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Caught between a row over the price of coal and this week’s crash in the share valuations and credit ratings of the Adani Group, a power project being implemented by the firm in Bangladesh, planned as a major Indian infrastructure push to provide electricity, may be delayed by another six months.
The project is one of a number in the neighbourhood — including those in Sri Lanka, Nepal and Myanmar — that have accompanied the Narendra Modi government’s “Neighbourhood First” initiative in the past few years.
Highlighting the big-ticket announcements, group chairperson Gautam Adani met with regional leaders, including Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in September 2022 and the then Sri Lankan President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
However, with the group’s slide in fortunes and the cancellation of the Adani Enterprises follow-on public offer, governments in neighbouring countries are watching the company’s market situation closely, even as the External Affairs Ministry made it clear that any setback to projects would not affect ties, emphasising that the Adani stock’s fall was “not a foreign policy issue”.
News
IBC boosted ‘ease of doing business’ rank, says Justice Kaul (Page no. 5)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Supreme Court judge Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul credited India’s rise in the ‘Ease of Doing Business’ index to the introduction of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), calling it a dynamic law that adapts to the “realities of the Indian society”.
India’s rank has gone from 142 in 2014 to finally 63 in 2022 — due credit for which should be given to the IBC. In my opinion, IBC has also had a big role to play in India’s new ‘startup’ culture, by creating a conducive environment for budding entrepreneurs.
Justice Kaul said the IBC had shifted the balance of power from the promoters of a company to the creditors. The judge referred to changes proposed by the government in the IBC to benefit homebuyers and prevent them from being caught up in prolonged litigation with real estate developers.
One of the proposals is that when an insolvency application is filed against a real estate developer having multiple projects, proceedings may be initiated only against a specific project that has defaulted.
Hence, even if the company is legally under insolvency, the economic solution would be limited to the affected project.
We must appreciate that these battles are not only about the colossal amounts of money involved in these matters, but about the dreams and hard-earned savings of these homebuyers.
The judge also highlighted the role of mediation, as a “confidential and voluntary process” in the insolvency process.
Centre clears appointment of five SC judges (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)
President Droupadi Murmu signed the warrants of appointment of five new judges to the Supreme Court. Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju took to Twitter to announce the appointments of Chief Justices Pankaj Mithal, Sanjay Karol and P.V. Sanjay Kumar of the Rajasthan, Patna and Manipur High Courts, respectively; Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah of the Patna court, and Justice Manoj Misra of the Allahabad court.
The appointments have come a day after a word of caution from a Supreme Court Bench led by Justice S.K. Kaul that things would get “uncomfortable” if the government continues to delay judicial appointments and transfers.
Attorney-General R. Venkataramani told the court that the five names were already cleared by the Centre and would be sent to the President for issuance of warrant of appointments the same evening.
The Prime Minister’s Office had approved the recommendations of the collegium on February 2 and the appointments were already in their “final stages”. The Centre had taken a considered decision, which had nothing to do with the Bench’s observation.
Once the new judges are sworn in next week, the strength of the Supreme Court will go up from 27 to 32 and only two vacancies will remain. The top court has a sanctioned strength of 34 judges.
After August 26, 2021, when nine Supreme Court judges were appointed together, this is the second time when so many judges have been appointed in one single batch.
The apex court has an opportunity to function with its full strength if the government clears two other names proposed by the Supreme Court Collegium on January 31.
These two names are Justice Rajesh Bindal of the Allahabad High Court and Chief Justice Aravind Kumar of the Gujarat High Court.
India a dependable partner of Sri Lanka, says Muraleedharan (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
India is always a dependable partner and a reliable friend of Sri Lanka, Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan said as he attended the island nation’s 75th Independence Day celebrations.
Several other foreign dignitaries also attended the event. This milestone coincides with 75 years of establishment of diplomatic relations between both countries. India is always a dependable partner and a reliable friend of Sri Lanka,” Mr. Muraleedharan said in a tweet.
Mr. Muraleedharan, who visited the sacred Gangaramaya Temple in Colombo on the day, highlighted the close civilisational ties between the two countries, which are manifested including through Buddhism. The Minister also interacted with the Indian diaspora in Sri Lanka.
