Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Context:

India will achieve net-zero emissions by 2070, Prime Minister said in CoP Glasgow. He was speaking at the ‘High-Level Segment for Heads of State and Government’ during the UNFCCC’s 26th Conference of Parties (COP).

Key points

• He also raised the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) of achieving 450-gigawatt non-fossil energy capacity to 500 gigawatts, among other commitments including reducing carbon emissions.
• PM announced India’s four other commitments — all by 2030. He called them the “gift of five elixirs” (panchamrit).
• These are: 
  • increasing non-fossil energy capacity to 500 gigawatts (GW), 
  • fulfilling 50 percent of energy requirements from renewable sources, 
  • reducing carbon intensity of economy by 45 per cent, and 
  • reducing total projected carbon emissions by 1 billion tonnes.
• The PM also outlined the Indian Railways’ commitment of net-zero by 2030, and its ambition of installing 450 GW of renewable energy capacity.
• Climate finance: To achieve its climate goals, PM said India expected developed countries “to make $1 trillion available as climate finance as soon as possible”. 
  • Today, as we track the progress on climate mitigation, the same way we must track climate finance.

Significance:

• The commitment is significant since India is the third-largest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world, after China and the US.
• The most substantive new commitment relates to the 1-billion-tonne reduction in its total projected emissions from now until 2030. This is the first time that India has taken any climate target in terms of its absolute emissions.
  • Though it’s not a direct emission reduction target.
  • According to the World Resources Institute, India’s total greenhouse gas emissions were about 3.3 billion tonnes in 2018. It’s projected to rise above 4 billion tonnes per year by 2030.
  • Cutting 1 billion tonnes would, therefore, represent a reduction of 2.5 to 3 per cent in its absolute emissions in the business-as-usual scenario in the next nine years.

• India had been under pressure from developed states like the US to raise its climate ambitions and commit to a net-zero target by 2050. India finally relented and decided to take up a target.
• Reducing 1 billion tonnes of emissions by 2030 and expanding non-fossils capacity to 500 GW are enormous and transformative steps. 
• India had demonstrated climate leadership and now the ball was in the court of the developed world to raise its ambition, particularly, in matters of climate finance.

Now India demands US $1 trillion in climate finance as soon as possible and will monitor not just climate action but also climate finance.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 1

Context:

The Ministry of Jal Shakti had announced an ambitious plan-  JalJeevan Mission- to provide water connections to every household in India by 2024. 

• In view of the ongoing erosion of water resources and an ever-increasing demand for water, the thrust should not be on promising water supply. 
• Instead the aim should be towards protecting and conserving water resources on the one hand and minimising and enhancing efficiency of water usage on the other. 

Water crisis in India

• According to the composite water management index released by the think tank NITI Aayog in 2019, 21 major cities (including Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad) were on the brink of exhausting groundwater resources, affecting about 100 million people. 
• The study also points out that by 2030, the demand for water is projected to be twice the available supply.
• Chennai crisis: In 2019, many parts of the city went without piped water for months. Chennai remains a example of the impending tragedies brought about by the city’s inability to meet the basic needs of citizens- drinking water, cooking and sanitation.
  • Many have cited the poor rainfall received in Chennai in the previous year as one of the main reasons for the water crisis. Though it is true that rainfall was low, the ground-level steps (or missteps) have been equally responsible factors.
  • Reasons behind: Lack of sustainable urban planning
    • The city has been built by incrementally encroaching floodplains and paving over lakes and wetlands that would have otherwise helped the process of recharging groundwater. 
    • The lack of space for water to percolate underground prevented rainwater from recharging the aquifers.
    • This was further worsened by the loss of green cover (which would have otherwise helped water retention) to make way for infrastructure projects. 
    • It leads to flooding during normal rainfall due to stagnation, and on the other hand leads to drought-like conditions due to the prevention of underground water storage. 
• Rural Punjab crisis

• The draft report of the Central Ground Water Board concluded that Punjab would be reduced to a desert in 25 years if the extraction of its groundwater resources continues mindlessly.
• 82% of Punjab’s land area has seen a huge decline in groundwater levels, wherein 109 out of 138 administrative blocks have been placed in the ‘over exploited’ category. 
• Groundwater extraction which was at 35% in the 1960s and 1970s, rose to 70% post the Green Revolution.
• Governments subsidised power for irrigation that left tubewells running for hours.
• Cultivation of water-intensive crops such as paddy has further aggravated water depletion, even turning water saline.

