UPSC Daily Current Affairs- 5th November 2022 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly PDF Download

GS-I

Context

27th Conference of Parties (COP27, beginning November 6, in Egypt) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

• The idea led to the formation of the United Nations Framework for Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC, also known as ‘The Convention’) in 1992, at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
• The convention divided the countries on the basis of their differing commitments: Annex I and II consisted of industrialized and developed countries and Non-Annex I comprised developing countries.

Summary of COP26

• Inadequate reduction commitment: In the runup to COP26, last year in Glasgow, several developed countries had declared their intention to reach net zero emissions by 2050. These declarations did not square with the requirements of “keeping 1.5 deg. C alive”.
• Global carbon budget: Four fifths of the global carbon budget to limit warming to 1.5°C (with 50% probability) has already been exhausted. Developed countries are responsible for more than half of these historical CO2 emissions. Nevertheless, there was much celebration of these targets.
• Politics over phasing out coal: There was also high drama at COP26, with moral grandstanding by many developed country negotiators who invoked the future of their children, because India and other countries understandably balked at the singling out of any one fossil fuel for immediate action.
• Developed countries didn’t meet the commitment: It is important to recall some of these shenanigans at COP26, as in the last year, it has become clear that developed countries may be unlikely to meet even the inadequate targets they have set, keeping to the trend of the last three decades.

What is the present energy situation in developing countries?

• Energy poverty concentrated in the developing countries: Global energy poverty is concentrated in the developing countries. In 2021, 733 million people had no access to electricity and almost 2.6 billion people lacked access to clean fuels and technologies.
• The average per capita energy: Energy use of the richest 20 countries is 85 times higher than that of the 20 poorest countries. Addressing this stark energy poverty in developing countries is important because there is a strong correlation between energy supply and human development.
• The average annual per capita electricity: Electricity consumption of sub-Saharan Africa is 487 kilowatt hours (kWh), alongside an infant mortality rate of 73 per 1,000 live births; maternal mortality ratio of 534 per 1,00,000 live births, and per capita GDP of $1,645. On the other hand, the OECD group of countries have a per capita electricity consumption of 7,750 kWh, corresponding to an infant mortality rate of seven, maternal mortality ratio of 18, and per capita GDP of $42,098.
• Slowdown due to lack of energy: The reality of global inequality was acutely evident during the COVID19 pandemic. Several countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America are facing severe agricultural and industrial slowdowns in the post pandemic period.
• The lack of reliable energy infrastructure: Infrastructure unavailability has compounded the difficulties and has multidimensional impacts across developmental indicators. In 2022, these inequalities have been aggravated by soaring energy and food prices.
• Rising cost of living: Several countries face a severe rise in the cost of living and nearly 70 million additional people are estimated to fall below the poverty line of $3.20 per person per day. Poor and vulnerable communities in the energy importing countries of the global South suffer the most. Almost 90 million people in Asia and Africa, who gained access to electricity recently, cannot afford to pay their energy bills.
• No acknowledgement of problem by developed countries: In this background, COP27 affords a critical moment to acknowledge and address the concerns surrounding energy access and security in developing countries. Unfortunately, these longstanding problems of the global South have been ignored by developed country governments, academia, and civil society. At a time when the language of energy poverty and security is re-entering the northern vocabulary, it is time to call out the hypocrisy of the advice on fossil fuel use given by the north to some of the world’s poorest regions since the Paris Agreement was signed.

How developed countries are hypocritic about energy use and commitments?

• Fossil fuel as primary energy source: In the United States, 81% of primary energy is from fossil fuels. In Europe, fossil fuels constitute 76% of the energy consumption (coal, oil, and natural gas contribute 11%, 31%, and 34% respectively).
• Negligible efforts for decarbonization: Thirty years after acknowledging the problem of anthropogenic global warming and committing in the UNFCCC, to take the lead in climate change mitigation, the level of decarbonization in the global North has been minuscule.
• Increasing coal consumption: In July 2022, the European Union (EU) voted to classify the use of natural gas for some uses as “green and sustainable”. Natural gas was responsible for 7.5 billion tonnes of CO2 (i.e., 23% of the total CO2 by the major fossil fuels), in 2020. Additionally, in 2022, even coal consumption in the U.S. and the EU is estimated to increase by 3% and 7%, respectively.
• Double standard for fossil fuel: These same developed countries argue that green energy constitutes a great business opportunity for developing countries as it has become cheaper. They have used this dubious argument to dismison s differentiation between developed and developing countries and are lobbying for banning the financing of any fossil fuel projects in some of the poorest countries.

