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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