two main functions as the intermediary in a market transaction clearing and settlement and guarantee the terms of a trade. 
• CCP is a system provider, who by way of novation interposes between system participants in the transactions admitted for settlement, thereby becoming the buyer to every seller and the seller to every buyer, for the purpose of effecting settlement of their transactions. 
• A CCP is authorised by the RBI to operate in India under Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.

The reason for derecognition

• The ESMA reviewed the recognition of all third country CCPs (TC-CCPs) that had been recognised prior to September 21, 2020, as per the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) regime. 
• The decision to derecognise Indian CCPs came due to ‘no cooperation arrangements’ between the ESMA and Indian regulators — the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA).
• The ESMA wants to supervise these CCPs, which the Indian regulators are not in favour of as they feel that these entities have robust risk management and there is no need for a foreign regulator to inspect them.

Timeline has ESMA given

• The EU regulator will defer the application of the withdrawal decisions until April 30, 2023 to mitigate the adverse impact of the move on EU market participants. 
• It will also give the ESMA and the Indian regulators six months’ time to negotiate and come to a consensus. 
• While Sebi has reached a fairly advanced level of understanding with the ESMA, the RBI is yet to work out any agreement.

How will the derecognition impact European banks?

• As of the date of application of the withdrawal decisions, these TC-CCPs will no longer be able to provide services to clearing members and trading venues established in the EU.
• Some of the major European banks dealing in the domestic forex, forward, swap and equities and commodities markets.
• The derecognition will impact these lenders as they will not be able to provide clearing and settlement facilities to their clients. 
• They will also have to set aside additional capital to trade in the domestic market. 
• Of the total foreign portfolio investors (FPI) registered in India, close to 20 per cent.

About ESMA

• The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) is an independent European Union (EU) Authority that contributes to safeguarding the stability of the EU’s financial system by enhancing the protection of investors and promoting stable and orderly financial markets.
• ESMA is the direct supervisor of specific financial entities:

• Credit Rating Agencies (CRAs)
• Securitisation repositories (SRs)
• Trade Repositories (TRs)

• These entities form essential parts of the EU’s market infrastructure.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Ecologists at Michigan State University (MSU) and collaborators in Ecuador have found 32 species of an amphibian genus — Atelopus or harlequin frogs — still surviving in the wild. 

• Since the 1980s, a fungus called Bd — short for Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis — has been killing off members of more than 500 species of amphibians.
• Humans are responsible for the spread the fungus around the world.
• The harlequin frog genus was hit exceptionally hard by the fungus.
• Over the past four decades 80 per cent of its species were driven to extinction.

Atelopus

• Atelopus is a large genus of Bufonidae, commonly known as harlequin frogs or toads, from Central and South America, ranging as far north as Costa Rica and as far south as Bolivia.
• Atelopus species are small, generally brightly coloured, and diurnal.
• Most species are associated with mid-to-high elevation streams.
• This genus has been greatly affected by amphibian declines, and many species are now considered endangered, while others already are extinct.
• While threatened by habitat loss, pollution, and introduced species, the primary cause of these declines appears to be the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

Atal Innovation Mission launches women centric challenges under ANIC program

• Innovation Mission of NITI Aayog  launched the Women centric challenges under the 2nd edition of Atal New India Challenge (ANIC).
• The Woman centric challenges address the major issues faced by women from all spheres of life. 
• These include driving women hygiene through innovation, innovations to improve women’s safety, professional networking opportunities for women, innovations that make working mothers’ life better, and easing the life of Rural Women.
• The Aayog highlighted that ANIC aims to seek, select, support and nurture technology-based innovations that solve sectoral challenges of national importance and societal relevance through a grant-based mechanism of up to one crore rupees.

Atal Innovation Mission

• It is Government of India’s flagship initiative to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in the country.

AIM’s objectives are:

• To develop new programmes and policies for fostering innovation in different sectors of the economy.
• To provide platform and collaboration opportunities for different stakeholders.
• To create awareness.
• To create an umbrella structure to oversee innovation ecosystem of the country.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

The genetically modified pig heart took longer to generate a heartbeat than hearts of pigs or humans usually do, researchers have said. The 57-year-old recipient lived for 61 days after the transplant in January.

