Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 23-04-2021

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 23-04-2021

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. Indian Politics - Covid Update - India recorded the highest ever COVID-19 cases and deaths over 22-04-2021. As many as 3,32,730 coronavirus cases were confirmed, marking the world's biggest one-day jump, taking the total number of cases to 1,62,63,695. Meanwhile, 2,263 deaths were recorded, marking India's biggest one-day jump and taking the death toll to 1,86,920. The rapid surge across states has led to a panic situation in hospitals. Taking note of the ‘grim’ situation created by the massive surge, the Supreme Court said it expected the Centre to come out with a ‘national plan’ to deal with proper distribution of oxygen and essential drugs for patients. PM Modi, while chairing a high-level meeting to review oxygen supply in the country, said there was a need to improve production and distribution of oxygen, and prevent hoarding. Many deaths were reported from hospitals simply due to oxygen running out, marking a grim milestone in India's second coronavirus wave.
2. Governance and Institutions - Oxygen shortages in Covid battle - The ferocious second wave of infections has overwhelmed hospitals and crematoriums in India, and has led to frantic cries for help on social media as patients struggled to arrange for beds, key medical supplies such as oxygen and medicines. PM Modi wants states to come down heavily on hoarding of oxygen and fix responsibility with the local administration in cases of obstruction. He wants “smooth, unhindered” supply to various states. He also asked ministries to explore various innovative ways to increase production and supply of oxygen. Various measures are being undertaken to rapidly increase the availability of cryogenic tankers through conversion of nitrogen and argon tankers, import and airlifting of tankers as well as manufacturing them. Now the Indian Railways is being used for rapid and nonstop long distance transport of tankers. The first rake has reached Vizag from Mumbai to transport 105 MT. Empty oxygen tankers are also being airlifted to suppliers to reduce one-way journey time.
3. Constitution and Law - Supreme Court stops High Courts from entertaining Covid petitions - A CJI Bobde-led bench suddenly intervened in the Covid situation evolving in India, and pointed out that at least six high courts were hearing issues related to the preparedness of the states and the Centre to deal with the crisis. The bench issued notices to the petitioners before the high courts, asking why uniform orders should not be passed by it. It said that the high courts have passed certain orders which may have the effect of accelerating and prioritising the services to a certain set of people and slowing down the availability of these resources to certain other. This action of SC was criticised by many experts, who felt that the HCs were actually resolving matters related to life and death. Just few days ago, the SC had stayed an order of the Allahabad high court for virtually locking down five worst-hit districts of Uttar Pradesh, observed that this authority should be with the state government. Also, corporate giant Vedanta wants reopening of its Sterlite Copper plant in Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukudi to produce and supply oxygen for Covid-19 patients. The plant was shut down in May 2018 after 13 civilians were shot dead in the anti-Sterlite protests in Thoothukudi. The Madras high court in August 2020 rejected Vedanta’s petition to reopen the plant, citing environmental concerns.
4. Indian Economy - Sudarshan Sen Committee by RBI - The Rerseve Bank of India set up a committee to undertake a comprehensive review of the working of asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) in the financial sector ecosystem and recommend suitable measures for enabling them to meet the growing requirements. The six-member committee will be headed by Sudarshan Sen, former executive director, RBI. The panel will review the existing legal and regulatory framework applicable to ARCs and recommend measures to improve efficacy of ARCs. It will also review the role of ARCs in the resolution of stressed assets, including under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), and give suggestions for improving liquidity in and trading of security receipts. Besides, it has also been asked to review the business models of ARCs. The committee will submit its report within three months from the date of its first meeting. ARCs are specialized financial institutions that buy the Non Performing Assets (NPAs) from banks and FIs to clean up their balance sheets. This helps banks to concentrate in normal banking activities.
5. Social Issues - International Religious Freedom Report 2021 - The report was released by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), and berated the performance of India. For the second year in a row, it has recommended that the State Department put India on a ‘Countries of Particular Concern (CPCs)’ list for the worst violations of religious freedoms in 2020. It recommended imposing targeted sanctions on Indian individuals and entities for ‘severe violations of religious freedom’. It recommended for the administration to promote inter-faith dialogue and the rights of all communities at bilateral and multilateral forums. It recommended the U.S. Congress to raise issues in the US-India bilateral space, such as by hosting hearings, writing letters, etc., CPC list - Russia, Syria, Vietnam, Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. Special Watch List - Afghanistan, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Cuba, Egypt, Iraq, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Turkey, Nicaragua and Uzbekistan.
6. Defence and Military - Kri Nanggala submarine rescue operation - The Indian Navy dispatched its deep submergence rescue vessel (DSRV) from Visakhapatnam to support the Indonesian Navy in the search and rescue efforts for its submarine KRI Nanggala that went missing with 53 personnel aboard. KRI Nanggala (402) is a diesel-electric attack submarine of the Indonesian Navy, one of two Cakra-class submarines (Type 209 design). On 21 April 2021, it went missing in deep waters during a SUT torpedo drill north of Bali. The boat is named after the Nanggala, a divine and powerful short spear that was owned by Prabu Baladewa (the elder brother of Kresna), a recurring character in wayang puppet theatre.
7. Governance and Institutions - Space internet not without permissions - Indian government will ask Elon Musk-led SpaceX Technologies to apply for relevant permits under India's telecom rules before offering its Starlink satellite internet services here. The telecommunications department is set to write to SpaceX, nudging the company to share details of its India plans to determine if it requires both internet service provider (ISP) and VSAT (very small aperture terminal) service authorisations under unified licence (UL) regulations or just one to offer high-speed satellite internet services. The company expects to start offering internet connectivity to Indian users in 2022 through a maze of satellites it will launch into orbit. DoT is likely to also seek clarity from SpaceX on the specific nature of services it wants to offer in India, the spectrum bands it proposes to use, and the foreign satellite capacity it will tap to deliver high-speed internet services.
8. History - Armenian Genocide - US President Joe Biden is preparing to formally acknowledge the Armenian Genocide, the systematic killing and deportation of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire that occurred more than a century ago. While Turkey disagrees, the consensus among historians is that during the Armenian Genocide, between 1915 to 1922, in the First World War, thousands of Armenians perished due to killings, starvation and disease, when they were deported by Ottoman Turks from eastern Anatolia. It is difficult to estimate the total number of Armenians who died during the genocide, but the Armenian diaspora says that approximately 1.5 million died. Some researchers have asserted and drawn comparisons between the Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide and this acknowledgement or wider acknowledgement of it in the international community may be unwelcome and unpalatable for Turkey. Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day is marked annually on April 24.
9. Environment and Ecology - Earth Day celebrated 22 April - The Earth Day was celebrated on April 22, as an international event around the world to pledge support for environmental protection. This year’s theme for Earth Day was ‘Restore Our Earth’, and focused on natural processes, emerging green technologies, and innovative thinking that can restore the world’s ecosystems. The year 2021 marks the 51st anniversary of the annual celebrations. Seven major climate-related events took place in parallel on April 22, including the Leaders’ Summit on Climate hosted by the United States, and the Exponential Climate action Summit on Financing the Race to Zero emissions. America has now proposed aggressive targets for itself, for 2030.
10. Science and Technology - NASA makes oxygen on Mars - The growing list of “firsts” for Perseverance, NASA’s newest six-wheeled robot on the Martian surface, includes converting some of the Red Planet’s thin, carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere into oxygen. A toaster-size, experimental instrument aboard Perseverance called the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) accomplished the task. The test took place April 20, the 60th Martian day, or sol, since the mission landed Feb. 18. It could pave the way for isolating and storing oxygen on Mars to help power rockets that could lift astronauts off the planet’s surface. Such devices also might one day provide breathable air for astronauts themselves. MOXIE is an exploration technology investigation – as is the Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA) weather station – and is sponsored by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) and Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. To burn its fuel, a rocket must have more oxygen by weight. Getting four astronauts off the Martian surface on a future mission would require approximately 15,000 pounds (7 metric tons) of rocket fuel and 55,000 pounds (25 metric tons) of oxygen. In contrast, astronauts living and working on Mars would require far less oxygen to breathe. The astronauts who spend a year on the surface will maybe use one metric ton between them. Hauling 25 metric tons of oxygen from Earth to Mars would be an arduous task. Transporting a one-ton oxygen converter – a larger, more powerful descendant of MOXIE that could produce those 25 tons – would be far more economical and practical. Mars’ atmosphere is 96% carbon dioxide. MOXIE works by separating oxygen atoms from carbon dioxide molecules, which are made up of one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms. A waste product, carbon monoxide, is emitted into the Martian atmosphere.

