GS Analyst
Daily Current Affairs

To address India’s escalating need for green financing, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) unveiled its Climate Strategy 2030 document on the occasion of Earth Day.

1: Dimension-Need to focus on Green Financing

• Green finance, which aligns financial investments with sustainable and eco-friendly projects, has emerged as a pivotal force in fostering the advancement of renewable energy in India.
• India’s commitment to renewable energy, aiming to achieve 500 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030, requires green funding.
• While facilitating the expansion of renewable energy infrastructure, green finance contributes to a reduction in the carbon footprint.

2: Dimension-Challenges in the sector

• Insufficient green finance: India requires approximately USD 170 billion annually to reach a cumulative total of over USD 2.5 trillion by 2030, current green finance inflows are critically insufficient.
  • As of 2019-20, India garnered about USD 49 billion in green financing.
• Minimal private sector engagement: With the majority of funds earmarked for mitigation, only USD 5 billion was allocated towards adaptation and resilience.
• Viability issues: Private sector is showing less interest in these areas due to challenges in bankability and commercial viability.
• Other hurdles:Issues such as project risks, policy uncertainties, and the need for standardized green finance metrics pose hurdles for the sector.

More than 12 years after it was delivered, the Centre moved the Supreme Court seeking modification of its verdict in the 2G spectrum case as the Centre wanted to grant 2G spectrum licences in some cases.

The settled Judgement of Supreme Court in 2G Spectrum case

• The only mode: Auction is the only mode for granting licences for natural resources like spectrum, the radio frequencies allocated to the mobile phone industry for communication over the airwaves.
• Duty bound: When it comes to alienation of scarce natural resources like spectrum etc, it is the burden of the State to ensure that a non-discriminatory method is adopted for distribution and alienation, which would necessarily result in protection of national/public interest.

1: Dimension- Significance of 2G spectrum case

• The allocation of natural resources, such as spectrum, is a critical issue that affects the functioning of various industries, particularly the telecommunications sector. The 2G spectrum case in India serves as a significant landmark in highlighting the importance of fair and transparent resource allocation methods.
• Auctions ensure transparency, fairness, and maximum revenue generation for the government, thereby safeguarding public interest.

2: Dimension- Lessons Learned

• Transparency and Accountability: The 2G spectrum case emphasizes the need for transparent and accountable mechanisms in allocating natural resources. Auctions serve as a robust method to achieve these objectives, ensuring that resources are allocated efficiently and in the best interest of the public.
• Preventing Corruption and Favoritism: By mandating auctions as the sole mode of allocation, the Supreme Court's verdict aimed to curb corruption and favoritism in resource allocation processes. Auctions minimize the potential for undue influence and ensure equal opportunities for all stakeholders.

The 2G spectrum case serves as a reminder of the critical importance of fair and transparent allocation of natural resources. By emphasizing the role of auctions and the state's duty to protect public interest, the judgment sets a precedent for ensuring integrity and accountability in resource allocation processes.

In the year 2023, Asia faced the most disasters in the world as 79 events associated with extreme weather, climate, and water-related hazards, affecting over nine million people in the region and claiming over 2,000 lives, as per a new report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

Key-highlights of the Report (Climate Disaster Profile)

• Report Title: State of the Climate in Asia 2023
• Asia has warmed faster than the global average and the warming trend has nearly doubled since the 1961-1990 period.
• Key climate change indicators such as surface temperatures, glacier retreat and sea level rise will have major consequences for Asia, its economy and ecosystems.
• In India alone, severe heatwaves in April and June resulted in about 110 reported fatalities due to heatstroke.
• In August 2023, India experienced a record-high monthly mean temperature and exceptional rainfall deficit, which can be linked to El Niño
• Floods were the leading cause of death in reported events in 2023 by a substantial margin.

1: Dimension- Significance of the Report

The report sheds light on the alarming frequency and severity of climate-related disasters in Asia, emphasizing the urgent need for proactive disaster management strategies.

• Urgent Call to Action: The findings underscore the pressing need for concerted efforts to mitigate the impacts of climate change and enhance resilience to extreme weather events in Asia.
• Strengthening Disaster Management: Effective disaster management strategies, including early warning systems, infrastructure resilience, and community preparedness, are imperative to minimize the loss of life and property during disasters.
• Regional Collaboration: Given the transboundary nature of climate-related disasters, regional cooperation and information sharing are essential for fostering a collective response to the climate crisis.