Understanding sources used

• One should see India’s looming water crisis through the lens of ‘urban’ and ‘rural’. 
  • It not only allows a better grasp of the causative factors but also enables a stronger grip on the strategies to be deployed to reverse the water crisis. 
• In the rural areas, 80%-90% of the drinking water and 75% of the water used for agriculture is drawn from groundwater sources. 
• In urban areas, 50%-60% of the water supply is drawn from groundwater sources. The remaining water is sourced from surface water resources such as rivers, lakes, tanks and reservoirs.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Context:

Recently, India’s power demand broke a daily threshold of 200 GW, setting a new record that will surely be broken in the years to come. 

• To manage this surge and other equally significant developments in the power distribution sector, there’s a need for a paradigm shift in the energy model.
• A key change in India’s energy model, which will aid and support these developments, is coming up in the shape of the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2021.

Key points of the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2021

• It proposes to de-licence electricity distribution and let the consumer choose what kind of electric energy to use and whom to buy it from.
• It seeks privatisation of discoms (distribution companies) by way of sub-licensing & franchisees.
• According to the draft, state commissions will determine tariff for retail sale of electricity without any subsidy under Section 65 of the Act and the tariff should reflect the cost of supply of electricity and cross-subsidies to be reduced.
• Electricity Contract Enforcement Authority to adjudicate on contract-related disputes; a common selection committee for the State Electricity Regulatory Commissions.
• The Appellate Authority to ensure release of timely and cost reflective tariff orders; 
• An adherence to the National Electricity Tariff Policy
• A subsidy mechanism (DBT) where it will go directly to the consumers.

Need for the Act:

• The de-licensing of power generation: Since 2003, India’s power generating capacity has grown nearly four-folds to around 385 GW today.
  • The growth of the Indian economy that followed, and its emergence as the sixth-largest economy in the world, was due to India becoming a power surplus country.
• The power reforms remained incomplete. The last mile connect with the consumer, electricity distribution is operating at sub-optimal efficiency through distribution monopolies (discoms).
• No choices for consumers: India’s power distribution sector is currently structured in a way that does not give consumers any choice in terms of who they want to buy electricity from. 
  • It could be a State Electricity Board (SEB) or private player, but the consumers are forced to buy power from one discom. 
  • That is irrespective of whether the customer likes the quality of power, the electricity tariff, or the various choices on renewables, like rooftop solar, that some discoms provide and others do not.
• A monopoly creates inefficiencies and these in the power distribution sector have had serious financial consequences. 
• Financial losses: Today, an estimated ₹94,000 crore is owed by various state-owned discoms to power generating companies (gencos) across the country. 
  • This happens when discoms are not able to properly bill for energy supplied and collect the monies. 
  • If money had been paid to the power generating companies on time, it could not only have led to additional generating capacity, especially renewables, but also funded the bills for the input suppliers to these gencos.

Significance: 

• Green energy: The Indian power sector as a whole is in a critical phase, as major changes will be witnessed across its value change, moving from thermal or fossil-fuel fired generation to renewables. 
  • The country has already achieved 100 GW of renewable energy capacity and is moving closer to the 175 GW target, which hopefully will be achieved by 2022. 
  • We have an even bigger target of building 450 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030. 
  • Tackling the unfinished task of reforming electricity distribution by opening it up will certainly help us realise these ambitious dreams.
• The consumer- and investment-friendly reforms proposed in the new Bill will not just create choice for consumers but also more efficient power distribution utilities. 
• It will also attract investments from global capital sources interested in implementing future technologies, particularly in areas like clean energy and digital technologies. 
• By ensuring capital into electricity distribution, these reforms can become a direct enabler for a more sustainable energy sector in India.
  • In fact, a beginning has already been made by starting the privatisation process of discoms in Union Territories, where many power sector players participated.