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• SECTION 2 - DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS

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• 1. ECONOMY (Prelims, GS Paper 3, Essay paper)

RBI assessment of Covid-19 second wave

• The story: India was hit by a shockingly strong second coronavirus wave in March-April 2021. The second wave of Covid infections and its impact on growth loomed large on the minds of the six MPC members, as per minutes of the meetings released by the RBI. (MPC - Monetary Policy Committee)

• Details of the minutes:

1. Forward guidance - MPC minutes show one member saw little merit in continuing with central bank's forward guidance. Jayanth R Varma, external MPC member, said RBI’s forward guidance has failed to bring down yields and that the practice can be stopped.
2. The monetary policy committee (MPC) members were also in favour of engaging with the bond market on yields. The RBI had announced a Rs 1 trillion bond buying from the secondary market in the first quarter. That is what a QE is (quantitative easing).
3. The MPC decided to keep the policy repo rate unchanged and the stance at accommodative “for as long as necessary to sustain growth, while ensuring that inflation remains within the target”.
4. The minutes showed that even as the RBI kept its growth forecast for the fiscal year unchanged at 10.5 per cent, most members were not sure how the second Covid wave would play out. Rapidly rising cases is the single biggest challenge to ongoing recovery in the Indian economy, as per RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das.

• Kya se kya ho gaya: The economy was evolving on the lines of the February 2021 MPC resolution, with improving demand conditions, investment enhancing measures by the government and external demand imparting an upside to growth prospects, but the recent jump in infections and its impact on economic activity changed the dyanmics. The “need of the hour” was to “effectively secure the economic recovery underway so that it becomes broad-based and durable”, Das said, adding, “the RBI would take all steps to ensure orderly conditions in the financial markets and to preserve financial stability.”

