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Daily Current Affairs Analysis, The Hindu (20th April 2021)

Indian Economy

U.S. currency watchlist an intrusion into policy: official


The News:

Indian Commerce Secretary’s statement on the U.S. government’s decision to put India on the watchlist for currency manipulators as being an intrusion into the policy space of the central bank.

·         The United States has retained India among many other countries on its currency manipulation watchlist.

·         India was added to the list for a second time in December 2020. It was first added to the list in December 2018 and later removed in 2019.

Govt. says container shortages resolved


The News:

·         The shortage of containers has been eased with 58 per cent additional exports being managed in March year-on-year, a senior government official said on Tuesday.

·         Pawan Agarwal, Special Secretary in the Logistics Division of Ministry of Commerce and Industry, said close coordination is being maintained between shipping lines and exporters.

Effect:

This resulted in shared understanding of the situation and requirements along with better planning by both sides

Backgroud:

·         Congestion at major ports globally due to Covid-19 pandemic and an acute imbalance between exports and imports domestically were largely the factors responsible for container shortage.

·         Besides, the blockage of Suez Canal in March had seriously impacted global trade. To minimise the impact and sustain exporter confidence, a four-point plan was chalked out by the government.

ü  prioritisation of cargo,

ü  stability in freight rates,

ü   advisory to ports to prepare for expected bunching once the canal reopens and

ü  re-routing decisions.

Way Forward:

ü  To improve availability of containers, India is also targeting to manufacture them domestically. CONCOR has already issued an order of 2,000 containers to BHEL and Braithwaite and Co Ltd.

ü  Discussions have been initiated with steel manufacturers for producing COR-TEN steel at competitive prices.

ü  Railway wagon manufacturers, BHEL and private manufacturers DCM-Hyundai and Balmer & Lawrie are being asked to set up production lines.

Polity & Governance

Remove offending online content’ 

Topic: Cyber Security

The News:

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday laid down guidelines to be followed by courts while dealing with cases related to the removal of objectionable content from the internet to ensure access to such offensive material is restricted at the earliest and it is not re-posted anywhere else by others.

Background of the case:

The guidelines or template of directions were laid down by Justice A.J. Bhambhani while dealing with a matter in which a woman’s photographs were uploaded on a pornographic website by some miscreants and despite court orders, the content could not be removed in entirety from the world-wide-web and “errant parties merrily continued” to re-post and redirect the same to other sites.

“The internet never sleeps and the internet never forgets,” the court said referring to the case and added that it cannot resign itself to “a cat-and-mouse game of errant parties evading orders by re-posting offending content across the world-wide-web, in an act of defiance and contumacy”.

Court’s Final directions:

1.      A court, when approached with such a grievance, should issue a direction to the website or online platform on which the offending content is hosted to remove such content forthwith, and in any event, within 24 hours of the receipt of the court order.

2.      “A direction should also be issued to the website or online platform on which the offending content is hosted to preserve all information and associated records relating to the offending content at least for a period of 180 days for use in an investigation.

 International Relations

Border situation cannot be swept under carpet’

The News:

Statement by the envoys of India and China during their interactions with academicians and experts as part of the track 2 diplomacy efforts.

 Background:

·         Talks between military commanders appear to remain deadlocked over carrying forward disengagement in the Gogra and Hot Springs areas following the completion of the first phase at Pangong Lake.

·         Recently, China’s state media reported the deployment of an advanced long-range rocket launcher to the border with India.

 

China’s Stand

India’s Stand

On border issue:

Though the Chinese envoy acknowledged the fact that the boundary dispute should be given sufficient attention and taken seriously, he argued that the boundary question is not the whole story of China-India relations and it should be put at a proper place in the overall bilateral relations

India’s envoy to China has stated that unlike the popular tendency in some quarters to characterize the border face-off between the two neighbours as just a minor issue, maintaining peace and tranquillity at the border is very essential to take forward India’s ties with China.

 

India and China should work towards early resolution of the border crisis as a resolution of the long-pending issue is inevitable to develop a closer development partnership between the two countries.

 

On multilateralism:

China has called on India to abide by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and uphold the international system with the United Nations at its core and an international order based on international law and reject ‘small circles’, a phrase some Chinese experts have used to refer to groupings such as the Quad.

 

Indian envoy stressed the importance of multipolarity in the changed geo-political scenario, both in the Indo-Pacific and beyond and has reiterated that in such a multipolar world, no country can set the agenda by itself without prior agreement and consultation.

 

 

Russia says it will launch own space station in 2025 

The News:

·         Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos has said that it plans to launch its own orbital station in 2025 as it considers withdrawing from the International Space Station programme.

·         The International Space Station programme was launched in 1998 involving Russia, the United States, Canada, Japan, and the European Space Agency.

