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The leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, said that a truce agreement with Israel was close, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he hoped for good news soon about hostages, the most optimistic signals so far of a deal to pause fighting and free captives.
Hamas officials were “close to reaching a truce agreement” with Israel, and the group has delivered its response to Qatari mediators.
Mr. Netanyahu, according to remarks released by the Israeli Prime Minister’s office, said: “We are making progress. I don’t think it’s worth saying too much, not at even this moment, but I hope there will be good news soon.”
The long-awaited agreement, which would see the first truce of the war and the first mass release of those held by both sides, was in its “final stages” and “closer than it has ever been”, said a source. This was echoed by a U.S. official who said it was the “closest we have been” to a hostage deal.
Israel lists Lashkar-e-Taiba as a terror organisation (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Ahead of the 15th anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, Israel on Tuesday listed Pakistan-based militant organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba as a terror outfit. An official announcement from Tel Aviv said the move is in sync with Israel’s attempts to support a global war on terror.
Despite not being requested by the government of India to do so, the state of Israel has formally completed all necessary procedures and has satisfied all required checks and regulations to the result of introducing Lashkar-e-Taiba into the Israeli list of illegal terror organisations.
The announcement comes in the backdrop of Israeli ambassador to India Naor Gilon’s statement that Israel has been urging India to ban Palestinian militant group Hamas as New Delhi has not so far proscribed it.
Editorial
Recognising the impact of climate change on health (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
As India gets ready for the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28), it is important to examine how climate change affects the country’s health.
India’s inadequate health systems make our population particularly vulnerable to the impact of climate risks on health.
Climate change affects health directly, causing more sickness and death. In more indirect ways, it affects nutrition, reduces working hours, and increases climate-induced stress.
The precipitating factors continue to be unrelenting. One estimate suggests that if global temperature were to rise by 2°C, many parts of India would become uninhabitable.
All nations during the Paris Agreement agreed to cap the rise in temperature at 1.5°C. Clearly, we have failed. The year 2023 saw the highest temperatures and heat waves in recorded history.
The situation is likely to worsen for the planet. Climate emergencies — extreme heat, cyclones, floods — are expected to occur with increasing regularity. These will interfere with food security and livelihoods and sharpen health challenges.
Opinion
India, Japan converge in Southeast Asia (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Upon dropping a series of Chinese-led infrastructure projects due to sustainability and geopolitical concerns, the Philippines is now redirecting its attention to Japan and India as alternative sources of development and security.
Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista reaffirmed this earlier this month when he noted that the Philippine government is willing to tap both countries for development assistance.
This statement intersects with Manila’s desire to deepen and broaden its security and economic partnerships with like-minded partners amidst Beijing’s growing unwillingness to act and behave like a responsible neighbour.
Under the leadership of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the Philippines has been steadfast in securing its sovereignty and sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea against China’s revisionist interests in the Indo-Pacific.
Moreover, at the heart of Marcos Jr.’s foreign policy lies the intent to work closely with like-minded traditional and non-traditional partners.
Accordingly, Manila’s attribution of both Tokyo and New Delhi as important partners allows all three democracies to explore new opportunities for multi-faceted strategic cooperation.
Text & Context
The OECD report on climate finance (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
A new report, published by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), showed that economically developed countries fell short of their promise to jointly mobilise $100 billion a year towards climate mitigation and adaptation needs of developing countries in 2021 — one year past the 2020 deadline.
The report said that developed countries mobilised $89.6 billion in 2021 and that finances for adaptation fell by 14% in 2021 compared to 2020.
The OECD is largely a group of rich countries including the U.S., the U.K., Germany, France, Switzerland, Canada, and others.
The report, as such, offers a peek into their idea of climate finance ahead of the COP28 climate talks in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) next week, where the topic is expected to be a key bone of contention.
News
SC calls for collaborative efforts to bring children into the adoption pool (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)
The Supreme Court said that children living in childcare institutions whose parents had not visited them for over a year or had “unfit” parents or guardians should be identified and brought into the adoption pool.