It is now a little more than three decades since India started opening up and liberalising the economy, and in the 75th year of Independence, the electricity distribution reforms will play a key role in helping the government achieve its ambitious goal of powering every home, shop, office, industrial unit and village with quality and reliable electricity supply. And that, in turn, would be crucial in achieving the larger economic goal of making India a $5-trillion economy.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

Context:

The debate about whether the decennial Census should collect data on caste from individuals who fall into the administrative categories of ‘General’ and ‘Other Backward Classes (OBCs) has been argued by public intellectuals.

Background:

The Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) was conducted in 2011. It was the largest exercise of the listing of castes and has the potential of finding inequalities at a broader level.

• Socio-Economic Caste Census(SECC) was conducted by the Ministry of Rural Development in rural areas and the Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation in urban areas.
• The SECC data excluded caste data and was published by the two ministries in 2016.
• The raw caste data was handed over to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment,
• The ministry formed an Expert Group under former NITI Aayog Vice-Chairperson ArvindPangaria for the classification and categorisation of data.
• However, only the details of the economic conditions of the people in rural and urban households were released. The caste data has not been released till now.

Rationale behind conducting caste census

1. Rationalise reservation:
   • Many have argued that an SECC would be the best way to rationalise reservation based on data and make a strong case for breaching India’s reservation cap.

• For example, The census of 2011 had 19,569 entries on languages. These entries were then rationalized into 1369 mother tongues. These were then classified into 22 scheduled and 99 non-scheduled languages. So, the collection of caste data will lead rationalise reservation.

1. Since job and education quotas are based on caste, this will help in evidence-based policymaking. The current policies are based on the last caste census, which was conducted in 1931.
2. Further, this census can help the government in identifying the most benefited section and reduce their share in the overall reservation to provide an opportunity to others.
3. Also, Most estimates show the OBC population to be above 40%. This is much greater than the current reservation, which stands at 27%. The caste census will provide the exact proportion of OBC population.

1. A caste census would actually bring forward the large number of issues that any democratic country needs to pay attention to. For instance, this census will reveal information regarding caste-based marginalisation, deprivation, the kind of jobs pursued by a caste, etc.
   1. Caste census will give authentic information regarding the socio-economic condition and education status of various castes.
2. Better targeting of Government welfare schemes: The courts in India have often emphatically said that it is important to have adequate data regarding the reservation. So, the caste census is nothing but the collection of data that is necessary for any democratic policymaking.
3. Break the myths associated with castes: The caste census will reveal the actual data on castes and remove ambiguities associated with the caste. For instance,
   1. In Karnataka, there were claims that among the castes, the Lingayats are the most numerous. So the census can reveal the true information on that.
4. Recommendation from the Sachar committee: Sachar committee was formed to examine the socio-economic and educational status of the Muslim community in India. In its report, the committee mentioned that the availability of data on religion was useful in highlighting the relative deprivation of minorities. So, similar data on caste is also desirable to identify vulnerable sections within castes.

Challenges linked to conducting caste census

1. Reservation tussles:
   1. Reservation is going to cater only to a small proportion of those who are entitled to it. Further, there is also some debate that the reservation policy in India invariably led to the growth of elites among castes and communities. So, the caste census along with reservation might favour elites among castes.
   2. There is a possibility that caste-based reservations will lead to heartburn among some sections and spawn demands for larger or separate quotas. For instance, Patels, Gujjars, Jats and other castes are demanding reservations. The caste census might induce more such demands in future.
2. The caste census will give rise to caste division. : As India seek to eliminate and weaken the notion of caste, a caste census would only strengthen it.
3. Collection of caste data is not easy: Some sections of people believe that Caste is a very important source of privilege and advantage in our country. On the other hand, some sections of people feel disadvantaged by revealing caste-based information. So, the naming and counting of caste is a difficult thing in India. For instance, the same caste is spelt in different ways in different states.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Context:

The Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) for higher education, which is the percentage of the population between the ages of 18-23 who are enrolled, is now 27 per cent.