What should be the agenda of developing countries at COP 27?

• Bring the energy poverty issue: At COP27, the global South must put the question of its energy poverty and the severe global inequalities in energy access squarely at the Centre of all discussions.
• Achieving SDGs with climate actions: We need to achieve zero hunger, zero malnutrition, zero poverty, and universal wellbeing even as we collectively contribute to ensuring effective climate action.
• No empty commitments: As the strapline for COP27 (“Together for Implementation”) suggests, we must work together to ensure that these developmental goals are not side-lined, as they were at COP26, in the pursuit of hollow declarations of net zero targets three decades into the future.

Conclusion

A developing country leadership at COP27 can ensure effective discussions, based on equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, on the relative responsibilities and sharing of mitigation and adaptation burdens while coping with loss and damage.

Source: The Hindu

Context

• Election of Rishi Sunak as British PM with a narrow majority has brought to focus Naoroji.
• He too had won Finsbury seat as a MP with a three vote’s majority.

Dadabhai Naoroji (1825-1917)

• Dadabhai Naoroji is well known as the “Grand Old Man of India” and “Unofficial Ambassador of India”.
• He was a Liberal Party Member of Parliament in the British House of Commons, represnting Finsbury Central between 1892 and 1895.
• He was the second person of Asian descent to be a British MP, the first being Anglo-Indian MP David Ochterlony Dyce Sombre.
• He was an Indian political leader, merchant, scholar and writer who was served as 2nd, 9th, and 22nd President of the Indian National Congress from 1886 to 1887, 1893 to 1894 & 1906 to 1907.
• His book Poverty and Un-British Rule in India brought attention to his theory of the Indian “wealth drain” into Britain.
• He was also a member of the Second Communist International (1889).

Other works

• Started the Rast Goftar Anglo-Gujarati Newspaper in 1854.
• The manners and customs of the Parsees (Bombay, 1864)
• The European and Asiatic races (London, 1866)
• Admission of educated natives into the Indian Civil Service (London, 1868)
• The wants and means of India (London, 1876)
• Condition of India (Madras, 1882)

• Influence on Gandhi and Jinnah

• Before his Finsbury win, Naoroji met a young student of law in Inner Temple, 23-year-old Mohandas K Gandhi, and left an everlasting impact on the future leader.
• He also met another aspiring lawyer then enrolled at Lincoln’s Inn — 16-year-old Mohammed Ali Jinnah, who was to serve for a while as Naoroji’s secretary.
• Jinnah had the distinction of hearing Naoroji’s maiden speech in the House of Commons from the Visitors’ Gallery.

Source: Indian Express

GS-II

Context

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) tops Grievance Redressal Index third month in a row.

About:

• Grievance Redressal Index is published by Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG).
• UIDAI has launched its new AI/ML based Chatbot, Aadhaar Mitra to further enhance residents’ experience. The new Chatbot comes with enhanced features like – check Aadhaar enrollment/update status, tracking of Aadhaar PVC card status etc.
• UIDAI is gradually rolling out advanced and futuristic Open-Source CRM solution.

UIDAI

• It is a statutory authority established under the provisions of Aadhaar act 2016 by the Govt. of India under the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology.
• Its aim to provide for good governance, efficient, transparent and targeted delivery of subsidies, benefits and services, the expenditure for which is incurred from the Consolidated Fund of India or the Consolidated Fund of State to residents of India through assigning of unique identity numbers.
• Its mission is to ensure security and confidentiality of identity information and authentication records of individuals.

Source: PIB

Context

In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court has upheld the Employees’ Pension (Amendment) Scheme, 2014.

About Employees’ Pension Scheme:

• EPF Pension which is technically known as Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS), is a social security scheme provided by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).
• The scheme was first launched in 1995.
• The scheme makes provisions for employees working in the organized sector for a pension after their retirement at the age of 58 years.

