GS Analyst
Daily Current Affairs

Since the Prime Minister has made promises at the climate change conference at Glasgow, the government now has converted two of those into official targets, which would now be part of India’s International climate commitments for 2030.

• India’s first Nationally Determined Commitment (NDC) was submitted in 2015, just before the Paris Agreement was finalised.
• India’s original NDC contained three main targets for 2030:
• A 33 to 35 per cent reduction in emissions intensity (or emissions per unit of GDP) from 2005 levels
• At least 40 per cent of total electricity generation to come from non-fossil renewable sources
• An increase in forest cover to create an additional carbon sinks of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent

• Again at the Glasgow meeting held in 2021, India has promised to strengthen India’s climate commitments. Those were five promises, and called it the ‘Panchamrita’.

• Two of these were forward revision of existing targets, the ones that have been made official and put in the updated nationally determined Commitments (NDC).

What changes have been made in predetermined targets?

• Emission intensity: India will now has to reduce its emission intensity by at least 45 per cent, instead of just 33 to 35 per cent, from 2005 levels by 2030.
• Electricity generation from renewables: It would now ensure that at least 50 per cent of its total electricity generation, not just 40 per cent, would come from renewable sources by 2030.
• Conserving forest: And the forestry target has not been touched.
  
  

Which targets were further added as NDC by India?

India has determined to achieve the goals till 2030 with making the below goals addition to them:

• At least 500 GW of India’s installed electricity generation capacity in 2030 would be based on non-fossil fuel sources.
• Also, the country has pledged to ensure avoided emissions of at least one billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent between now and 2030.

Present situation

• India’s emissions intensity was 24 per cent lower than the 2005 levels in the year 2016 and it is very likely that the 33 to 35 per cent reduction target has already been achieved, or is very close to being achieved as per the official data.
• 5 per cent of India’s current installed electricity capacity of 403 GW is now powered by non-fossil fuels. 
• Renewables (wind, solar and others) alone account for more than 28 per cent of this capacity while hydropower contributes over 11 per cent.

India’s Hardships to eliminate coal

Contrary to the Official reports of India, Global stance regarding India’s situation is a bit different.

• According to some estimates, India’s annual projections are expected to rise from about 3.3 billion tonnes in 2018 to about 4 billion tonnes by 2030.
• Thus, India could be emitting anywhere between 35 to 40 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in total by the year 2030.
• A reduction of one billion tonnes from this would represent 2.5 to 3 per cent. Some officials argue that if India achieves its official targets, the gains in terms of avoided emissions could be far in excess of one billion tonnes.
• Vagueness in India’s speech for targets at Glasgow had mistakenly used ‘energy’ for ‘electricity’ and ‘renewables’ for ‘non-fossil energy sources’, which makes a lot of difference.

Government Interventions in path of achieving those targets

• Reforms in Transport Sector: India leapfrogged from Bharat Stage-IV (BS-IV) to Bharat Stage-VI (BS-VI) emission norms by April 1, 2020, the latter being originally scheduled for adoption in 2024.
• India's Support to EVs: India has taken various measures to develop and promote the EV ecosystem:
• The remodelled Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME II) scheme
• Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for Advanced Chemistry Cell for the supplier side
• The recently launched PLI scheme for Auto and Automotive Components for manufacturers of electric vehicles.
• Role of Industries in Low-Carbon Transition:The public and private sectors in India are already playing a key role in meeting the climate challenge, helped by growing customer and investor awareness, as well as increasing regulatory and disclosure requirements.

The on-going North Atlantic Ocean hurricane season will be more active than normal from August to November, according to the latest update issued by the United States’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), an American research Institute.

Key-highlights of the predictions

• NOAA predicted a 60 per cent chance of an above-normal Atlantic hurricane season.
• Generally the season of hurricanes began in June, has had no hurricanes till the month of July and only three named storms have formed in the North Atlantic basin.
• The researchers said that there would be 14-20 named storms in the remainder of the season, out of which 6-10 would likely become hurricanes and 3-5 could turn into major hurricanes.
• La Niña aids in the formation, intensification and propagation of hurricanes in the North Atlantic Ocean.

What are Hurricanes?

• Hurricanes are large, swirling storms.
• They can produce winds of 119 kilometres per hour (74 mph) or higher.
• An Atlantic hurricaneor tropical storm is a tropical cyclone that forms in the Atlantic Ocean, primarily between the months of June and November.