1. Deputy Governor Michael Patra said the recent rise in inflation could be looked through while the focus could remain “on reviving the economy on a path of strong and sustainable growth. An integral part of this approach would be to insulate domestic financial markets from global spillovers and volatility so that congenial financial conditions continue to support growth.”
2. RBI’s Executive Director Mridul K Saggar said the economic recovery could come under risk if the new wave of infections was not flattened soon, especially as “monetary and fiscal policies have already used most of their space to considerably limit loss of economic capital”.
3. Expansion of policy toolkits, though, could still afford additional comfort. The rise in infection could delay full normalisation by a quarter or two. Health policies have become the first line of defence, while the “monetary and fiscal policies can only play second fiddle”.

• Growth projections: The baseline projection in growth of 10.5 per cent was on account of an “all-time low base.” The “realisation of the projected growth will translate to only a meagre average growth rate of 0.85 per cent in two years following 2019-20”. This provided justification for the monetary policy’s continued support to growth, Saggar said, adding both consumption and investment nee­ded to be stimulated. Capacity utilisation rate at 66.6 per cent was well below the long-term average of 73.6 per cent.

1. The pace of recovery of output needs to offset the negative impact of the Covid-19 shock to the economy in terms of growth in income, and employment will be substantial and sustained over many years.
2. The easy monetary policy has helped sustain economic activities and recovery, and that such policy environment would be needed to strengthen and broaden the ongoing recovery process.

• Others' experience: The second wave in many countries has been “sharp but short”, as per Ashima Goyal, MPC member. The effect on growth could be marginal if complete lockdowns and bans on interstate movement are avoided. The base-effect facilitated growth rate of above 10 per cent “does not imply sustained growth at potential.”  The growth rate would “barely take us to the level we had reached in 2019. We have to also make up for lost time; alleviate widespread job loss and income stress.”

• Problem with yield curve: MPC member Jayanth R Varma was more forthcoming, and said RBI’s forward guidance has “failed to flatten the yield curve”, and he saw “little merit in persisting with it anymore”. It was not prudent to “repose excessive faith in forecasts. Instead, the MPC must have the agility and flexibility to respond rapidly and adequately to whatever surprises new data may bring in future. Time based guidance is inconsistent with this imperative.”

• Summary: Overall, the RBI MPC has now realised that the vicious strength of the second coronavirus wave will take a strong toll on the positive momentum of the Indian economy in 2021-22. What tools the RBI may now adopt, remains to be seen.

• Knowledge centre:

1. MPC - The RBI's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of six members was first constituted in 2016 (for 5 years) by the Central Government under Section 45ZB, and determines the policy interest rate required to achieve the inflation target. The Monetary Policy Department (MPD) assists the MPC in formulating the monetary policy. Views of key stakeholders in the economy, and analytical work of the Reserve Bank contribute to the process for arriving at the decision on the policy repo rate. The Financial Market Committee (FMC) meets daily to review the liquidity conditions so as to ensure that the operating target of monetary policy (weighted average lending rate) is kept close to the policy repo rate. Monetary policy refers to the policy of the central bank with regard to the use of monetary instruments under its control to achieve the goals specified in the Act. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is vested with the responsibility of conducting monetary policy. This responsibility is explicitly mandated under the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934. The flexible inflation targeting (FIT) adopted for 2016-2021  with a CPI-inflation target of 4% +/- 2% is being extended as it is till 2026.
2. Yield Curve - A yield curve is a line that plots yields (interest rates) of bonds having equal credit quality but differing maturity dates. The slope of the yield curve gives an idea of future interest rate changes and economic activity. A rise in bond yields means interest rates in the monetary system have fallen, and the returns for investors (those who invested in bonds and govt securities) have declined. When bond yields rise, the RBI has to offer higher cut-off price/yield to investors during auctions. This means borrowing costs will increase at a time when the government plans to raise money from the market.” In such cases RBI is expected to stabilise yields through open market operations and operation twists. Besides, as government borrowing costs are used as the benchmark for pricing loans to businesses and consumers, any increase in yields will be transmitted to the real economy. The RBI wants the orderly functioning of the yield curve. The objective of the RBI is to eschew volatility in the G-Sec market. The introduction of the secondary market Government Security Acquisition Programme (GSAP) shall help the yields remain range bound and shall be within the RBI’s comfort. There shall be less volatility as now it is clear with RBI introducing GSAP 1.0 in the longer bond 3 years bond.

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• 2. ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY (Prelims, GS Paper 3, Essay paper

State of the Global Climate 2020: WMO

• The story: The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) released its annual State of the Global Climate for 2020, in April 2021. It was released ahead of the Leaders Summit on Climate, hosted by the US. Extreme weather combined with Covid-19 was a double blow for millions of people in 2020. The pandemic-related economic slowdown failed to put a brake on climate change drivers and accelerating impacts.

• Points to note: There are many crucial areas that are now rapidly evolving.