EPS (Amendment) Scheme, 2014:

• Through the EPS Amendment which became effective from 1 September 2014, the conditions of membership of the EPS Scheme underwent a change.
• Through the amendment, the EPS scheme was now applicable to such employees who on or after 16 November 1995 became a member of the EPF Scheme and whose monthly salary on the date of joining was less than or equal to INR 15,000.
• In the original scheme, introduced in 1995, this salary limit was INR 6,500.
• Further, the employees were required to contribute at the rate of 1.16% of the salary exceeding INR 15,000 as an additional contribution to the contributions payable by them under the EPF Scheme.
• The maximum pensionable salary was set at INR 15,000 per month.

The Sasikumar Case (2014):

• The petitioners in Sasikumar case were employees working in different establishments and had approached the Kerala High Court.
• The petitioners challenged the validity of the EPS Amendment on the ground that the same had placed them in an adverse position by making it onerous for them if they contribute towards the pension fund based on their actual salary.
• It was also argued that the cap of INR 15,000 was unrealistic and had no relation to the actual salaries drawn by employees across the country.
• The Kerala High Court held in the petitioners' favour, observing that nowhere in the EPF Act does it allow an additional rate of interest to be imposed for making contributions based on the actual salary of the employees.
• In view of the above, the Kerala High Court set aside the EPS Amendment along with all consequential orders and proceedings issued by the provident fund authorities based on the EPS Amendment.

Supreme Court’s Judgment (November, 2022):

• The EPFO had appealed against the Kerala High Court’s judgement of quashing the Employees’ Pension (Amendment) Scheme, 2014.
• A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court agreed with the changes brough in by the amendment and said “we do not find any flaw in altering the basis of computation of pensionable salary”.
• The court said the amendments to the scheme shall apply to employees of exempted establishments as they do for the employees of regular establishments.
• There are about 1,300 companies in the list of the EPFO’s (Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation) exempted establishments.
• However, the court held the amendment requiring members to contribute an additional 1.16 per cent of their salary exceeding Rs 15,000 a month as ultra vires the provisions of the Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952.

Source: The Hindu

GS-III

Context

The Army has approved sanction orders for the development of niche technology by the Indian industry under the Make-II route of defence procurement.

What are Make-Category Projects?

• The provision of ‘Make’ category of capital acquisition in Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) is a vital pillar for realising the vision behind the ‘Make in India’ initiative.
• It aims to foster indigenous capabilities through design & development of required defence equipment/product/systems or upgrades/ sub-systems/components /parts by both public and private sector in a faster time frame.
• ‘Make’ Procedure has following two sub-categories:
  • Make-I (Government Funded): Projects under ‘Make-I’ sub-category will involve Government funding of 90%, released in a phased manner and based on the progress of the scheme, as per terms agreed between MoD and the vendor.
  • Make-II (Industry Funded): Projects under ‘Make-II’ category will involve prototype development of equipment/ system/ platform or their upgrades or their sub-systems/ sub-assembly/assemblies/ components. They aim primarily for import substitution/innovative solutions, for which no Government funding will be provided for prototype development purposes.

Source: The Hindu

Context

• The haze and smoke over Delhi has become an annual event for about three weeks in October-November.
• The current situation has triggered a temporary ban on construction activities and the movement of trucks and diesel four-wheelers that do not comply with BS-VI norms.

Stubble Burning

Why Farmers opt for Stubble Burning?

• Rice and wheat straws left in the field, after combine harvesting, are generally burnt by the farmers to facilitate seed bed preparation and seeding.
• Farmers find this method as quick and cheap compared to other practices for crop residue management.
• Since input costs of farming is going up day by day, farmers are not willing to further invest in equipments useful for crop residue management.
• Happy Seeder (a tractor-operated machine for in-situ management of paddy stubble) continues to be an expensive method for majority of farmers.

Areas where this practice is rampant

• Burning of agricultural residue is done on a large-scale basis in states such as Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and National Capital Region of Delhi.
• This is prevalent in other states too. This includes: Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal etc.