Why hurricanes are dangerous?

• Winds from a hurricane can damage buildings and trees. Hurricanes form over warm ocean waters. Sometimes they strike land.
• When a hurricane reaches land, it pushes a wall of ocean water ashore. This wall of water is called a storm surge.
• Heavy rain and storm surge from a hurricane can cause flooding in the nearby island regions.

What Are the Parts of a Hurricane?

• Eye: The eye is the "hole" at the centre of the storm. Winds are light in this area. Skies are partly cloudy, and sometimes even clear.
• Eye wall: The eye wall is a ring of thunderstorms. These storms swirl around the eye. The wall is where winds are strongest and rain is heaviest.
• Rain bands: Bands of clouds and rain go far out from a hurricane's eye wall. These bands stretch for hundreds of miles. They contain thunderstorms and sometimes tornadoes.

How Does a Storm Become a Hurricane?

• A hurricane starts out as a tropical disturbance. This is an area over warm ocean waters where rain clouds are building.
• A tropical disturbance sometimes grows into a tropical depression. This is an area of rotating thunderstorms with winds of 62 km/hr (38 mph) or less.
• A tropical depression becomes a tropical storm if its winds reach 63 km/hr (39 mph).
• A tropical storm becomes a hurricane if its winds reach 119 km/hr (74 mph).

What are the Conditions in favour of hurricanes in North Atlantic Ocean?

• There are several atmospheric and oceanic conditions that are still in favour of an active hurricane season.
• La Nina: This includes La Niña conditions, which are favoured to remain in place for the rest of 2022 and could allow the on-going high-activity era conditions to dominate, or slightly enhance hurricane activity.
• Weaker Tropical Trade Winds: In addition to a continued La Niña, weaker tropical Atlantic trade winds, an active west African Monsoon and likely above-normal Atlantic sea-surface temperatures set the stage for an active hurricane season and are reflective of the on-going high-activity era for Atlantic hurricanes.

Last major Hurricanes in the North Atlantic Ocean

• 2005 Dennis Katrina Rita Stan Wilma
• Hurricane Santa Ana , 1825

The ‘Parliamentary Standing Committee on Energy’ recommended that the union ministries of power and coal should ensure optimum utilization of locally-produced coal through effective collaboration so that imports can be phased out over time.

• Due to emergence of severe coal crisis during April and May in the year 2022, India got onto midst of an unprecedented coal demand and supply shocks.
• As the effect of Russia-Ukraine War, this forced the government to float tenders for coal imports.
• In view of India’s energy security targets, the emphasis on higher production of coal has grown.
• There is 26.22% growth reported in domestic coal production in April-July to 265.65 million tonnes.
• Though it is not fully implemented in a collaborative manner on government lines.

India’s Coal import policy

As per the present import policy, coal can be freely imported (under Open General Licence) by the consumers themselves considering their needs based on their commercial prudence.

• Coking Coal is being imported by Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL).
• Coal based power plants, cement plants, captive power plants, sponge iron plants, industrial consumers and coal traders are importing non-coking coal.
• Coke is imported mainly by pig-Iron manufacturers and Iron & Steel sector consumers using mini-blast furnace.
• Details of import of coal and products i.e. coke during the last six years is as under:
  

Coal Reserves in India

• As a result of exploration carried out up to the maximum depth of 1200 m, a cumulative total of 319.02 Billion tonnes of Geological Resources of Coal have so far been estimated in the country till April, 2018.
• Hard coal deposit spread over 27 major coalfields, are mainly confined to eastern and south central parts of the country.
• The lignite reserves stand at a level around 36 billion tonnes, of which 90% occur in the southern State of Tamil Nadu.

What does the committee recommended?