• GER is the number of students enrolled in a given level of education, regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the official school-age population corresponding to the same level of education.
• The enhanced enrollment of students from weak socio-economic backgrounds is primarily a result of the extension of reservations to OBCs and EWS. 
• In addition, the massive increase in the number of higher education institutions has led to an enlargement of the number of available seats. There are more than 45,000 universities and colleges in the country. 
• A majority of the students are aiming to get some kind of a government job posts their degree. 
• And, this is where there is a huge mismatch between students’ aspirations and what they are likely to attain.

Concerns:

• Employment opportunities in the government have not increased proportionally and may, in fact, have decreased with increased contractualisation. 
  • Even in the private sector, though the jobs have increased with economic growth, most of the jobs are contractual. 
• Unemployment: One in every five Indian who graduate (or even better) is unemployed. It is almost as if the economy penalises you for getting educated.
  • In comparison, those with graduation (or even higher degrees) face almost three-times the unemployment level.
• Low paying jobs: The highest increase in jobs is at the lowest end, especially in the services sector — delivery boys for e-commerce or fast food for instance. 
  • A student who has finished his college against all odds is not very keen to take up a job in a call centre or worse as a delivery agent for e-commerce or fast food.
• On the one hand, companies in India face an acute shortage of skilled manpower and, on the other, India has millions of educated unemployed.The industry always complains about the shortage of skilled labour in the country. 
• Social unrest: There is a huge pool of unemployed university graduates with unfulfilled aspirations. This group of dissatisfied, disgruntled youth can lead to disastrous consequences for our society.
• Over 90% of India’s workforce is in the informal sector. India is trapped in a vicious cycle: Greater workforce informality leads to lower incentives to acquire new skills. 
  • Faced with inadequately skilled workers, businesses often choose replacing labour with machinery. 
  • That’s because “skilled labour and technology are complementary, but unskilled labour and technology are substitutes”. This, in turn, leads to still fewer formal jobs.
• Millions of Indians who work in agriculture continue to subsist because they do not have the skills to take up industrial or services sector jobs even as these sectors themselves have failed to create adequate job opportunities.
• Poor quality of ITIs: Industrial Training Institutes (ITI) and Industrial Training Centers (ITC) are post-secondary schools in India constituted under Directorate General of Training (DGT), Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Union Government to provide training in various trades.
  • There are more than 15,000 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) in the country currently. 
  • These institutions provide training in various trades like air conditioning mechanic, electrician, mechanic etc. 
  • The quality of these of course is very uneven. 
  • They are also, by and large, poorly maintained and lacking in resources, both physical and human. 
  • The curriculum remains outdated and has not been upgraded to include some of the newer skills like maintaining networking and telecom equipment.
• There is a huge competition for admission into these institutions, and polytechnics. 
  • In some places, it is harder to get into these than to get admission to the local government college.
  • Manufacturing units prefer hiring them for blue-collar jobs since they at least have the least training. 
  • In addition, the pass-outs from ITIs also have the option of being self-employed in the various service-related sectors.
• A distinct disadvantage with India’s approach towards skilling has been to ignore the demands of the market. For the most part, skills have been provided in a top-down fashion. Thus, most skilling efforts focus almost solely on providing certain skills but fail to “match” them with the needs of the market.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Context:

Experts may differ on the weightage to be given to the various reasons cited for the coal shortage earlier this month, but all will agree that the blame cannot be placed on the doors of anyone entity or ministry. 

• India’s coal reserve is of generally 28-30 days but due to disruption in supply chains induced by monsoons and inflated global prices, the reserve has fallen to 10-14 days.
• Such shortages invariably lead to outages, some of which are already being witnessed in some pockets of the country. Demand surges and disruption in supplies can exacerbate the issue.