1. Global temperature - Year 2020 was one of the three warmest years on record, despite a cooling La Niña event, and global average temperature was about 1.2° Celsius above the pre-industrial (1850-1900) level. The other two warmest years are 2016 and 2019. The six years since 2015 have been the warmest on record. The decade 2011-2020 was the warmest decade on record.
2. Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) - Emission of major greenhouse gases increased in 2019 and 2020, and will be higher in 2021. Concentrations of the major greenhouse gases in the air continued to increase in 2019 and 2020. Globally, averaged mole fractions of carbon dioxide (CO2) have already exceeded 410 parts per million (ppm), and if the CO2 concentration follows the same pattern as in previous years, it could reach or exceed 414 ppm in 2021. [Mole fraction represents the number of molecules of a particular component in a mixture divided by the total number of moles in the given mixture. It's a way of expressing the concentration of a solution]
3. Oceans - In 2019, the oceans had the highest heat content on record. In 2020, it has broken this record further. Over 80% of the ocean area experienced at least one marine heatwave in 2020. [A marine heatwave is defined when seawater temperatures exceed a seasonally-varying threshold for at least 5 consecutive days] The percentage of the ocean that experienced “strong” marine heat waves (45%) was greater than that which experienced “moderate” marine heat waves (28%).
4. Sea-level Rise (SLR) - Since record-taking started in 1993 using the satellite altimeter, sea-level has been rising. It is due to the La Niña induced cooling. Sea level has recently been rising at a higher rate partly due to the increased melting of the ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica.
5. The Arctic and the Antarctica - In 2020, the Arctic sea-ice extent came down to second lowest on record. The 2020 minimum extent was 3.74 million square kilometre, marking only the second time (after 2012) on record that it shrank to less than 4 million sq km. In a large region of the Siberian Arctic, temperatures in 2020 were more than 3°C above average. A record temperature of 38°C was noted in the town of Verkhoyansk, Russia. The Antarctic sea-ice extent remained close to the long-term average. However, the Antarctic ice sheet has exhibited a strong mass loss trend since the late 1990s.

• Indian extreme weather events: India experienced one of its wettest monsoons since 1994, with a seasonal surplus of 9% that led to severe floods and landslides. The Cyclone Amphan, which hit Kolkata in May 2020, has been named as the costliest tropical cyclone for the North Indian Ocean region that brought about an estimated loss of USD 14 billion.

• Extreme weather: Along with the pandemic, people across the world struggled to survive as they faced extreme weather in the form of storms, cyclones, heavy rainfall and record heat. Response and recovery to people hit by cyclones, storms and similar extreme weather was constrained throughout the pandemic in 2020. Mobility restrictions and economic downturns owing to Covid-19 slowed down delivery of humanitarian assistance to vulnerable and displaced populations, who live in dense settlements. The pandemic added to human mobility concerns, highlighting the need for an integrated approach to understanding and addressing climate risk and impact on vulnerable populations.

• World Meteorological Organization: The WMO is an intergovernmental organization with a membership of 192 Member States and Territories. India is a member, which originated from the International Meteorological Organization (IMO), which was established after the 1873 Vienna International Meteorological Congress. Established by the ratification of the WMO Convention on 23rd March 1950, WMO became the specialized agency of the United Nations for meteorology (weather and climate), operational hydrology and related geophysical sciences.

• Knowledge centre:

1. Extreme weather event - Extreme weather is a weather event such as snow, rain, drought, flood, or storm that is rare for the place where it occurs. For example, normal temperatures at the equator would constitute a heat wave if they occurred at the North Pole. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) suggests that “rare” means in the bottom 10% or top 10% of severity for a given event type in a given location. Because extreme weather is by definition rare, it is difficult to assess the risk of such events, including changes in risk with global warming.
2. Tipping point - The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) introduced the idea of tipping points, as ‘large-scale discontinuities’ in the climate system considered likely only if global warming exceeded 5 °C above pre-industrial levels. Information in recent IPCC Special Reports suggested that tipping points could be exceeded even between 1 and 2 °C of warming. If current national pledges to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions are implemented — and that’s a big ‘if’ — they are likely to result in at least 3 °C of global warming. This is despite the goal of the 2015 Paris agreement to limit warming to well below 2 °C. However, if tipping points are looking more likely, then the ‘optimal policy’ recommendation of simple cost–benefit climate-economy models4 aligns with those of the recent IPCC report2. In other words, warming must be limited to 1.5 °C. This requires an emergency response.

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• 3. FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Prelims, GS Paper 3, Essay paper)

The death of Chad's President Idriss Deby

• The story: Chad’s President Idriss Deby was killed on the frontline against rebels in the north. He was battling rebels belonging to the group 'FACT' (the Front for Change and Concord in Chad). Instead of handing power to the leader of parliament, as required by the constitution, the army put in place a military council headed by Mr Déby’s 37-year-old son, Mahamat Idriss Déby. The African Union (it has a “no coup” policy) didn't say much. France, Chad’s main Western ally, turned a blind eye, too.

• Points to note: The news of his death came only the day after he was proclaimed the winner of a presidential election that had given him a sixth term in office. He had been ruling Chad for three decades, since 1990, taking power on the back of a coup. His rebel forces overthrew then-President Hissene Habre, who was later convicted of human rights abuses at an international tribunal in Senegal. Deby was a major French ally in the fight against Islamic extremism in Africa.

1. Chad hosts a large French army base and is the headquarters of Operation Barkhane, an effort to fight jihadists in the Sahel involving 5,100 French troops.
2. Its small army punches well above its weight. During the cold war, Chadian troops driving Toyota pickup trucks repelled the tanks of Muammar Qaddafi, a Soviet-backed Libyan dictator.
3. In 2015, after the jihadists of Boko Haram had overrun north-eastern Nigeria, it was Chad’s turbaned warriors who ejected them from the main towns. This year, when France was searching for allies in its fight against Islamic State and other jihadist groups in the Sahel, it was Chad that answered the call, sending 1,200 battle-hardened fighters into the border area between Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso.

