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G-7 Foreign Ministers called for humanitarian pauses in the Israel-Hamas war to let aid in and help the release of hostages and sought a return to a “broader peace process”, as Israeli forces continue to strike the Gaza Strip.
Winding up a two-day meeting in Tokyo, the Group of Seven wealthy nations said in a joint statement that Israel had the right to defend itself, while underscoring the need to protect civilians and to comply with international humanitarian law.
The G7 members are committed to ... prepare sustainable long-term solutions for Gaza and a return to a broader peace process in line with the internationally agreed parameters.
Delhi govt. to try out artificial rain to tackle rising pollution levels (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Reeling from noxious air, the national capital would now be attempting to induce artificial rain to tackle the rising pollution levels.
Announcing this on Wednesday, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said he met experts from IIT Kanpur to explore the possibility of cloud seeding for rain, and the cloudy weather forecast for November 20-21 could provide an opportune time to execute the plan. Cloud seeding has been attempted earlier in other parts of the country as well, including Maharashtra.
The Delhi government, he said, will receive a detailed proposal from the institute that would be submitted to the Supreme Court for its go-ahead. Mr. Rai also cleared the confusion over the implementation of the ‘odd-even’ or vehicle-rationing scheme, saying the government would submit two case studies to the court for its perusal and nod for roll-out.
We have an aircraft and cloud seeding equipment, and our team has been closely monitoring the cloud situation.
States
Kerala forms Organic Farming Mission to boost agriculture (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The Kerala government has created an Organic Farming Mission to encourage the adoption of sustainable organic and climate-smart farming practices in the State.
The mission aims at expanding organic farming to 5,000 hectares in the next five years through an annual target of 1,000 ha.
Agriculture Minister P. Prasad announced the formation of the mission here. The government had formally issued orders related to the mission on October 26.
In farms run by the Agriculture Department, at least 10% of the area will be set aside for organic farming. Another mandate of the mission is to make sure that selected beneficiaries/farms of organic farming schemes pursue the system at least for five years.
The mission will take steps to expand the system for certification, branding, and marketing of organic agricultural products from Kerala.
An organic farming protocol, which is in sync with protocols prevalent at the national and international levels, will be implemented as part of the activities.
Editorial
An under-discussed facet of colonial history (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
This year marks the bicentenary of the arrival of Tamil indentured labourers in Sri Lanka (in November 1823), a milestone recently commemorated in Colombo at an event called “Naam 200”, where I delivered an address on this woefully under-discussed facet of our colonial history.
I have often said that history belongs in the past, but understanding it is the duty of the present. There are still millions of Indians and Sri Lankans alive who remember — and lament — the depredations of the British Empire in our countries. The United Kingdom may have lapsed into imperial amnesia, but the former colonies cannot: so we ought to remember, time and again, the forces that made and nearly unmade us.
The British imperial project began as licensed looting in service of the crudest form of capitalism. Britain avariciously drained its colonies, depriving them of their resources, economic strength and political freedom, until they were reduced to a state of poverty and desolation.
In India they decimated our textile industries, rendering millions unemployed, and hurled thousands of Indian farmers into indigence by purloining their lands for opium cultivation. Their policies created legions of poor, landless and hungry people in need of work to survive.
Taiwan, a Malacca blockade and India’s options
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
With China frequently intimidating Taiwan over the past year through deployment of its air force and navy in the surrounding areas, there is the oft-posed question whether India would take action in the Strait of Malacca or the Andaman Sea in the event of a conflict between the United States and China over Taiwan.
Any speculative action in the Strait of Malacca or the Andaman Sea would involve either a naval blockade against commercial shipping or China’s key trade and energy sea lines of communication or military action against Chinese naval vessels.
The fact is that commercial shipping as well as naval vessels of any country have a right to freedom of navigation on the high seas. A naval blockade against commercial shipping is not feasible.
There are multiple constraints in regard to India’s options in the Strait of Malacca. First, “distant blockades” away from a belligerent nation’s geography can be challenged under international law.
Second, the trade that passes through the Strait of Malacca is not just China’s economic and energy lifeline. An overwhelming volume of the trade of Japan, South Korea and even India itself passes through the same Strait.
Third, the channel of the Strait of Malacca is long, nearly 500 miles, and involves the sovereignty of other states such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore who would all be affected adversely by a naval blockade.
The affected countries are unlikely to support a naval blockade. Fourth, commercial shipping is extremely complex to identify in terms of the sovereignty of the vessel, flag, registration, insurance and ownership of cargo.
And these are often multinational in nature and can also be changed as convenient through transshipment at any port in Southeast Asia.
Fifth, apart from the fact that it is difficult to interdict China’s trade and energy supplies, the additional reality is that even if the Strait of Malacca were “choked”, shipping can take a detour either through the Sunda or the Lombok Straits to reach China.
Opinion
Move towards e-FIR, but with caution (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
The Law Commission of India, in Report No. 282, recommended that “in cases where the accused is not known, registration of an e-FIR should be allowed for all cognisable offences”.
If the accused is known, as a preliminary step, registration of an e-FIR may be allowed for cognisable offences wherein the punishment provided under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and other laws is up to three years.
The verification of the complainant, the Commission said, could be done by verifying the mobile number through an OTP and mandating the uploading of valid ID proof such as Aadhaar.
It also said that the name of the suspect on the centralised national portal is to be secured until the e-FIR is signed by the complainant.
Further, in case the registered information is not signed by the informant deliberately within the prescribed time, the information shall be deleted within two weeks.
Text & Context
Importance of ‘loss and damage’ funds (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
As the climate crisis intensifies, two terms are in sharp focus — adaptation and ‘loss and damage’ (L&D). Adaptation is the proactive response to climate change, the art of survival by which communities and countries make deliberate choices to prepare for and cope with climate-related challenges.