Steps Taken by the government to tackle this issue

• Taken by Centre
  • A Central Sector Scheme on ‘Promotion of Agricultural Mechanisation for In-Situ Management of Crop Residue in the States of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and NCT of Delhi’ was approved.
  • Farmers are being provided 50 percent of the cost of machinery/equipment as financial assistance for the purchase of such machinery.
  • Over the last three years, the Centre has been heavily subsidizing various agriculture machines.
  • Profit from the left-over biomass is shared with farmers.
• Taken by State Governments and Other agencies
  • States governments and other agencies are sensitising farmers on healthier practices.
  • Recently Punjab government decided to give incentives to industries which install paddy-straw-fired boilers.
  • It also decided to provide non-fiscal incentives to these industries in terms of availability of Panchayat land for storage of paddy straw with lease agreement upto 33 years.
• Pusa Decomposer
  • It is a bio-enzyme developed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) to decompose crop residue.
  • It decomposes stubble within 20-25 days after spraying and turn it into manure, improving the soil quality.
  • It is cost effective as well. One packet of four capsule costs Rs 20 and can be used to make 25 litres of solution that can be used in one hectare.

Factors responsible for the pollution

• Burning of agricultural waste
  • At this time of the year, the burning of agricultural waste in Punjab and Haryana is indeed the dominant reason for the smoke and haze over Delhi.
  • The particulate matter from the burning contributes 30-40% of the PM2.5 concentrations in Delhi’s air during this time.
• Weather
  • The weather also plays a critical role as well — a 30-40% rise in pollutants at any other time of the year would not cause the same impact.
  • During October-November, the pollutants are trapped and tend to get concentrated at lower levels of the atmosphere, resulting in the smoke and haze situation that is being witnessed now.
  • During summer time, hotter air rises higher above the surface, and takes the pollutants along with it.
  • Hence, the polluting particles are lifted 2-3 km above the surface or even higher, before getting dispersed.
• Other factors
  • Construction activities; Movement of diesel vehicles, particularly older trucks etc.

Way Forward:

• Creation of markets for crop residue-based briquettes (a compressed block of combustible biomass material)
• Nearby thermal power plants must mandatorily undertake co-firing of crop residues with coal
• A special credit line should be established for financing farm equipment and working capital for private sector participation
• Alternate beneficial use of crop residues must be promoted.
• These include: compost production, bioenergy production, biochar production, in pulp and paper industry etc.
• There is a huge potential to convert crop residues and food/ plant wastes into bio-fuel. Government should start incentivising industries engaged in production of bio-fuels.

Source: Indian Express

Context

• In a March 2019 circular, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) raised the subject of premature issuance of completion certificates for national highway works. NHAI had noticed that, in certain cases, completion certificates had been issued even before the completion of works ‘up to the standardspecificationstions’ prescribed by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways.

Status of National highways and deaths

• 35 percent of all road deaths: NHAI is the principal organization responsible for construction of National Highways in India. National highways constitute a mere 2 percent of the country’s road network, but account for close to 35 percent of all road deaths.
• Record 37 kms per day: The ministry has been taking credit for the pace at which national highways are being constructed. In the fiscal year 2021, it reached a record 37 kms per day. This has come down to 19.44 km per day in the first six months of the financial year 2022.

What was the circular issued by NHAI?

• Issuance of completion certificate: The circular forbade the issuance of such certificates, especially if non-completion resulted in ‘material inconveniences to users’ or affected their safety.
• Likely cause of fatalities: Items such as road shoulders, road signs, markings, dressing of slopes, and road furniture were explicitly mentioned. circular was not taken with due seriousness by some authorized engineers. This negligence could have contributed to road crashes, probably resulting in fatalities.
• Dereliction of duty by NHAI’s officials: The NHAI has now warned the delinquents that such behavior would be treated as a serious dereliction of duty and disciplinary action would be taken against officers issuing such certificates to incomplete road works. Additionally, the officers would be held personally liable in case of serious accidents that occur on such unfinished infrastructure.
• Safety is better than pace of construction: The Minister for Road Transport & Highways stressed that it is necessary to build safer roads even if this decelerated the pace of construction.

Case study of NHAI’s road construction?