• FACT: The Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT), is a political and military organisation in the north of Chad, with the goal of overthrowing the government of Chad.

• Story of Chad: It is a large, landlocked state in north-central Africa, named after Lake Chad. It is the second-largest lake in Africa (after Lake Victoria) and its basin covers parts of Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon. The Sahara Desert roughly covers one third of the country, and the south has large expanses of wooded savannas and woodlands. Chad is also a part of the Sahel region, a semiarid region of western and north-central Africa extending from Senegal eastward to Sudan. It forms a transitional zone between the arid Sahara (desert) to the north and the belt of humid savannas to the south. Chad became an oil-producing nation in 2003, with the completion of a USD 4bn pipeline linking its oilfields to terminals on the Atlantic coast.

• History of Chad: Chad’s previous dictator, Hissène Habré, was especially brutal. He seized power in 1982, after a Western-backed rebellion, and ruled for eight years. He is said to have ordered the deaths of 40,000 of his people. Many died in an underground prison known as La Piscine, a converted underground swimming pool where inmates were tortured, raped and beaten to death.

• Future of Chad: It is the constant deferral of democracy that has brought Chad to its current sorry state. It is fighting rebels, who are now thought to be less than 300km from the capital. Analysts fear the army will splinter, leading to civil war. Some liken Chad to Libya, which collapsed into carnage after the death of Qaddafi. Instead of backing the next dictator, Chad’s friends should be pushing for talks between the government, rebels and, crucially, the civilian opposition and for a quick restoration of the constitution followed by clean elections.

• India-Chad relations: Chad is a member country of International Solar Alliance (ISA), an India-France initiative. It is a member also of the TEAM-9 initiative (Techno Economic Approach for African Movement) comprising eight West and Central African countries seeking to benefit in technical and economic spheres through cooperation with India. The increase in the import of crude from Chad is the main reason for the significant increase in the bilateral trade (USD 513.59 million in 2018-19). India offered a Line of Credit of USD 27.45 million for establishment of Solar PV Module Manufacturing Plant at N’djamena. India also implemented a Technical Assistance Programme (TAP) for cotton in six African countries, namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Malawi, Nigeria and Uganda, from 2012 to 2018. Many civilians and Chad public servants have been offered courses and provided training under ITEC (Indian Technical Economic Cooperation).

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• 4. GOVERNMENT SCHEMES (Prelims, GS Paper 2, Essay paper)

Green Hydrogen

• The story: The Government of India announced scaling up of the target of 450 GW of renewable energy by 2030. The Union Budget 2021 also proposed the launch of the National Hydrogen Energy Mission.

• Details: Hydrogen is one of the most abundant elements on earth for a cleaner alternative fuel option. So for a clean future aligning hydrogen production needs to be synchronised with broader electricity demand in the economy.

1. An analysis by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), green hydrogen demand could be up to 1 million tonnes in India across application in sectors such as ammonia, steel, methanol, transport and energy storage. However, several challenges in scaling up to commercial-scale operations persist.
2. Green hydrogen energy is vital for India to meet its Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) Targets and ensure regional and national energy security, access and availability.

• Technical details: Green Hydrogen can act as an energy storage option, which would be essential to meet intermittencies (of renewable energy) in the future. In terms of mobility, for long distance mobilisations for either urban freight movement within cities and states or for passengers, Green Hydrogen can be used in railways, large ships, buses or trucks, etc. Hydrogen has the potential to be the key renewable target in supporting infrastructure as well.

• Related issues: A challenge faced by the industry for using hydrogen commercially is the economic sustainability of extracting green hydrogen. Most renewable energy resources that can produce low-cost electricity are situated far from potential demand centres. If hydrogen were to be shipped, it would significantly erode the economics of it. The technology used in production and use of hydrogen like Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and hydrogen fuel cell technology are at nascent stage and are expensive which in turn increases the cost of production of hydrogen. Then, the Electricity Act, 2003 has envisioned operationalizing open access power across State boundaries. However, this has not been implemented in letter and spirit. Without the removal this impediment the electricity tariffs could double when supplying open-access.

• Action points: Decentralised hydrogen production must be promoted through open access of renewable power to an electrolyser (which splits water to form H2 and O2 using electricity). There is also the need for mechanisms to ensure access to round-the-clock renewable power for decentralised hydrogen production. To minimise intermittency associated with renewable energy, fuel cells can ensure continuous hydrogen supply. Improving the reliability of hydrogen supply by augmenting green hydrogen with conventionally produced hydrogen will significantly improve the economics of the fuel. Steps like blending green hydrogen in existing processes, especially the industrial sector, can help. This will also help build a technical understanding of the processes involved in handling hydrogen on a large scale. Policymakers must facilitate investments in early-stage piloting and the research and development needed to advance the technology for use in India.

• Public funding: This will have to lead the way, but the private sector, too, has significant gains to be made by securing its energy future. India must learn from the experience of the National Solar Mission and focus on domestic manufacturing. Establishing an end-to-end electrolyser manufacturing facility would require measures like existing performance-linked incentive programmes. There is a need for a manufacturing strategy that can leverage the existing strengths and mitigate threats by integrating with the global value chain.