2: Dimension- Disaster Management in India:

• Disaster Risk Management implies the systematic process of using administrative decisions, organisation, operational skills, and capacities to implement policies, strategies and coping capacities of the societyand communities to lessen the impact of natural hazards and related environmental and technological disasters.
• Disaster risk reduction aims to reduce disaster risks through systematic efforts to analyse and reduce the causal factors of disasters.
  • Pre-Disaster risk reduction includes-Mitigation and Preparedness
  • Post-Disaster risk reduction includes-Rescue, Relief and Recovery

3: Dimension- Required Steps/Initiatives

• Increase the coverage of early warning systems
• Climate proofing infrastructure
• Invest in disaster risk reduction
• Building climate and disaster resilience at the sub-national level 
• Integrating possible climate change impacts into the 2005 Disaster Management Actand other existing national frameworks and SOPs.  

Under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), launched in 2015 to facilitate access to affordable housing to those belonging to economically weaker sections of society, the government is close to achieving the target of 30 million houses.

About Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY)

• PMAY is a centrally sponsored scheme, however, both the Union and the State governments are supposed to financially contribute to it.
• Objectives:
  • Rehabilitation of slum dwellers with private developers’ participation
  • Promotion of affordable housing for the weaker sections through Credit Linked Subsidy Schemes (CLSS)
  • Affordable housing in partnership with public and private sectors
  • Subsidy for Beneficiary-led Construction (BLC)
• Eligibility:Women and minorities, marginalised groups such as the transgender community, widows, and individuals from lower-income groups. 
• Types of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) scheme 
  • PMAY Gramin (PMAY-G): Affordable and accessible housing units to eligible beneficiaries residing in rural areas.
  • PMAY Urban (PMAY-U): Addressing the housing needs of urban areas in India, covering 4,331 towns and cities. 
• Progress so far: Even though two more years have passed since the supposed completion of the scheme, Housing For All (HfA)remains a distant reality. In August 2022, the government approved the continuation of the PMAY-Urban (PMAY-U) up to December 31, 2024, for the completion of already sanctioned houses till March 31, 2022.

Farmers in Vietnam are adopting innovative techniques to reduce methane emissions by changing how they grow rice.

About the innovative techniques

• Irrigation method: They are using a different method of irrigation known as alternate wetting and drying, or AWD. This requires less water than traditional farming since his paddy fields aren’t continuously submerged. They also produce less methane.
• Drone: Using the drone to fertilise the crops saves on labor costs.
• Effective usage of stubble: Rice stubble is no longer burnt (cause of air pollution) but used as livestock feed and for growing straw mushroom.

Rice’s contribution to climate change

• Rice crop is not just vulnerable to climate change but also contributes uniquely to it.
• High usage of labour and water: Rice must be grown separately from other crops and seedlings have to be individually planted in flooded fields; backbreaking, dirty work requiring a lot of labor and water that generates a lot of methane.
• Inundated fields stop oxygen from entering the soil, creating the conditions for methane-producing bacteria.
• Rice paddies contribute 8% of all human-made methane in the atmosphere.

In a significant development, scientists have identified a novel defence mechanism the human body uses to prevent some viruses from transmitting via non-conventional routes (bodily fluids like saliva and semen).

Key Insights:

• Transmission Enigma: Despite presence in bodily fluids, viruses like Zika, dengue, and chikungunya seldom spread orally or sexually, posing a longstanding scientific puzzle.
• Receptor Dynamics: Vital to transmission, viruses exploit host cell receptors like phosphatidyl serine (PS) for cellular entry, a process known as apoptotic mimicry.
• Countermeasure Unveiled: Researchers discovered an unexpected defense mechanism in the form of extracellular vesicles abundant in saliva and semen. These vesicles carry PS proteins, competing with viruses for entry receptors and thwarting infection.
• Broad Immunity: The defense mechanism isn't limited to Zika; it inhibits a spectrum of viruses including dengue, chikungunya, ebola, and more, underscoring its broad applicability in viral immunity.