“Appreciated their contributions in strengthening economic and people-to-people ties between India and Sri Lanka. Their role is even more significant today when Sri Lanka is on its path to economic recovery.
Last year, India had extended $3.9 billion in support to Sri Lanka to deal with the economic crisis. Recently, New Delhi also gave assurance to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to restructure the country’s debt to secure a $2.9 billion bridge loan.
Easing an albatross off the neck of great Indian bustard (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
A Supreme Court-appointed committee has recommended that to protect the endangered great Indian bustard, close to 800 km of proposed power lines in the Thar and Kutch deserts of Rajasthan and Gujarat should be re-routed or made to go underground. This makes up about 10% of the length of the lines.
Despite a Supreme Court order directing that low-voltage power lines go underground, no significant steps appear to have been taken by power companies and State governments to comply with them, according to the report.
The 7,200 km of overhead lines are meant to transfer solar power into the grid, but existing lines have been harming the birds, which have been dying in collision with the lines or from electrocution. Only some 150 of these birds are still left, most of them in Jaisalmer of Rajasthan.
The death of these birds, and the danger to them from power lines and renewable energy projects, triggered a petition in the Supreme Court in 2019, by environmentalists who demanded that all overhead lines be taken underground.
Private and public power companies, supported by the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), contended that shifting all overhead lines underground would be expensive and impractical, and would significantly increase the cost of solar power, undermining India’s commitment to green growth.
In April 2021, the court directed that all low-voltage power lines in areas demarcated as “priority and potential habitats of the great Indian bustard” in the Thar and Kutch deserts be pushed underground.
“Priority zones” are areas where the birds are known to live and “potential regions” are those where conservation programmes, such as breeding the birds in captivity, are ongoing.
India joins UAE, France for trilateral on clean energy, counter-pandemic steps (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
India, France and the United Arab Emirates declared their common intent to formalise a “trilateral cooperation initiative” to collaborate on nuclear energy and explore opportunities in the Indian Ocean region.
The Foreign Ministers of the three countries held a telephonic conversation in this regard and agreed to work together in the field of solar and nuclear energy, climate change and biodiversity.
During this call, the three sides agreed that the trilateral initiative will serve as a forum to promote the design and execution of cooperation projects in the fields of energy, with a focus on solar and nuclear energy, as well as in the fight against climate change and the protection of biodiversity, particularly in the Indian Ocean region.
The trilateral was first discussed when the three Ministers — Dr. Jaishankar, France’s Catherine Colonna and the UAE’s Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan — had met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York in September 2022.
It was further agreed that “a range of trilateral events will be held in the backdrop of the Indian Presidency of the G-20 here and COP28 to be held in UAE in November-December 2023,” said the joint statement.
The countries have also agreed to cooperate in defence preparation and in countering infectious diseases, it added.
World
U.S., China exchange barbs over ‘high altitude surveillance balloon’ (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
A day after the U.S. cancelled the much-anticipated visit of its top diplomat to China over a Chinese “spy balloon”, the two sides exchanged sharp remarks over the incident, the latest flashpoint in already tense relations.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, due to arrive in Beijing on Monday, described the presence of what he called a “high altitude surveillance balloon” in American skies as an “unacceptable action” and said he had spoken with top Chinese diplomat and Politburo member Wang Yi to convey he was “postponing” his travel in light of the incident.
Mr. Wang, in phone call, said Beijing, which previously described the balloon as intended for meteorological use and expressed “regret” that it had deviated from its planned course, will “not accept any groundless conjecture or hype”.
In the face of unexpected situations, what both sides should do is to maintain steadiness, communicate in time, avoid misjudgement and manage differences, who is also Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.
Mr. Blinken said he had, in the phone call, “made clear that the presence of this surveillance balloon in U.S. airspace is a clear violation of U.S. sovereignty and international law, that it’s an irresponsible act, and that the PRC’s decision to take this action on the eve of my planned visit is detrimental to the substantive discussions that we were prepared to have.”
The Department of Defence, he added, was continuing to track and monitor “a high-altitude surveillance balloon that remains over the continental United States”.