• Summary: As the threat of climate change becomes more real and urgent, promotion of Green Hydrogen technologies holds the real promise. Further, this could also be India’s opportunity to lead the world in a cutting-edge, growing space and generate employment in manufacturing, and R&D – in line with India’s Atma Nirbhar Bharat campaign.

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• 5. POLITY AND CONSTITUTION (Prelims, GS Paper 2, GS Paper 3)

Top courts of India on Covid as national emergency

• Out of control: On a day when India touched a grim world record of highest single-day increases in cases, an alarmed Supreme Court took suo motu cognisance of the handling of the second wave of Covid-19 and asked the central government to come up with a “national plan” on issues including supply of oxygen and essential drugs.

• CJI Bobde in action: The SC directed the Centre to file a response on four critical issues. “We want to know with regard to four issues — supply of oxygen, supply of essential drugs, method and manner of vaccination. We want to keep the power to declare lockdown to the state and this should not be by judicial decision…,” the Bench said.

1. The Chief Justice of India SA Bobde heard the matter on 23-04-2021, and appointed senior advocate Harish Salve to assist the court in this matter.
2. He said that “There is a lot of chaos happening. Some are using intemperate language, even the high court judges have lost their cool,” said CJI Bobde. The apex court also took note of the fact that at least six high courts are hearing petitions filed by exasperated citizens.

• High Court truly concerned: Bobde said “The high courts are rightly exercising their jurisdiction, but this is creating a lot of confusion and diversion of resources. One high court thinks they may have greater priority over other jurisdictions, but this may not possibly be even-handed,” the CJI said. The Bench, also comprising Justices L N Rao and S R Bhat, said it did not intend to supersede the orders of any states. “If the Centre had any national plan drafted, it could present the same before the concerned high courts,” he said.

• Citizens' lifeline: As central and state governments scrambled to protect lives across the country, several high courts — Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Sikkim, Madhya Pradesh, and Allahabad – criticised the respective state governments for failing to control the situation. The judicial intervention came as several patients were unable to even get tested for Covid-19 at many places, especially in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

• Delhi HC: The Delhi HC observed that the situation in the national capital has turned “precarious” with many hospitals running out of oxygen and directed the Centre to ensure the gas is supplied without any hindrances. “We all know that this country is being run by god," observed an anguish bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli which was of the view that all measures should be taken for removing obstructions in the transportation of oxygen.

• Bombay HC: The Bombay High Court on 22-04-2021 directed the Centre and the Maharashtra government to file their respective replies by May 4 on the management of available resources, including hospital beds, Remdesivir drug, vaccines and oxygen, to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic. The court said there had to be a portal for availability of essential Covid-19 drugs. “You should realise this is an emergency situation. The situation is getting grim with each passing day,” it said.

• Telangana HC: It directed the state to file its response on a decision to impose a complete lockdown. On Thursday, the Madras High Court Chief Justice also took suo motu notice of media reports on the diversion of Remdesivir, along with the shortage of oxygen. The HC recorded the advocate general’s submission that the state may never see a shortage of oxygen supply even if there was an unforeseen peak.  The TN government also assured that there are sufficient beds available in govt hospitals and many more in private hospitals.

• Gujarat HC: It asked the state government to formulate a policy for the distribution of Remdesivir injections to hospitals in view of the high demand of the key anti-Covid-19 drug.

• Summary: Many advocates had objected to the SC's approach. The bench said on 24-04-2021 that it had not transferred cases out of the high court. However, on 23-04, the SC had indeed said that since numerous high court were hearing related pleas, it could “cause confusion”. Then the court adjourned the matter till Tuesday, April 27, even though the matters it said it would be handling – including the supply of oxygen and essential medicines – are most urgent. The Supreme Court had also made senior advocate Harish Salve the amicus curiae in the case, but Salve recused himself saying people were pointing out he was appointed because of his school friendship with the CJI. Many senior advocates had criticised Salve’s appointment. The Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta urged Salve not to step down. Meanwhile, hospitals remained in panic mode, as oxygen regularly ran out of their stocks!

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• 6. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (Prelims, Various GS Papers)

Coffee and global warming

• The story: Coffee is a multi-billion dollar industry supporting the economies of several tropical countries. Roughly 100 million farmers depend on it for their livelihoods. Unfortunately for them, and for the many other people around the world for whom coffee is a near-essential adjunct to life, coffee bushes grow best in a rather narrow range of temperatures, so their cultivation is threatened by a changing climate.

• World market: The existing coffee market is dominated by Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora. Arabica hails from the highlands of Ethiopia and South Sudan. It prefers temperatures of 18-22°C. Coffea canephora, commonly called robusta, originated at lower elevations in west and central Africa. It was once thought capable of coping with temperatures of 30°C, but recent work suggests that it does not flourish above 24°C. Lots of other coffee species are known (122 at the last count). And many do, indeed, grow in places warmer than those preferred by canephora and arabica. But all were thought to have poorer flavours, smaller beans and lower yields. Dr Davis, however, came across a paper written in 1834 by George Don, a Scottish botanist, which described a species from the lowland hills of Sierra Leone. Don dubbed it Coffea stenophylla, and wrote that it had a flavour superior to arabica’s.