Xenotransplantation

• Xenotransplantation is the process of transplanting organs from one species to another.
• It is a procedure that involves the transplantation, implantation or infusion into a human recipient of either (a) live cells, tissues, or organs from a nonhuman animal source, or (b) human body fluids, cells, tissues or organs that have had ex vivo contact with live nonhuman animal cells, tissues or organs.
• In 2021, surgeons at New York University Langone Health transplanted kidneys from the same line of genetically modified pigs into two legally dead people with no discernible brain function.
• The organs were not rejected, and functioned normally while the deceased recipients were sustained on ventilators.

Benefits

• Recent evidence has suggested that transplantation of cells and tissues may be therapeutic for certain diseases such as neurodegenerative disorders and diabetes, where, again, human materials are not usually available.

Issues

• The use of xenotransplantation raises concerns regarding the potential infection of recipients with both recognized and unrecognised infectious agents and the possible subsequent transmission to their close contacts and into the general human population.
• Moreover, new infectious agents may not be readily identifiable with current techniques.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

The Ministry of Mines invites nominations for the National Geoscience Awards-2022 for contributions in the field of fundamental/applied geosciences, mining, and allied areas. 

The awards, instituted in 1966 and given annually, are an initiative of the Ministry to encourage geoscientists for striving toward excellence. 

The National Geoscience Awards are of three categories:

• National Geoscience Award for Lifetime Achievement: Award for Lifetime Achievement (single award) shall be given to an individual with an exceptionally high lifetime achievement for sustained and significant contributions in any of the disciplines mentioned in Clause-2 of NGA Regulation 2022. The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 5,00,000/- and a certificate.
• National Geoscience Award: National Geoscience Award (10 Awards) shall be given to individuals or team(s) in recognition of meritorious contribution in any of the disciplines mentioned in Clause-2 of NGA Regulation 2022. Each award carries a cash prize of Rs. 3,00,000/- and a certificate. In the case of a team award, the award money will be equally divided.
• National Young Geoscientist Award: Young Geoscientist Award (single award) shall be given for outstanding research work in any field of geosciences to an individual below 35 years of age as on the 31st December 2021. The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 1,00,000 plus a research grant of Rs. 5,00,000/- spread over five years subject to satisfactory yearly progress and a certificate.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Being launched at COP27 by the Global Mangrove Alliance (GMA) in collaboration with the UN Climate Change High-level Champions as a unified global approach towards mangrove conservation.

About

• The Breakthrough Agenda launched at COP26, and the work of the Global Mangrove Alliance.
• The Mangrove Breakthrough provides a framework for countries, the private sector, and others to join forces and strengthen their actions every year, in every sector, through a coalition of leading public, private and public-private global initiatives scaling up investment in mangrove protection and restoration.
• The Mangrove Breakthrough is part of a set of Marrakech Partnership Adaptation and Resilience Breakthroughs which collectively define global milestones and high-impact solutions to reduce climate risks, particularly in vulnerable communities, through adaptation action. 
• It aims to aims to catalyze the financial support needed to scale proven solutions by working to channel finance to the ground through the Global Mangrove Alliance: 

• A world-wide collaboration between NGOs, governments, academics and communities working together towards a global vision for accelerating change and building a host of opportunities for coastal peoples and biodiversity around the planet.

About The Global Mangrove Alliance:

• In 2018  they formed by

• Conservation International (CI), 
• The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), 
• The Nature Conservancy (TNC), 
• Wetlands International, 
• World Wildlife Fund (WWF) formed the Global Mangrove Alliance (GMA). 

• This partnership now includes over 30 member organizations that share the aim of scaling up the recovery of mangroves through equitable and effective expansion of both mangrove protection and the restoration of former mangrove areas. 

Global Mangrove Watch (GMW):

• It is an online platform that provides the remote sensing data and real time information about changes and tools for monitoring mangroves across the world, and highlights why they are valuable.
• Established in 2011 under the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) Kyoto & Carbon Initiative by Aberystwyth University, solo Earth Observation and the International Water Management Institute.
• Aims to provide open access geospatial information about mangrove extent and changes to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.
• In collaboration with Wetlands International and with support from DOB Ecology, the first GMW baseline maps were released in 2018 at the Ramsar COP13.
• The GMW maps also constitute the official mangrove datasets used by UNEP for reporting on Sustainable Development Goal 6.6.1 (change in the extent of water-related ecosystems over time).
• From a practical perspective, the GMA works worldwide in supporting research, advocacy, education and practical projects on the ground with local and community partners.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

India’s first privately developed rocket — Vikram-S — is set for a launch between November 12 and 16, Hyderabad-based space startup Skyroot Aerospace announced.