In contrast, L&D represents the irreversible consequences of climate change: impacts that can’t be avoided or mitigated through adaptation efforts.
They encompass the real losses that extend beyond monetary value and cut to the core of human rights and well-being. L&D includes economic losses, human casualties, and the degradation of ecosystems and cultural heritage.
The call for affluent nations to acknowledge their accountability for historic pollution is more than 30 years old. Historic pollution has elevated the world’s average surface temperature by more than 1 degree Celsius and is currently inflicting damage worldwide, but especially in the poorest nations.
At the 19th Conference of the Parties (COP 19) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Warsaw, Poland, in 2013, representatives of member countries formally agreed to establish the L&D fund.
It was being created to provide financial and technical assistance to economically developing nations that were incurring L&D due to climate change.
News
WHO hailed India’s success in managing TB: Ministry (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
India has made tremendous progress in improving case detection and reversed the impact of COVID-19 on the tuberculosis (TB) programme, noted the World Health Organization’s (WHO) ‘Global TB Report 2023’ released earlier this week.
TB treatment coverage, according to the report, has also improved to 80% of the estimated TB cases, an increase of 19% over the previous year.
India’s efforts have resulted in the reduction of TB incidence by 16% from 2015 to 2022, almost double the pace at which global TB incidence is declining (which is 8.7%). TB mortality has also reduced by 18% during the same period in India, and globally.
World will overshoot 2030 fossil fuel limit by twice over: report
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Notwithstanding the global consensus among countries that fossil fuel emissions must be eliminated, a new report says that many governments plan to produce twice as much fossil fuels in 2030 than would be consistent with limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, and 69% more than that would be consistent with 2 degrees Celsius.
This comes in the backdrop of 151 governments having pledged to achieve Net-Zero emissions – or no net emissions from 2050-2070.
The latest forecasts suggest that despite promises by governments made as part of the 2015 Paris Agreement that global coal, oil, and gas demand will peak this decade, even without new policies, their forecasts would lead to an increase in global coal production until 2030, and in global oil and gas production until at least 2050, creating an ever-widening fossil fuel production gap over time.
Later this month, at least 190 countries are expected to convene in Dubai, for the annual Conference of the Parties, to thrash out timelines to abate fossil fuel emissions, accelerate the adoption of renewable energy and pay vulnerable countries to help them weather the effects of global warming.
World
European Union moves closer to starting accession talks with Kyiv (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 2, International Organisation)
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, on Wednesday, formally declared that the bloc should begin accession negotiations with Ukraine, as well as Moldova. EU leaders will need to approve the recommendation when they meet in December, for accession talks to begin.
Today is a historic day because today, the Commission recommends that the [European] Council opens accession negotiations with Ukraine and with Moldova,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at a briefing in Brussels.
Welcoming the decision, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine was reforming state institutions despite the war.
Our country must be in the European Union,” he said in a video posted on X. Reacting to the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the EU revived the idea of the country joining the Union and granted Ukraine candidate status in June last year.
Joining the EU requires potential members to align their laws and economy with the Union and its operating principles. The EU has wanted Ukraine to undertake reforms on seven dimensions, of which, Ukraine will be expected to show further progress in tackling oligarch power, fighting corruption, and — perhaps most importantly for the EU — the rights of minorities.
Ms. Von der Leyen said she was able to “convince herself” that 90% of the reforms the EU required of Kyiv had been taken and that further reforms were continuing.
Business
‘RBI may cut rates in 2024-25 if food inflation is tamed’ (Page no. 16)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
S&P Global Ratings expects the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to cut interest rates in 2024-25 if food inflation and the monsoon don’t play spoilsport next year, and believes India would stick to its indicated fiscal glide path till 2026 despite the extension of the free food grain scheme by adjusting other spends.
The rating major, which expects India’s GDP to grow 6% this year and 6.9% the next two years, said the country’s economic growth shines brightly among its BBB- to A-rated peers in the Asia-Pacific region, but higher rates pose a fiscal headwind.
Indian government bond yields, which have historically been higher than its peers, still remain high and put additional pressure on the cost of funding the country’s large debt stock, it noted.
While growth supports market confidence and revenue generation, rates dynamics will be an additional determinant of India’s debt trajectory over the next few years,” the firm said in a note on Asia-Pacific Credit Outlook for 2024.
Vishrut Rana, senior economist, Asia-Pacfic at S&P Global said monetary policy is likely to be a key economic theme through 2024, in the backdrop of the ‘higher for longer’ interest rates in the U.S.
Science
Trouble with India’s guidelines on genetically modified insects (Page no. II)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
India’s bioeconomy contributes 2.6% to the GDP. In April 2023, the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) released its ‘Bioeconomy Report 2022’ report, envisioning this contribution to be closer to 5% by 2030.
This ambitious leap – of $220 billion in eight years – will require aggressive investment and policy support. But neither funding for the DBT, India’s primary promoter of biotechnology, nor its recent policies reflect any serious intention to uplift this sector. Along with more money, policies that enable risk-taking appetite within Indian scientists will be required to create an ecosystem of innovation and industrial action.
Funding for biotechnology India has been stagnating for a while. Despite a slight uptick during COVID-19, when DBT led the vaccine and diagnostics efforts, funding hasn’t returned to the pre-pandemic level.
The current allocation is also only 0.0001% of India’s GDP, and it needs to be significantly revised if biotechnology is to be of any serious consequence for the economy.
The reduced funding is detrimental to India’s national interests as well, considering the DBT is essential to any pandemic preparedness efforts.
Further efforts are also needed to attract private funding in biotechnology research and development, a key area that industry representatives, investors, and government officials have highlighted multiple times.