• Checking it out: Dr Davis and his colleagues report that they have tracked down a type of wild coffee which is both pleasant to taste and tolerant of higher temperatures. Dr Davis’s discovered that stenophylla still grows, in parts of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast that have temperature ranges between 24 and 26°C. He and his colleagues also learned that stenophylla was farmed up until the 1920s, after which canephora, which had higher yields, took over. Stenophylla was then gradually forgotten.

1. That history of previous cultivation did, however, suggest stenophylla was worth looking into. The crucial question was, was Don’s panegyric to its flavour justified?
2. Then was arranged a competition involving 18 professional coffee tasters who assessed, in a blind comparison, a set of samples that included stenophylla, two types of arabica and one of canephora.
3. Stenophylla performed well. It was rated as having higher fruitlike qualities than a Brazilian arabica and an Indonesian canephora, and also a more favourable acidity and more complex flavour profile, though slightly less of these desiderata than an Ethiopian arabica. It had nearly the same body as the others, and lacked an unpleasant, earthy bitterness found in the Brazilian arabica and the Indonesian canephora.
4. When asked if what they were tasting was arabica, the judges said “yes” 81% of the time for samples of stenophylla, compared with 98% for the arabica from Ethiopia. They identified the Brazilian arabica as such only 44% of the time, and (showing no one is perfect) misidentified the canephora as arabica on 7% of occasions.

• Summary: All told, these results suggest that Don’s report from 1834 is correct. Stenophylla does taste like arabica. And, crucially, it tolerates higher temperatures than either arabica or canephora. That opens two possible courses of action. One is to cultivate it directly, though this might run into the yield problem which led to its abandonment in the first place. The other is to crossbreed it with existing cultivars, to endow those high-yielding varieties with its heat tolerance. Whichever path is pursued, though (and they are not mutually exclusive), the rediscovery of stenophylla’s qualities offers hope not only to coffee growers who might otherwise have had their businesses harmed by rising temperatures, but also to the world’s caffeine addicts, who need now worry less about the future supply of their drug of choice.

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• 7. SOCIAL ISSUES (Prelims, GS Paper 2)

UNICEF report on gender bias in Indian advertising

• The story: The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media (GDI) released a report titled “Gender Bias and Inclusion In Advertising In India”. Research shows that while advertisements in India are superior to global benchmarks insofar as girls and women have parity of representation in terms of screen and speaking time, their portrayal is problematic as they further gender stereotypes.

• About GDI: It is a non-profit research organization that researches gender representation in media and advocates for equal representation of women.

• Points to note: While girls and women have a strong presence in Indian advertising, they are mostly reinforcing traditional gender roles by selling domestic and beauty products to female consumers. This is problematic because of the intergenerational transfer of norms to children, including a lack of empowering role models for men undertaking domestic work in the home and women working in the paid workforce.

1. Stereotyping - Male characters are more likely to be shown making decisions about their future than female characters (7.3% compared with 4.8%), the latter are twice as likely to be shown making household decisions than male characters (4.9% compared with 2.0%).
2. Colourism - Two-thirds of female characters (66.9%) in Indian ads have light or medium-light skin tones—a higher percentage than male characters (52.1%). This is problematic because this advances the discriminatory notion that light skin tones are more attractive.
3. Objectification - Female characters are nine times more likely to be shown as “stunning/very attractive” than male characters (5.9% compared with 0.6%). They are also invariably thin, but male characters appear with a variety of body sizes in Indian advertising.

• The fallout: Sexual objectification has serious consequences in the real world. The more girls and women internalize the idea that their primary value comes from being a sex object, the higher their rates of depression, body hatred and shame, eating disorders, and a host of other personal impacts.

• What to do: Establish guidelines for advertising with benchmarks for equitable representation for girls and women and promoting positive gender norms, including around leadership and body attitudes. Establish skin color guidelines and caste/class guidelines. Promote diverse templates of beauty rather than regressive beauty norms of women and girls being only fair, thin, etc. Advocate with advertisers to see value add in diversifying representation in gender, skin tone, and caste/class benchmarks to help promote brand equity and expand the consumer base.

• Gender equality in India: It has made gains as a result of legislative and policy measures, social-protection schemes for girls and adolescents and gender sensitive budgets over past years. Some Indian initiatives are "Beti Bachao Beti Padhao" Scheme, Scheme for Adolescent Girls (SAG), Sukanya Samridhi Yojana, etc. India has attained gender parity in primary enrolment and boosted female literacy from 54% (2001) to 66% (2011). But it ranks 108th out of 153 countries in the global gender inequality index in 2020, an increase since 2015 when it was ranked 130th out of 155 countries. India is among one of the few countries where under-5 mortality rates among girls is higher than boys. Gender-based discrimination and normalization of violence continues to be a challenge. Many women face overlapping social, emotional, physical, economic, cultural and caste related deprivations. Adolescent girls face many vulnerabilities, including poor nutritional status, increased burden of care, early marriage and early pregnancy, and issues related to reproductive health and empowerment while 56% are anemic.

• Summary: Harmful stereotypes of women in advertising has a negative impact on women and young girls—and how they view themselves and their value to society. While female representation dominates in Indian ads, they are still marginalised by colorism, hypersexualisation, and without careers or aspirations outside of the home.

