UPSC Daily Current Affairs- 9th May 2023 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly PDF Download

GS-I

Why in News?

The central government recently issued a notification declaring the ancient temple of Tungnath as a monument of national importance.

About Tungnath Temple:

• Location:It is located in Rudraprayag District, Uttarakhand.
• It is the highest Shiva temple in the world nestled at an altitude of 3680 meters.
• It is one of the Panch Kedars and is believed to have belonged to an ancient era almost 1000 years old. 
• It was built in the North Indian style of architecture and has a dozen shrines of other Gods surrounding the temple. 

What are Panch Kedars?

• Panch Kedar is a group of five sacred shrines of Lord Shiva located in the Garhwal Himalayas, Uttarakhand.
• The five temples are the Kedarnath Temple at an altitude of 3,583 m (11,755 ft), the Tungnath Temple (3,680 m or 12,070 ft), the Rudranath Temple (3,559 m or 11,677 ft), the Madhyamaheshwar Temple or Madmaheshwar (3,490 m or 11,450 ft) and the Kalpeshwar Temple (2,200 m or 7,200 ft).

Source: Indian Express

GS-II

Switching on India’s smart electricity future

Why in News?

India will soon have a smart transmission system incorporating features that can improve efficiency, disaster preparedness, etc.

About Smart Meters:

• Smart meters are next-generation digital electricity meters that measure energy consumption and communicate this information back to the utility company in near real-time.
• Unlike traditional electric meters that require manual reading, smart meters automatically send readings to the utility company, enabling a two-way communication between the meter and the utility.

India’s Vision:

• India is striving hard to implement this vision by installing more than 5.5 million smart meters, with over 100 million sanctioned for installation.
• The country aims to replace 250 million conventional electric meters with prepaid smart meters by 2025-26.
• To support this initiative, India is providing a results-linked grant-cum-financing to power distribution companies (discoms) to become financially sound and efficient in providing better services to consumers.

Benefits of Smart Meters over traditional electric meters: A recent study by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) found that the majority of smart meter users have already begun to experience some of the technology benefits.

• Accurate billing: Smart meters enable accurate billing as they eliminate the need for estimated bills, providing customers with accurate and transparent information about their energy usage.
• Near real-time data: Smart meters provide near real-time data on energy consumption, enabling customers to monitor their usage and make informed decisions about their energy consumption.
• Dynamic pricing: Smart meters have the potential to enable dynamic pricing, where electricity tariffs vary depending on the time of day, season or other factors, incentivizing customers to use energy when it’s cheaper and reducing demand during peak hours.
• Improved energy management: Smart meters allow utilities to better manage energy supply and demand, reduce power outages, and integrate renewable energy sources more effectively.
• Energy theft detection: Smart meters can help detect and respond to energy theft, reducing losses for utilities and ensuring a fair distribution of energy costs.
• Customer control: Smart meters provide customers with more control over their energy consumption, allowing them to better manage their energy usage and reduce their bills.

Challenges:

• High Capital Costs: A full scale deployment of smart meters requires expenditures on all hardware and software components, network infrastructure and network management software, along with costs associated with the installation and maintenance and information technology systems.
• Integration: Smart Meter must be integrated with utilities’ information technology systems, including Customer Information Systems (CIS), Geographical Information Systems (GIS), Outage Management Systems (OMS),Mobile Workforce Management (MWM), Distribution Automation System (DAS), etc.
• Standardisation: Interoperability standards need to be defined, which set uniform requirements for technology, deployment and general operations.
• Release of Radiation: Unlike the electronic meter, the smart meter allows ‘communication’ among the consumer and the meter, hence there is probability of release of radiation.

Way Forward:

India is on a unique journey of meeting its growing electricity demand while decarbonizing its generation sources. Smart meters comprise a critical part of the transition toolbox, by way of enabling responsible consumption, efficient energy management, and cost-effective integration of distributed energy resources.

Therefore, with the effective implementation, India can improve smart meter deployment and user satisfaction, making the smart-meter revolution a reality.

Source: The Hindu

Why in News?