Editorial Analysis

A low carbon future through sector led change (Environment)

GS Paper 3, Environment

Sub Topic: Climate Change

Context:

·  In the build-up to the ‘Leaders’ Climate Summit’ organized by the United States this week (April 22-23), there has been a flurry of articles about whether India should announce a ‘net-zero’ emissions target, and by when.

·         The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 1.5°C report called for global carbon emissions to reach net-zero by 2050, call for all countries to announce 2050 as the net-zero target year.

·         Since a disproportionate share of the carbon space has been used up by developed countries, it is important that they act boldly at home, to match the vigour of their diplomatic efforts.

·         Nonetheless, as a climate-vulnerable country, India must also up its game to contribute to limiting global temperature rise, ideally below 1.5°C.

·         While doing so, it should not lose sight of the history of global climate negotiations and its own developmental needs.

·         Though a large country and economy, we are still a very poor country with a significant development deficit — for example, our per-capita carbon emissions are less than half the world average.

What India must do

·         Yet, announcing an Indian 2050 net-zero commitment risks taking on a much heavier burden of de-carbonization than many wealthier countries, and could seriously compromise India’s development needs.

·         We suggest a third path, focused on concrete, near-term sectoral transformations through aggressive adoption of technologies that are within our reach, and an earnest effort to avoid high carbon lock-ins.

o    This is best accomplished by focusing on sectoral low-carbon development pathways that combine competitiveness, job-creation, distributional justice and low pollution in key areas where India is already changing rapidly.

·         This approach is directionally consistent with India moving towards net-zero, which should be our long-term objective.

De-carbonize power sector

·         To achieve net-zero emissions, a key piece of the puzzle is to decarbonize the electricity sector, which is the single largest source (about 40%) of India’s greenhouse gas emissions.

·         De-carbonised electricity would also allow India to undertake transformational changes in urbanization and industrial development, for example by expanding the use of electricity for transport, and by integrating electric systems into urban planning.

·         So far, our efforts in the electricity sector have focused on expanding renewable electricity capacity, with targets growing by leaps and bounds from 20GW of solar to 175GW of renewable capacity by 2022, further growing to 450GW of renewable capacity by 2030.

·         While useful as a direction of travel, India now needs to shift gears to a comprehensive re-imagination of electricity and its role in our economy and society.

o    One way to do this is to go beyond expanding renewables to limiting the expansion of coal-based electricity capacity.

o    This will not be easy: coal provides firm, dispatchable power and accounts for roughly 75% of electricity today; supports the economy of key regions; and is tied to sectors such as banking and railways.

The ceiling for coal power

·         A first, bold, step would be to pledge that India will not grow its coal-fired power capacity beyond what is already announced, and reach peak coal electricity capacity by 2030, while striving to make coal-based generation cleaner and more efficient.

·         There is a strong rationale for this:

o    Coal is increasingly uneconomic and phasing it out over time will bring local gains, such as reduced air pollution, aside from climate mitigation.

o    Such a pledge would give full scope for the development of renewable energy and storage, and send a strong signal to investors.

·         A second, necessary step is to create a multi-stakeholder Just Transition Commission representing all levels of government and the affected communities to ensure decent livelihood opportunities beyond coal in India’s coal belt.

o    This is necessary because the transition costs of a brighter low-carbon future should not fall on the backs of India’s poor.

·         Third, a low-carbon electricity future will not be realised without addressing existing problems of the sector such as the poor finances and management of distribution companies, which requires deep changes and overcoming entrenched interests.

·         Finally, India will need to work hard to become a leader in technologies of the future such as electricity storage, smart grids, and technologies that enable the electrification of other sectors such as transportation.

·         Through a careful partnership with the private sector, including tools such as production-linked incentives, India should use the electricity transition to aim for job creation and global competitiveness in these key areas.

Improve energy services

·         Growing urbanization and uptake of electricity services offer a good opportunity to shape energy consumption within buildings through proactive measures.

o    Cooling needs are expected to increase rapidly with rising incomes and temperatures.

o    Air conditioners, fans and refrigerators together consume about 60% of the electricity in households.

o    Today, the average fan sold in the market consumes more than twice what an efficient fan does and an average refrigerator about 35% more.

o    India could set aggressive targets of, say, 80% of air conditioner sales, and 50% of fan and refrigerator sales in 2030, being in the most efficient bracket.

·         In addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, this would have the benefit of lowering consumer electricity bills.

·         India can leverage this transition too as an opportunity to become a global leader in the production of clean appliances.

Forming timelines

·         Going further, India may even consider committing to submit plausible pathways and timelines to achieving net-zero emissions as part of its future pledges.

·         India can also use this period to develop a strategic road map to enhance its own technology and manufacturing competence as part of the global clean energy supply chain, to gain benefits of employment and export revenues.

·         Such an integrated approach, which is ambitious, credible and rooted in our developmental needs — including climate mitigation needs — will represent an ambitious, forward-looking and results-oriented India.

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