• The maiden mission of Skyroot Aerospace, named ‘Prarambh’ (the beginning), will carry three customer payloads and is set for launch from Indian Space Research Organisation’s launchpad at Sriharikota.
• The launch mission will be a suborbital spaceflight.
• Among the three payloads is a 2.5kg satellite of another space startup, Space Kidz India, which has been built by students from India, the US and Indonesia.
• Skyroot, a two-time national award winner, is the first start-up to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ISRO in this regard.

Vikram-S rocket

• The Vikram series, named after the founder of India’s space programme Dr Vikram Sarabhai, are all-carbon-fibre structures that can launch up to 800 kg of payloads to the Low Earth Orbit.
• The Vikram-S rocket is a single-stage sub-orbital launch vehicle which would carry three customer payloads and help test and validate the majority of the technologies in the Vikram series of space launch vehicles.

Suborbital spaceflight

• A suborbital spaceflight refers to a height of around 100km from the Earth’s surface, and is done at a lower altitude than an orbital flight, which reaches at least a low-Earth orbit — between around 200km to 2,000km from Earth.
• Suborbital flights are known to be important for conducting tests of space missions, before final commercial missions take place.

New era for Indian space sector

• With this mission, Skyroot Aerospace is set to become the first private space company in India to launch a rocket into space, heralding a new era for the space sector which was opened up in 2020 to facilitate private sector participation.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

The Union Agriculture Ministry has restricted the use of glyphosate, a widely used herbicide. This comes even as the Supreme Court on November 10 is about to take up a plea seeking a ban on all herbicide-tolerant crops, including transgenic hybrid mustard and cotton.

What is glyphosate?

• It is a herbicide used to kill weeds — undesirable plants that compete with crops for nutrients, water and sunlight. 
• Glyphosate is a broad-spectrum herbicide that can control a wide range of weeds, whether broadleaf or grassy. 
• It is also non-selective, killing most plants. When applied to their leaves, it inhibits the production of a protein ‘5enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS)’. 
• This enzyme, produced only by plants and microorganisms, synthesises aromatic amino acids that are necessary for their growth.

Use in India

• There are nine glyphosate-based formulations containing different concentrations of the chemical registered for use under the Insecticides Act, 1968. 
• These are approved largely for weed control in tea gardens and non-crop areas such as railway tracks or playgrounds. 
• Farmers also apply glyphosate on irrigation channels and bunds to clear these of weeds, making it easier for water to flow and to walk through them. 
• Weeds growing on bunds are, moreover, hosts for fungi, such as those causing sheath blight disease in rice.
• In general, though, the scope for glyphosate use is limited for the very reason that it is non-selective. 
• Designed to kill all plants coming into contact with it, the chemical cannot ordinarily distinguish between crop and weed. 
• Hence, it can be used in tea or rubber plantations, but not in fields where the crops and weeds are at almost the same level.

Concerns

• In general, though, the scope for glyphosate use is limited for the very reason that it is non-selective.
• Designed to kill all plants coming into contact with it, the chemical cannot ordinarily distinguish between crop and weed.
• Hence, it can be used in tea or rubber plantations, but not in fields where the crops and weeds are at almost the same level.

What exactly has the government now done?

• The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, on October 21, issued a notification stating that “the use of glyphosate involves health hazards and risk to human beings and animals”. 
• It has, however, not banned and only “restricted” its use. 
• The spraying of glyphosate and its derivatives shall henceforth only be permitted through “pest control operators”.

Why has this been done?