The Arab government representatives recently voted for Syria's return to the Arab League after a 12-year suspension.

More about the news

• Suspension of the membership:
  • Syria’s membership in the Arab League was suspended 12 years ago early on in the uprising-turned-conflict, which has killed nearly a half million people since March 2011 and displaced half of the country’s pre-war population of 23 million.
• Jordanian initiative:
  • Jordan recently hosted regional talks that included envoys from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Egypt, and Syria. 
  • They agreed on a framework called the “Jordanian initiative”, that would slowly bring Damascus back into the Arab fold.
  • All 13 of the 22 member states that attended the session endorsed the decision. 
    • The Arab League generally tries to reach agreements by consensus but sometimes opts for simple majorities.
• Conflict in Sudan:
  • The conflict in Sudan is also on the agenda of the league’s meeting, as Arab governments try to stabilise a shaky ceasefire in the ongoing fighting that has killed hundreds of people over the past few weeks.

Significance

• Commitment of a dialogue:
  • The decision for Syria to return also includes a commitment to ongoing dialogue with Arab governments to gradually reach a political solution to the conflict, in line with United Nations Security Council Resolution. 
  • The Arab League in the decision also set up a communications committee consisting of Saudi Arabia and Syria’s neighbors Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq to follow up on developments.
• Syria’s willingness to cooperate:
  • In addition to commitments to a gradual resolution to the conflict, the decision also welcomed the Syrian Government’s willingness to cooperate with Arab countries to resolve “humanitarian, security, and political” crises that affected Syria and the region due to the conflict — namely refugees, “the threat of terrorism and drug smuggling”.
• Earthquake as a catalyst:
  • The Arab rapprochement with Syria accelerated after a deadly earthquake that shattered parts of the war-torn country.
    • The February 6th 2023 earthquake that rocked Turkey and Syria was a catalyst for further normalisation across the Arab world, including regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran re establishing ties in Beijing, which had backed opposing sides in the conflict.

Challenge

• There is still no Arab consensus on normalisation with Syria. 
• Several governments did not attend the meeting. 
• Among the most notable absentees was Qatar, which continues to back opposition groups against Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government, and continues to resist normalisation with Syria.

Syrian Crisis

• Pre conflict scenario:
  • Even before the conflict began, many Syrians were complaining about high unemployment, corruption and a lack of political freedom under President Bashar al-Assad, who succeeded his father, Hafez, after he died in 2000.
• Beginning of uprisings:
  • In March 2011, pro-democracy demonstrations erupted in the southern city of Deraa, inspired by uprisings in neighbouring countries against repressive rulers.
• The unrest:
  • When the Syrian government used deadly force to crush the dissent, protests demanding the president's resignation erupted nationwide.
    • The unrest spread and the crackdown intensified. 
  • Opposition supporters took up arms, first to defend themselves and later to rid their areas of security forces. 
  • Mr Assad vowed to crush what he called "foreign-backed terrorism".
• Civil War:
  • The violence rapidly escalated and the country descended into civil war. 
  • Hundreds of rebel groups sprung up and it did not take long for the conflict to become more than a battle between Syrians for or against Mr Assad. 
  • Syria's Kurds, who want the right of self-government but have not fought Mr Assad's forces, have added another dimension to the conflict.
• Involvement of foreign powers:
  • Foreign powers began to take sides, sending money, weaponry and fighters, and as the chaos worsened extremist jihadist organisations with their own aims, such as the Islamic State (IS) group and al-Qaeda, became involved. 
    • That deepened concern among the international community who saw them as a major threat.
  • Who supports whom?
    • The government's key supporters have been Russia and Iran, 
    • while Turkey, Western powers and several Gulf Arab states have backed the opposition to varying degrees during the conflict.