• In its 26^th report, the panel chaired by Rajiv Ranjan Singh, said that the increased demand for domestic coal, and consequently reduced domestic coal stocks at power plants should be focused by the concerned ministries.
• The Central Electricity Authority and the power ministry had advised power generating companies to import to replenish critical coal stocks at power plants. 
• Quality of indigenous coal should be enhanced and design of boilers at power plants can be modified to enable them to run on domestic coal.
• To incentivize and promote the domestic copper industry and reduce dependency on imported refined copper and copper scrap, as consumption is expected to rise from the current level of 0.6 kg to 1 kg per capita per year.
• It has recommended the mines ministry to collaborate with the finance and commerce ministries to offer more incentives to the copper industry for capacity addition under the ‘Make in India’
  
  
  

Classification of coal

On the basis of carbon content it can be classified into following three types:

• Anthracite: It is the best quality of coal with highest calorific value and carries 80 to 95% carbon content. It ignites slowly with a blue flame and found in small quantities in Jammu and Kashmir.
• Bituminous: It has a low level of moisture content with 60 to 80% of carbon content and has a high calorific value. Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh have deposits of Bituminous.
• Lignite carries 40 to 55% carbon content and is often brown in colour with high moisture content thus, gives smoke when burnt. Rajasthan, Lakhimpur (Assam) and Tamil Nadu has deposits of Lignite.

Some Other suggestions

• Opencast Coal Mining
• Focus on Environmental concerns of coal mining
• Timely Ministerial collaboration

One of the pioneer Sattriya and Odissi dancer, Gorima Hazarika, passed away at her residence in Assam.

Important facts about Gorima Hazarika

• Born in 1939, she was a renowned Sattriya dance exponent.
• She started learning dance from a very early age, under Sattriya stalwarts such as Raseswar Saikia Borbayan and Ghanakanta Bora. 
• Hazarika, a Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee, was also proficient in Kathak, which she learnt from Delhi’s Kathak Kendra.
• She also learnt Odissi and was the first person who established Odissi in Assam.
• She is also credited with creating Sattriya dance costumes in a style more appropriate for the women dancers.
  
  

Sattriya Dance

• Sattriya is a dance form that has its roots in the Vaishnavite movement which was propagated by scholar Sankaradeva in the 15th century in Assam. 
• The Sattriya dancing style was once only performed by the male residents of “sattras" or Vaishnav monasteries.

Origin

• Srimanta Sankardev propagated the “ek sharan naama dharma” (chanting the name of one God devotedly).
• Classical Dance: Sattriya was given the status of a classical dance in the year 2000 by the Sangeet Natak Akademi.

Features

• Sattriya dances differ from other dance forms in its basic stance. For male it is known as Purush Pak while for female, Prakriti Pak. The dance is based on mythological themes.
• They have special mnemonic bols, typical Assamese music known as Borgeet, musical instruments like large cymbals, drums, colourful costumes, besides complicated choreographic patterns using various talas for each stanza sung by the vocalist.
• Corpus of Sattriya dances consists of ankiya bhaona and also Ojapali dances in which the main singer sings and enacts abhinaya, telling stories and a group of dancers dance as back up dancers playing small cymbals.
• Earlier, the roles of both male and female were done by men only. Women were not allowed to perform on stages or take part in dance forms.

Her Contributions in Sattriya

• Hazarika entered the dance world when Sattriya dancers were mostly males and were known as ‘bhokots’.
• It was very tough back then for ladies to get into form of classical dancing.
• Her first contribution was the costumes Sattriya dancers wear.
• She was the one who designed a costume out of silk — ‘mekhelasador’.
• She has her own centre — Mitali Kala Kendra, this is where a lot of students learnt about Sattriya.
• These students have gone on to perform at various stages, nationally and internationally, and some of them have gone on to teach others.

Odissi

It is indigenous to Orissa, eastern India, and follows the principles of the Natya-shastra.

Evolution

• The dance has its origin in the temples.
• The carvings found at the Udayagiri Monastery denote that Odissi was patronised as early as the 2^ndCentury BCE and the trend continued unabated until about the 16^th Century AD.
• After surviving the tumultuous years from 16th century AD till independence, Odissi underwent a renaissance of sorts which helped it become the global phenomenon it is today.

As the below poverty line (BPL) cancer patient was denied financial aid under the Rashtriya Aarogya Nidhi (RAN) for lack of a ration card, the Delhi high court seeks a plea regarding the issue questioning the government’s stand on availing aid for poor.

The issue

• According to the government criteria, the person for availing the benefits under schemes for poor and vulnerable, it is mandatory to have ration cards mentioning their status to be below poverty line (BPL).
• If the person is unable to present their ration cards, they are not liable for other schemes also.