• The scope for glyphosate is already restricted in normal agricultural crops by virtue of it being a non-selective herbicide. 
• Glyphosate application has increased only with the advent of genetic modification (GM) or transgenic technology.
• In this case, it has involved incorporating a ‘cp4-epsps’ gene, isolated from a soil bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens, into crop plants such as cotton, maize and soyabean. 
• This alien gene codes for a protein that does not allow glyphosate to bind with the EPSPS enzyme. 
• The said GM crop can, therefore, “tolerate” the spraying of the herbicide, which then kills only the weeds.
• In 2019 alone, some 81.5 million hectares were planted worldwide with herbicide-tolerant (HT) GM crops. 
• The global glyphosate market is annually worth $9.3 billion, with over 45 per cent of use on account of GM crops.
• As far as India goes, the only GM crop officially under commercial cultivation today is Bt cotton. 
• This has two alien genes (‘cry1Ac’ and ‘cry2Ab’) from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis, that code for proteins toxic to the American bollworm, spotted bollworm and tobacco caterpillar insect pests.
• These seeds harbour both insect-resistance and HT traits, coming from the two Bt genes and the glyphosate-tolerant ‘cp4-epsps’ gene.

How valid are the health concerns over glyphosate?

• The World Health Organisation’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), in March 2015, classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans”. 
• But this was based on evidence for cancer in experimental animals from “pure” glyphosate, as opposed to that in humans from real-world exposures through diluted formulations (which is how the chemical is actually sold and used).
• The US Environmental Protection Agency, on the other hand, has held that there are “no risks of concern to human health from current uses of glyphosate” and “no evidence” of it causing cancer. 
• The European Chemicals Agency, too, has concluded that “classifying glyphosate as a carcinogenic, mutagenic (causing DNA changes) or reprotoxic substance is not justified”.
• The Union Environment Ministry’s Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), on October 18, recommended the commercial release of Delhi University’s GM hybrid mustard. 
• This crop can also tolerate the spraying of glufosinate ammonium, a non-selective herbicide similar to glyphosate. 
• GEAC is further set to take a call on approving glyphosate-tolerant Bt cotton, whose illegal cultivation is an open secret.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

Prime Minister unveiled the logo, theme and website of India’s G20 presidency. The logo bears a lotus and the message of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam — One Earth, One Family, One Future’.

India will assume the presidency of the powerful G20 grouping from the current chair, Indonesia, on December 1, and hold the post for a year. The G20 Leaders’ Summit at the level of Heads of State/Government is scheduled to be held on September 9 and 10, 2023 in New Delhi.

Significance of the G20 logo

• The logo is not just a symbol, but a message and a resolve.
•  “This G20 logo is not just a symbol, it is a message, an emotion running through our veins. 
• It is a resolve, which is now being included in our thoughts..
• The logo reflects our idea of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the whole earth is a family), because of which India has always believed in global harmony. 
• “The lotus flower symbolises our Puranic heritage, our aastha (belief) and boddhikta (intellectualism),”

G20

• The G20 was formed in 1999 in the backdrop of the financial crisis of the late 1990s that hit East Asia and Southeast Asia in particular. 
• Its aim was to secure global financial stability by involving middle-income countries. 
• Its prominent members are: Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, the US, and the EU. Spain is invited as a permanent guest.
• “G20 is the premier forum for international economic cooperation representing around 85 per cent of the global GDP, over 75 per cent of the global trade, and about two-thirds of the world population. 

How does the G20 work?

• The G20 has no permanent secretariat. 
• The agenda and work are coordinated by representatives of the G20 countries, known as ‘Sherpas’, who work together with the finance ministers and governors of the central banks. India has announced that ex-NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant would be the G20 Sherpa after Piyush Goyal.
• On the advice of the G7 Finance Ministers, the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors began holding meetings to discuss the response to the global financial crisis that occurred.
• Since 1999, an annual meeting of finance ministers has taken place.
• The first G20 Summit took place in 2008 in Washington DC, US. 
• In addition to Summits, the Sherpa meetings (that help in negotiations and building consensus), and other events are also organised throughout the year. 
• Each year, the presidency invites guest countries.

G20 Presidency

• India will assume the presidency of the powerful G20 grouping from the current chair, Indonesia, on December 1, and hold the post for a year.
• The G20 Leaders’ Summit at the level of Heads of State/Government is scheduled to be held on September 2023.
• The presidency of the G20 rotates every year among members, and the country holding the presidency, together with the previous and next presidency-holder, forms the ‘Troika’ to ensure continuity of the G20 agenda.
• During India’s presidency, India, Indonesia and Brazil will form the troika.
• This would be the first time when the troika would consist of three developing countries and emerging economies.
• During the course of its G20 Presidency, India will be holding about 200 meetings in 32 different sectors in multiple locations across India.