• Death of Cyrus Mistry: Unfortunately, self-introspection by the NHAI in regard to safety failures and the large number of deaths on national highways was not in evidence in the aftermath of the death of Cyrus Mistry on the Ahmedabad-Mumbai national highway in September 2022.
• Crash was result of poor infrastructure: In this instance, a seven-member forensic investigation team found that the car crash was the result of an infrastructure issue. The car in which Mistry was travelling happened to tragically hit a bridge that was faultily designed.
• Invisible dividers: The bridge parapet was found to be protruding into the shoulder lane. Furthermore, the road with three lanes unexpectedly narrowed to a road with two lanes with a dangerous L-shaped concrete divider that had no proper paint on it.
• Inadequate safety signs: Road signages were grossly inadequate, making that road stretch a ‘black spot’. This epithet is used for a road section where accidents are a frequent occurrence.
• Expressways are constructed for more speed: The accident also raised issues of the excessive speed of the car that crashed. It was said that the car was travelling at a speed in excess of 100 km per hour. However, the minister himself has been in favour of higher speeds on Indian expressways and national highways. He proposed a speed limit of 140 kmph on expressways and at least 100 kmph on four-lane national highways. This, he stated, was advocated on account of considerable improvements in the quality of India’s highways that permit vehicles to go faster than in the past.
• Speed limit safety needs to be revise: The minister was also critical of some judicial rulings that disallowed hiking speeds on national highways. However, in the light of certain facts repeatedly surfacing in regard to safety issues of national highways, it does appear that greater caution in regard to increasing speed needs to be taken.

Critical analysis of NHAI’s road construction and maintenance

• Rains and potholes: While the government claims that they are of international standard, a recent report highlighted the plight of road travelers on national highways post India’s monsoons. The rains have left the country’s arterial network in poor shape as they have become riddled with potholes.
• Higher toll but poor roads: The cited report mentioned the Gurgaon-Jaipur stretch of NH-8, which, despite a hike in toll rates, remains incomplete and terribly potholed. The reason for this sorry state of affairs was revealed in a reply by the government to a parliamentary standing committee.
• Insufficient maintenance: The budgetary provision for maintenance of national highways was a mere 40 percent of their own estimated standards. Clearly, maintenance of national highways was being discounted in favour of more kilometres of road construction. The shortfall of 60 percent of maintenance money was terribly high and resulted in the resources being thinly spread, making adequate maintenance intervention highly unlikely.
• Inadequate budgetary allocation: The parliamentary committee pointed out in its report titled ‘Issues related to road sector’ that the shortfall in sufficient budgetary allocation was echoed in the poor quality of national highways often witnessed across the country. The committee emphasized that the maintenance of national highways was vitally significant in regard to safety and good average traffic speeds and ought to be given high priority. The issue had been repeatedly flagged by the committee.
• NITI Aayog’s acknowledgement of poor infrastructure: Similarly, NITI Aayog, in its report titled ‘Strategy for New India @75’, advised that the government should earmark 10 percent of its annual budget for maintenance of roads and highways and move towards the developed country norm of marking 40 percent of the budget for road upkeep. It is evident that if national highways are not in shape, the economy of the country and the states takes a hit.

Conclusion

It is absolutely necessary for citizens to follow road safety norms but government cannot look away from its responsibility. Scientific road construction even at the cost of slow construction rate is non-negotiable for sake of accident prevention. Safety of citizens is prior to any world record.

Source: Imdian Express

Context

ISRO’s radar-imaging satellite Risat-2 has finally landed on Earth after completing its ‘job’ for over 13 years and lands near Jakarta.

About:

• It was launched on 20 April 2009 by a PSLV C-12 rocket following the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. 
• It was India’s first “eye in the sky” to keep surveillance on the country’s borders as part of anti-infiltration and anti-terrorist operations.
• It was also used to track enemy ships at sea.
• The main sensor of RISAT-2, which was able to observe in all weather conditions day and night, was Israel Aerospace Industries' X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar.
• It carried 30 kg of fuel for an initial designed life of four years. 
• Due to proper maintenance of orbit and mission planning by the spacecraft operations team in ISRO and by economical usage of fuel, RISAT-2 provided very useful payload data for 13 years.

Source: The Hindu