About the Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi (RAN) Scheme

• Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi (RAN) is a centrally sponsored scheme, aims at providing financial assistance to the patients who live under the poverty line.
• The scheme covers patients suffering from diseases that are identified as life-threatening.
• As a part of this scheme, patients can avail of medical treatment at any hospital or institute providing super-speciality facilities or at any other government hospital.
• It provides financial assistance to people belonging to BPL (below poverty line) group.

Delhi High Court’s stand

• The Delhi High Court questioned the requirement of a ration card for a citizen to avail financial benefits under the Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi (RAN).
• The mandate under RAN to provide a ration card, besides an income certificate is said to be one of such document is not sufficient to prove the financial status and is “arbitrary, discriminatory, unconstitutional, illegal, and irrational.”
  
  
  
• It also stated that the Centre has not extended the new ration cards beyond the limit of 72, 77,995 persons.

What are the provisions of issuing ration card to person belonging to BPL?

• Criteria are different for the rural and urban areas.
• In its Tenth Five-Year Plan, the degree of deprivation is measured with the help of parameters with scores given from 0–4, with 13 parameters.
• Families with 17 marks or less (formerly 15 marks or less) out of a maximum 52 marks have been classified as BPL.
• Poverty line solely depends on the per capita income in India rather than level of prices.

Other criteria for BPL

• The poverty line was originally fixed in terms of income/food requirements in 2000.
• It was stipulated that the calorie standard for a typical individual in rural areas was 2400 calorie and was 2100 calorie in urban areas.
• Then the cost of the grains (about 650 g) that fulfil this normative standard was calculated. This cost was the poverty line.
• In 1978, it was Rs.61.80 per person per month for rural areas and Rs.71.30 for urban areas.
• And Since then the Planning Commission calculates the poverty line every year adjusting for inflation. The poverty line in recent years is as follows – (Rs. per month per head)

• This income is bare minimum to support the food requirements and does not provide much for the other basic essential items like health, education etc.
• That is why some times the poverty lines have been described as starvation lines.

Why few are not deprived of ration cards?

• Some eligible people deprived of ration cards, some ineligible persons included is the harsh reality in India.
• Ration card is considered to be an essential legal document in India that is used for identity and address verification. Ration card also often used as an identification proof while applying for domicile certificate, income certificate, driver’s license, PAN card, etc.
• The National Food Security Act (NFSA) is the law of the land and we are issuing cards to the beneficiaries according to the provision.
  
  

The Indian Army conducted a pan-India exercise to test and validate its entire satellite-based communication network to ensure operational readiness in case of a conflict in the future.

About the Exercise

• The ‘Skylight’ exercise was conducted from 25 to 29 July, 2022.
• The exercise involved all kinds of satellite communication, from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to Ladakh, where India and China have engaged in a military stand-off for the past two years.
• The exercise validated protocols to switch completely to the satellite-based communication in case of a conflict.
• It also targeted in the systems loopholes, especially in the context of a situation arising with China.
• The assets which are included in the exercise includes; static satellite communication systems, the vehicle laden transportable ones and also the man portable systems for their voice and data capability.

Need of the exercise

• For safety during conflicts: As the terrestrial media is likely to be disrupted during the conflict situations, demand space-based communication is necessary for Army.
• Dealing with enemies: A Military-grade satellite for Army is the very need of the hour for dealing with enemies.

Other Important Satellites

• GSAT-7A: The first dedicated commutations satellite GSAT-7A for the IAF was launched in 2018.
• GSAT 7B: The GSAT 7B aims to primarily fulfil the communication needs of the Army. It also aims to help the Army enhance its surveillance in border areas.
• GSAT-7: The first military commutations satellite launched by India is for the Indian Navy.
  • This satellite GSAT-7 (also called Rukmini) was launched during September 2013 and is currently providing excellent service. 
• GSAT-6: In 2015, a commutations satellite called GSAT-6 was launched by ISRO, which is also known to cater for strategic requirements of the country.
  • GSAT-6 is known to provide quality and secure communication.
• Electromagnetic Intelligence Gathering Satellite (EMISAT): EMISAT, developed by ISRO, was launched in April 2020.
• Kautilya: It has an Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) package called Kautilya, which allows the interception of ground-based radar and also carries out electronic surveillance across India.
• RISAT 2BR1: India also has a RISAT 2BR1 synthetic aperture radar imaging satellite.