The court defined an “unfit guardian” as someone who is “unable or unwilling for parenting, indulging in drug or alcohol abuse, known to have abused or neglected the child, having a criminal record, in need of care themselves, mentally unsound, etc”.
A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud turned its focus on a finding by the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) that many children were living in institutions for over a year with undetermined legal status.
“All such children should be identified district wise in the category of ‘unfit parents’ or if their parents or guardians have not visited them in the last one year or more or vice-versa.
UGC set to constitute expert committee to update syllabi of NET (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 2, Education)
The University Grants Commission (UGC) has decided to update the syllabi of the National Eligibility Test for Junior Research Fellowship and appointment as assistant professors in various subjects. The UGC will soon form an expert committee to undertake this work.
The UGC-NET is held in 83 subjects twice a year, usually in June and December, and thousands of students take the test.
In a statement, University Grants Commission Chairman M. Jagadesh Kumar said that the commission last initiated the process to update the syllabi in 2017.
However, after launching the National Education Policy in 2020, there have been considerable developments in higher education to impart multi-disciplinary curricula and holistic education, adding that the UGC decided at a meeting on November 3 that an exercise to update the syllabi may be
World
World racing well past warming limit, UN says ahead of talks (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Earth is speeding to 2.5o C to 2.9o C of global warming since pre-industrial times, set to blow well past the agreed-upon international climate threshold, a United Nations report calculated.
To have an even money shot at keeping warming to the 1.5o C limit adopted by the 2015 Paris climate agreement, countries have to slash their emissions by 42% by the end of the decade, said the UN Environment Programme’s Emissions Gap report issued. Carbon emissions from the burning of coal, oil and gas rose 1.2% last year, the report said.
This year Earth got a taste of what’s to come, said the report, which sets the table for international climate talks later this month.
Maldives says it will fortify islands to beat the rising sea (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Rising sea levels threaten to swamp the Maldives and the Indian Ocean archipelago is already out of drinking water, but the new President says he has scrapped plans to relocate citizens.
Instead, President Mohamed Muizzu promises the low-lying nation will beat back the waves through ambitious land reclamation and building islands higher — policies, however, that environmental and rights groups warn could even exacerbate flooding risks.
Business
Inflation still remains a key risk to growth, cautions Finance Ministry (Page no. 16)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Inflationary pressures have moderated but price rise remains a key risk to growth along with external financial flows that could affect the rupee’s value and the balance of payments situation, the Finance Ministry said.
Asserting that the economy had been remarkably resilient amid a global slowdown, the ministry said private final consumption expenditure had emerged as the strongest driver of growth this year.
While domestic demand had been solid, a fuller transmission of monetary policy may temper that demand, the ministry observed in its monthly economic review for October.
Exuding confidence that the Centre was on track to achieve the fiscal deficit target of 5.9% of GDP for the current year, the ministry added:
The recent steep and rapid decline in global crude oil prices removes an important source of potential impact on public finances as well.”
The rapid reversal of rate hike expectations in the U.S. and the slide in the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield, coupled with the decline in oil prices, was good news for emerging markets in general, India included.
Science
Coal isn’t easy to exclude from sustainable development (Page no. 22)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Fossil fuels produce 80% of the total energy supplied worldwide. In 2022, oil, coal, and gas accounted for 30%, 27%, and 23% of the world’s total energy, while solar and wind energy sources together contributed only 2.4%.
The per capita energy supplied in India in 2022 was 37% of the global average, and only 26% of that of China. Therefore, India’s energy needs will continue to grow.
Electricity security is achieved only by having a reliable and stable supply of electricity that can always match the demand at an affordable price.
Only 11.5% of the electricity generated in India is produced by variable renewable energy (VRE) sources, and coal-fired thermal power plants (TPPs) generated 74.3% of India’s electricity during FY 2022-2023 and continue to increase their share. The coal sector plays a vital role in infrastructure development and in the core sector industries which employ millions of people.