Issues faced by Syria

• Deaths:
  • More than 5,900 people were killed across Syria and another 8.8 million were affected, according to the UN. 
• Loss of infrastructure:
  • Thousands of homes and critical infrastructure were destroyed, leaving many families without food, water and shelter.
  • Access to medical care is severely restricted for the sick and injured because only half of the country's hospitals are fully functional.
• Displacements:
  • In addition to the bloodshed, more than half of Syria's pre-war population of 22 million have had to flee their homes. 
  • Some 6.8 million are internally displaced, with more than two million living in tented camps with limited access to basic services.
  • Another 6 million are refugees or asylum-seekers abroad.
• Inflation:
  • The disaster happened at a time when the prices of food and fuel in Syria were already skyrocketing because of runaway inflation and the collapse of its currency, as well as the global crisis exacerbated by the war in Ukraine.
• Loss of cultural heritage:
  • Much of Syria's rich cultural heritage has likewise been destroyed. 
  • All six of the country's Unesco World Heritage sites have been damaged significantly, with IS militants deliberately blowing up parts of the ancient city of Palmyra.

Way ahead

• The UN Security Council has called for the implementation of the 2012 Geneva Communiqué, which envisages a transitional governing body "formed on the basis of mutual consent".
• It does not look like it will anytime soon, but everyone agrees a political solution is required.

Source: The Hindu

Why in News?

Recently, Saudi Prince and Prime Minister hosted a special meeting of the National Security Advisers (NSAs) of India, the U.S. and the UAE, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

• This meeting is being billed as another important Quad in West Asia.

• The participating leaders discussed an ambitious infrastructure project that will counter China's efforts to expand its footprint through Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

I2U2

• I2U2 is a diplomatic group of the India, Israel, the UAE and the United States.
  • US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has used the I2-U2 moniker for the four-member grouping.
• The grouping was launched in October 2021 when the first virtual meeting of the foreign ministers of India, Israel, the US and the UAE took place.
• The new grouping is described as an international forum for economic cooperation.
• This grouping is already being termed as a New Quad’ or the ‘Middle-Eastern Quad’.
• Objective – To generate synergies that go beyond government level cooperation.

China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)

• China’s Belt and Road Initiative (also known as One Belt, One Road (OBOR)) envisages the construction of a maze of road, rail and port projects through a number of countries.
• It aims to strengthen Beijing’s economic leadership through a vast program of infrastructure building throughout China’s neighbouring regions.
• This initiative is called “21st century silk road,” and is made up of
  • a belt of overland corridors (also known as silk road economic belt)
  • a maritime road of shipping lanes.

News Summary: Doval in Saudi to discuss US rail link plan for West Asia

• Recently, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval met his counterparts from the US, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
• The leaders discussed an ambitious proposal to link West Asian countries through rail — using Indian expertise — and connect the region to South Asia via sea lanes.
  • The proposal is being pushed by the White House.

Background: Origin of the new initiative

• The new initiative came up during talks that were held over the last 18 months in another forum called I2U2.
• Israel raised the idea of connecting the region through railways during the I2U2 meetings over the last year.
• Part of the idea was to use India’s expertise on such big infrastructure projects.

Key highlights of the meeting:

• The participants discussed the broad contours of the massive joint project to build railway, maritime and road connectivity in the larger region.
• This project aims to link the Indian subcontinent in South Asia with West Asia — which the US calls the Middle East.
  • In other words, the project would connect Gulf and Arab countries via a network of railways.
  • This network would also be connected to India via shipping lanes from ports in the region.

Why India is keen to participate in the project?

• Presence of China in the West Asian region
  • Beijing has expanded its sphere of political influence in the West Asian region through what Delhi views as mission creep.
    • Mission creep is a term used to describe a situation where a mission or project expands gradually beyond its original goals, often without clear direction or oversight.
  • The breakthrough in ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran had caught India unawares.
    • This breakthrough was mediated by China and it gave Beijing a space in the West Asia region.
• India’s interests in West Asia
  • This project has potential implications for India’s interests in West Asia, which provides energy security.
    • Such connectivity will allow for faster movement of the crude and minimise India’s costs in the long term.
  • The connectivity boost will also help India’s eight million citizens who live and work in the Gulf region.
• India as an infrastructure builder
  • The project will help India build a brand as an infrastructure builder in the railways sector.
  • Boasting a strong rail network at home and buoyed by the success of creating such infrastructure in Sri Lanka, India has the confidence to do it overseas.
  • This will also have the effect of countering the Chinese Belt and Road project, which has burdened many countries in the region with infrastructure that has limited utility.
• India’s connectivity to its western neighbours faces several challenges
  • India feels that India’s connectivity to its western neighbours has been limited for long by Pakistan’s blocking of overland transit routes.
  • So, Delhi wants to use shipping routes to reach West Asian ports.
  • These include Chabahar and Bandar-e-Abbas (Iran), Duqm (Oman), Dubai (UAE), Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) and Kuwait City.