Responsibility for the coal crisis:

• The Ministry of Coal and Coal India mismanaged the production process, planning supplies or leaving vacant crucial leadership positions. But they should not be made to carry the blame alone. 
• The Ministry of Power/NTPC should also accept responsibility. For they allowed coal inventories to fall below the recommended minimum in an effort to better manage their working capital. 
  • But they can claim they had no other option because the state government electricity distribution companies (discoms) to whom they sell power do not pay their dues on time or fully. 
• The discoms point a finger at their political bosses, who compel them to sell electricity to residential and agricultural sector consumers at subsidised tariffs that do not fully cover the costs of procurement. 
  • This cycle of blame is the result of a structural lacuna. 

No single unified system

• There is no one public body at the central or state government level with executive oversight, responsibility and accountability for the entirety of the coal value chain. This is a lacuna that afflicts the entire energy sector. 
  • It will need to be filled to not only prevent a recurrence of another coal crisis but also for the country to realise its “green” ambition.
• The word “energy” is not part of the political or administrative dictionary. As a result, there is no energy strategy with the imprimatur of executive authority. 
  • The NITI Aayog has produced an energy strategy. But it has no executive authority and, as was the case with the Planning Commission document “Integrated Energy Policy” published in 2006. 
  • But most of its recommendations are useless because their implementation will depend on the responses of the bureaucrats in various ministries (viz petroleum, coal, renewables and power) who, in general, have little incentive to do so.
  • The Planning Commission document was endorsed by the Cabinet and yet the majority of the recommendations were ignored.

Way forward:

• Decarbonisation of economy: A decarbonised economy is based on low-carbon power sources that therefore has a minimal output of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions into the atmosphere.
  • India faces an energy and environmental problem. 
  • The incremental requirement of India’s energy should come from renewable energy. The Prime Minister recently announced  that by 2030, India’s energy basket would have 40 percent of its needs from the renewable sector.
  • In addition to traditional sectors, India is also looking at future sources of energy.
  • Identifying hydrogen as a priority area for India, India should work quickly on the hydrogen mission. 
  • The Union Budget for 2021-22 has announced a National Hydrogen Energy Mission (NHM) that will draw up a road map for using hydrogen as an energy source.The initiative has the potential of transforming transportation.
  • The usage of hydrogen will not only help India in achieving its emission goals under the Paris Agreement, but will also reduce import dependency on fossil fuels.
  • India’s early efforts at CNG (compressed natural gas) blending with Hydrogen in Delhi in the transportation sector is an example.
• Statutory law for energy: The government should pass an Act captioned “The Energy Responsibility and Security Act.” 
  • This Act should elevate the significance of energy by granting it constitutional sanctity; it should embed in law, India’s responsibility to provide citizens access to secure, affordable and clean energy.
  • It should lay out measurable metrics for monitoring the progress towards the achievement of energy independence, energy security, energy efficiency and “green” energy. 
  • In essence, the Act should provide the constitutional mandate and frame for the formulation and execution of an integrated energy policy.
• Creation of an omnibus Ministry of Energy to oversee the currently siloed verticals of the ministries of petroleum, coal, renewables and power. Such a ministry did exist in the early 1980s (without petroleum). 
  • The minister-in-charge should rank on equal footing with the ministers of defence, finance, home and external affairs. 
  • The PM can establish an executive department within his office; it could be referred to as the “Department of Energy Resources, Security, and Sustainability”, headed by a person of minister of state rank. 
  • The objective would be to formulate and execute an integrated energy policy, to leverage the weight of “India Energy Inc” and maximise India’s competitiveness in its dealing with the international energy community. 
  • It would, de facto, be the most powerful executive body with ultimate responsibility for navigating the “green transition”.

Industrialisation has closely followed our ability to move quickly between vast distances. With the dependence of humanity on fossil fuels, a new international power order also emerged — countries that exported oil.