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• 8. MISCELLANEOUS (Prelims, GS Paper 1, GS Paper 2)

Indian women win 7 gold in AIBA Youth World Boxing Championship

1. The story: Indian Women have created history at the AIBA 2021 Youth World Boxing Championship. A total of eight Indians entered the finals. Of this, seven were women. All the women finalists finished on top.
2. Details: In 2017, Indian Women won five gold medals. The 2017 Youth World Championship was held in Guwahati. This year, India won seven gold at the AIBA Youth Women World Boxing Championships.The sixth gold was added by Sanamacha. Sanamacha trains at boxing MC Mary Kom’s Academy in Imphal. She outperformed Kazakhstan’s Dana Diday in 75 kg final. Alfiya of Laharashtra clinched the seventh gold for India. She defeated a strong contender Daria Kozorez of Moldova. Gitika of Haryana won gold in 48 kg. She defeated a two-time European champion, Erika Prisciandaro. Erika is from Italy. In the finals, Gitika defeated Natalia Kuczewska. Poonam and Babyrojisana added two more gold medals. Poonam won Sthelyne Grosy in the finals and Babyrojisana won Valeriia Linkova in the finals. Arundhati from Rajasthan won gold in 69 kg. She beat the Polish boxer, Barbara Marcinkowska.
3. Men’s Section: Ankit Narwal won bronze in 64 kg. Similarly, Bishwamitra Chongthom and Vishal Gupta won bronze medal in 49 kg and 91 kg respectively.

India-US 2030 Climate Partnership

• The story: On April 22, 2021, India and the United States launched the US-India Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030 Partnership during the Leaders’ Summit. The US President hosted the Leaders Summit on Climate. The world leaders from around forty countries attended the summit.
• Details: The Partnership will proceed through the following - (a) Strategic Clean Energy Partnership, (b) Climate Action and Finance Mobilisation, (c) Dialogue.
• Indian promise: India will deploy 450 GW of renewable power and develop partnership with the US. Both the countries will work together to achieve their respective targets. Through the partnership, the countries will demonstrate how the world can align swift climate action taking into account sustainable development priorities.
• US targets: During the Summit, the US announced that it has set an ambitious target of reducing the greenhouse gas emissions by 50% to 52% in 2030 as compared to that of 2005 level. This was double the 2015 goal set by the former President of the US Barack Obama. The successor of Obama, Donald Trump had withdrawn from Paris Agreement. According the US, these steps will help the country achieve net zero emission by 2050. The US recently re-joined the Paris Agreement.
• Other announcements: The US announced that it will double its public climate financing to the developing countries. This is to be tripled by 2024. Chinese President promoted the Green Belt and Road Initiative of China. Also, he announced that China had pledged net zero emissions by 2060. The United Kingdom announced that it is half way in achieving net zero. The UK had set a target of reducing 78% of emissions by 2035 as compared to 1990 levels.
• Germany is on the track of reducing emissions by 55% by 2030 as compared to 1990 level.

World Book and Copyright Day: April 23

• The story: Every year the World Book and Copyrights Day is celebrated on April 23 by UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation. In 2021, to celebrate the World Book and Copyright Day, UNESCO created the “Bookface Challenge”.
• About it: The first World Book and Copyrights Day was celebrated in 1995. The UNESCO Prize for Children’s and Young People’s Literature in the Service of Tolerance is awarded on this day. Also, the day will increase the understanding of copyright laws and other measures that protect intellectual properties.
• Why April 23: The UNESCO decided to celebrate the World Book and Copyrights Day on April 23 as it is the death anniversary of William Shakespeare, Miguel de Cervantes and Inca Garcilasco de la Vega.
• In different regions: In Catalonia (Spain), the World Book Day is celebrated as St George’s Day since 1436. On this day, people exchange gifts between loved ones. Catalonia is an autonomous community in Spain. In Spain, the World Book Day is being celebrated since 1926 on October 7. This is because Miguel de Cervantes was born on October 7. In Sweden, the World Book Day is called the Varldsbokdagen. It is celebrated on April 13. In UK and Ireland, they organise an event called the “World Book Night” to celebrate the World Book Day. The World Book Day is celebrated as a street festival in the US.

COVIRAP Technology

• The story: The IIT Kharagpur has successfully commercialised the healthcare product COVIRAP. It is a diagnostic technology to detect COVID-19 virus. The technology is also capable of testing influenza, dengue, malaria. Tuberculosis and Japanese Encephalitis. Also, the technology can be used to test other vector borne diseases.
• Details: The testing cost of the COVIRAP based device is Rs 500, and will minimise the need for real time PCR machines and also for thermal cyclers. COVIRAP is a cuboid shaped portable testing device, capable of delivering the results in an hour. This will help to scale up the screening of COVID-19 in rural and peripheral areas. The COVIRAP based machines can be developed at a cost of less than Rs 10,000. COVIRAP conducts COVID-19 test using a swab sample. It does not require a separate facility for RNA extraction.
• Working: COVIRAP has a special detection unit for genomic analysis, pre-programmable temperature control unit and a customised smartphone app for results. It also has three master mixes that work as markers of different genes to confirm the presence of COVID-19. The samples collected through swabs react with these mixes. The paper strips coded with required chemicals are then dipped into the reaction products from the samples and mixes. The coloured lines indicate the presence of the COVID-19 virus.

9.1 Today's best editorials to read

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• SECTION 3 - MCQs (Multiple Choice Questions)

Solve the online quiz given, right now. Check scores, and relative performance!

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