 Source: The Hindu

GS-III

Why in News?

Recently, NTCA stepped in over the violation of the Ecologically Sensitive Zone (ESZ) norms by the Kali Tiger Reserve authorities.

About Ecologically Sensitive Zone (ESZ):-

• As per the National Wildlife Action Plan (2002-2016) of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) the state governments should declare land falling within 10 km of the boundaries of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries as eco-fragile zones or Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZs) under the Environmental (Protection) Act, 1986.
  • Areas beyond 10 km can also be notified by the Union government as ESZs if they hold larger ecologically important “sensitive corridors”.
• Objectives:-
  • to regulate certain activities around National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries.
  •  to minimise the negative impacts of such activities on the fragile ecosystem encompassing the protected areas.

Activities Allowed in ESZs:-

• Prohibited Activities: Commercial mining, sawmills, industries causing pollution (air, water, soil, noise etc), the establishment of major hydroelectric projects (HEP), and commercial use of wood.
• Tourism activities like hot-air balloons over the National Park, discharge of effluents or any solid waste or production of hazardous substances.
• Regulated Activities: Felling of trees, the establishment of hotels and resorts, commercial use of natural water, erection of electrical cables, drastic change of agricultural system etc.
• Permitted Activities: Ongoing agricultural or horticultural practices, rainwater harvesting, organic farming, use of renewable energy sources, and adoption of green technology for all activities.

Significance of ESZs:-

• To minimize the impact of urbanization and other developmental activities, the areas adjacent to protected areas have been declared as Eco-Sensitive Zones.
• ESZs help in in-situ conservation, which deals with the conservation of an endangered species in its natural habitat. 
• Eco-Sensitive Zones minimise forest depletion and man-animal conflict.
• Minimise the Negative Impact on the Fragile Ecosystems
• They also act as a transition zone from areas of high protection to areas involving lesser protection

Source: The Hindu

Why in News?

Recently, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), has de-recognised six Indian clearing houses.

About European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA):-

• The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) is an independent European Union (EU) Authority.
• It contributes to safeguarding the stability of the EU’s financial system by enhancing the protection of investors and promoting stable and orderly financial markets.
• It is the direct supervisor of specific financial entities:
  • Credit Rating Agencies (CRAs)
  • Securitisation repositories (SRs)
  • Trade Repositories (TRs)
• These entities form essential parts of the EU’s market infrastructure.

About European Market Infrastructure Regulation:-

• It was adopted by the EU in August 2012.
• It is an implementation of the G20 commitment to reduce systemic, counterparty and operational risk, and increase transparency in the OTC derivatives market. 
• It was also designed as a preventative measure to avoid fallout during possible future financial crises similar to the collapse that followed the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy in 2008.
• Its focus is the regulation of over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives, central counterparties and trade repositories.
• It provides guidance on reporting of derivative contracts, implementation of risk management standards and common rules for central counterparties and trade repositories.
• It establishes common rules for central counterparties.
• It also outlines three sets of obligations, including the clearing, reporting and risk mitigation of applicable products.
• It requires mandatory clearing obligations for specific OTC derivative contracts.
  • The obligations require that over-the-counter derivatives trades are cleared through central counterparties.
• EMIR requires that all entities entering into derivative contracts must submit reports to their corresponding trade repositories, outlining each over-the-counter trade.
• EMIR covers entities that qualify for derivative contracts to interest rate, equity, foreign exchange, or credit and commodity derivatives.
• The risk mitigation standards outlined in EMIR’s Article 11 impose risk management regulation on bilateral derivatives, as these derivatives are not appropriate for standard central counterparty clearing
• Article 25 of EMIR requires CCPs in other global jurisdictions providing services to European banks to be approved by ESMA.
• India signed the pact in 2017, which lapsed in March 2022.