• The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) comprises Algeria, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, the Republic of the Congo, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.
• The dominant power or de facto leader of OPEC is Saudi Arabia, ruled by the House of Saud.
• In each of these countries. ruling oligarchies were enriched by the oil wealth that flowed in, while their people may not have quite benefitted.

Context:

In November 2019, the Ministry of Jal Shakti had set up a committee to draft the new National Water Policy (NWP).

• The earlier NWPs of 1987, 2002 and 2012 were drafted entirely within the government system.
• This was the first time that the government asked a committee of independent experts to draft the policy.
• The committee is chaired by Mihir Shah (former Planning Commission member and a water expert) and comprises 10 principal members.

Salient features of Draft National Water Policy (2020)

• The policy recognises limits to endlessly increasing water supply and proposes a shift towards demand management.
  • Irrigation consumes 80-90 per cent of India’s water,most of which is used by rice, wheat and sugarcane.
  • Without a radical change in this pattern of water demand, the basic water needs of millions of people cannot be met.
  • Thus, crop diversification is the single most important step in resolving India’s water crisis.
  • The policy suggests diversifying public procurement operations to include nutri-cereals, pulses and oilseeds.

This would incentivise farmers to diversify their cropping patterns, resulting in huge savings of water.

Recently, at the 6th Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Russia’s Vladivostok, the Indian Prime Minister said that India-Russia energy partnership can help bring stability to the global energy market.

• Indian and Russian Energy Ministers announced that the countries’ companies have been pushing for greater cooperation in the oil and gas sector beyond the U.S.$32 billion already invested in joint projects.
• India’s Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas referred to Russia as the largest investor in India’s energy sector.

Significance of India-Russia energy cooperation

• Act Far East Policy: Earlier, the Prime Minister of India has also launched India’s ‘Act Far East’ policy, aiming to tap resources potential in the region and find opportunities for employment and development in the region.
  • India and Russia, also agreed for a sea linkbetween Vladivostok, the capital of Russian Far East and Chennai. It will help in tying up with the Indo-Pacific concept and opens up possibilities for India to connect with northern Europe using an Arctic Route.
• Renewable, nuclear energy: In efforts to transition to green energy, India has recently achieved a significant milestone of completing the countrywide installation of 100 gigawatts of total installed renewable energy capacity, excluding large hydro.
  • It now aims to hit 175 GW of renewable energy targets by December 2022. If achieved, that would be close to half of India’s current total installed power capacity.
  • However, unknowns of climate change and threats of a new pandemic suggest that the country should accelerate its energy transition.
  • Russia, one of the key global playersacross the energy market, could emerge as an indispensable partner for such a transition.
  • Russian companies have been involved in the construction ofsix nuclear reactors in the Kudankulam nuclear power project at Tamil Nadu.
  • Furthermore, India and Russia can securethe potential of designing a nuclear reactor specifically for developing countries, which is a promising area of cooperation.

Recently, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, China’s ceremonial but top legislative body, passed a new land law for the “protection and exploitation of the country’s land border areas” which will come into effect from 1st January 2022.

Two perspective of the law

• The law is not meant specifically for the border with India; however, the 3,488-km boundary remains disputed, and some experts feel it could create further hurdles in the resolution of the 17-month-long military standoff.
• Others think the law is just words — what has vexed ties is not domestic Chinese legislation, but their actions on the ground.

The Chinese law

• It states that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China are sacred and inviolable, and asks the state to take measures to safeguard territorial integrity and land boundaries and guard against and combat any act that undermines (these).
• The state can take measures to: 
  • Strengthen border defence,
  • Support economic and social development and Opening-up in border areas,
  • Improve public services and infrastructure in such areas,
  • Encouraging and supporting people’s life and work there, and
  • Promoting coordination between border defence.
• In effect, this suggests a push to settle civilians in the border areas. However, the law also asks the state to follow the principles of equality, mutual trust, and friendly consultation, and handle land border related-affairs with neighbouring countries through negotiations to properly resolve disputes and longstanding border issues.