About Clearing Corporation of India (CCIL):-

• The Clearing Corporation of India (CCIL), was set up in April 2001.
• It was set up by banks, financial institutions and primary dealers.
• Objective: to function as an industry service organisation for clearing and settlement of trades in the money market, government securities and foreign exchange markets.
• The Clearing Corporation plays the crucial role of a Central Counterparty (CCP) in:
  • The government securities,
  • USD –INR forex exchange (both spot and forward segments) 
  • Collagenised Borrowing and Lending Obligation (CBLO) markets.
• CCIL plays the role of a central counterparty whereby the contract between buyer and seller gets replaced by two new contracts – between CCIL and each of the two parties.
  • This process is known as ‘Novation’.
• Through novation, the counterparty credit risk between the buyer and seller is eliminated with CCIL subsuming all counterparty and credit risks.
• It also provides non-guaranteed settlement services for National Financial Switch (Interbank ATM transactions) and for rupee derivatives such as Interest Rate Swaps.
• CCIL is also providing a reporting platform and acts as a repository for Over Counter (OTC) products.

Source: Financial Express

Why in News?

The Petersberg Dialogue on Climate Change was held in Berlin from May 2-3, 2023. 

More about the news

• The Petersberg Climate Dialogue was hosted by Germany and the United Arab Emirates, which is hosting the 28th Conference of Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. 
• Ministers from 40 countries attended the conference to discuss the way forward towards COP28. 
• The discussions at the event veered around global renewables target, climate finance and Global Stocktake.

Summit highlights

• Global renewables target
  • According to members, in order to limit global warming to 1.5°C, the world needs to make sharp cuts in their greenhouse gas emissions. 
  • They also initiated discussions around a potential global target for renewables at the next climate conference.
• Fossil fuels: Phaseout production or reduce emissions?
  • Members agreed to be laser focused on phasing out fossil fuel emissions, while phasing up viable, affordable zero-carbon alternatives. 
  • They called for a tripling of renewable energy capacity by 2030 followed by a doubling in 2040, & the address was focused on reducing fossil fuel ‘emissions’. 
• On track for $100 billion climate finance:
  • According to members, developed countries are “on good track” to deliver the $100 billion per year they had promised to mobilise by 2020 during the COP15 in 2009. 
    • Although this is good news, delivering the $100 billion goal in 2023 might be a little too late. 
  • The $100 billion is likely to be a gross underestimation of the true need for climate finance in developing countries. 
  • A recent estimate pegs climate finance needs at $1 trillion per year by 2030 for emerging markets alone. 
    • This means that climate finance needs are more than 10 times the amount that developed countries have been able to mobilise, 14 years after committing to the $100 billion figure. 
• Global Stocktake:
  • 2023 is the year for the Global Stocktake. 
    • Global Stocktake is essentially a periodic review of global climate action which aims to assess whether current efforts will enable us to reach the objectives set out in the Paris Agreement. 
    • This is the first Global Stocktake year since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015 and the report has been underway for the past two years. 
      • It is set to be released in September of 2023. 
  • Stocktake outcomes:
    • Members noted that the Global Stocktake outcome should focus on how climate change impacts, actions and responses have a bearing on the developmental priorities of developing countries including eradication of poverty.
    • The first Global Stocktake should seek to convey a message on sustainable lifestyles as well as sustainable consumption to inform the next round of Nationally Determined Contributions and enhanced international cooperation.

Way ahead:

• Although the $100 billion pledge might have been met this year, the needs have now escalated. This underlines the urgent need for financial reparations. 
• COP28 UAE will be a milestone moment when the world will take stock of its progress on the Paris Agreement.
  • The first Global Stocktake (GST), will provide a comprehensive assessment of progress since adopting the Paris Agreement. 
  • This will help align efforts on climate action, including measures that need to be put in place to bridge the gaps in progress.

Source: The Hindu