The U.S. government on Friday said it had also observed a second surveillance balloon in skies over Latin America.
Reports in the U.S. said a decision to shoot down the balloon, which was floating over Montana this week and drifting towards the east coast of the U.S., was considered by President Joe Biden but ultimately shelved because of concerns over damage from debris.
Science
Climate change will increase hydropower generation (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Tech)
Unlike coal-powered power plants, hydropower, which is the second highest power producing source at 13%, is a significant contributor to clean global electricity generation.
Based on observations and climate projections, a two-member team from IIT Gandhinagar studied the hydroclimatic changes in the catchment areas and their implications for hydropower generation in 46 major dams located in north, central and south India.
The team looked at the increase in rainfall in the catchment areas and the resultant inflow into all the 46 major reservoirs in the near (2021–2040), mid (2041–2060), and far (2081–2100) periods against the reference period (1995–2014) for two shared socioeconomic pathway scenarios — SSP1-2.6 and SSP5-8.5. While SSP1-2.6 is a low-emission scenario, SSP5-8.5 is characterised by high radiative forcing by the end of the 21st century.
Under warmer climate, we expect hydropower production to increase across the country due to substantial increase in precipitation leading to increased inflow to the reservoirs, professor at the Department of Civil Engineering at IIT Gandhinagar, who led the study.
Based on selected hydroelectric dams, the projected increase in hydropower potential in India is 10-23%. The results are published in the journal iScience.
A warmer and wetter climate is projected to bring about 5%-33% increased rainfall. As a result, hydropower production is very likely to increase by 9%-36% for most dams and this will come from increased inflow (7-70%) into the dams.
The dams in central India show significant increase compared to dams in north and south India. “But most of the increased inflow into the dams will come from extreme rainfall. And herein lies the risks to water storage in the dams,” Prof. Mishra says.
Due to global warming, there will be a simultaneous rise in extreme inflow and high reservoir storage conditions for most dams.
Deer may serve as a reservoir for old SARS-CoV-2 variants (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Tech)
A study has found widespread infection of white-tailed deer with SARS-CoV-2 virus across the U.S. State of New York. The RNA of the virus was detected in 17 of the 2,700 samples (0.6%) collected during September to December 2020, and in 583 of the 2,762 samples (21.1%) collected during September to December 2021.
The researchers found cocirculation of the Alpha, Delta, and Gamma variants in the white-tailed deer, months after they were last detected in humans.
Of particular concern is the fact that the viral sequences recovered from white-tailed deer were “highly divergent from SARS-CoV-2 sequences recovered from humans”. This implies rapid adaptation of the virus in white-tailed deer.
The study found multiple spillover events from humans to deer of the Alpha and Delta lineages.
While the precise implication of these mutations in enabling the virus to spread between white-tailed deer and from the animals to humans is yet to be determined, the very presence of SARS-CoV-2 variants that is no longer in circulation among humans arises the real possibility of the white-tailed deer serving as reservoir for variant SARS-CoV-2 strains that no longer circulate in the human population.
The virus is likely to have jumped from humans to white-tailed deer during feeding or targeted baiting of hunting prey. The results of the study were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
It was already known that the ACE2 of white-tailed deer (WTD) share a high similarity to the human ACE2 receptors and this similarity, it was predicted, will allow the virus to bind and enter the cells of deer.
If silico predictions too showed the animals to be highly susceptible to infection by SARS-CoV-2 virus, intranasal inoculation of the virus in white-tailed deer led to infection, replication and shedding of the virus, and eventual transmission from one deer to another.
That white-tailed deer is broadly distributed in North America with an estimated 30 million population is a concern if the animal turns out to be a reservoir for the virus.
The researchers confirmed that the virus collected from the deer during 2021 was infectious and active virus replication was proven in laboratory studies.
While the Delta variant was found in human samples and coincided with the detection in deer, the Alpha and Gamma variants were rarely in circulation among humans between September and December 2021.
FAQ
Is Govt. on track on fiscal deficit targets? (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
In the Union Budget for 2023-24, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman chose the path of relative fiscal prudence and projected a decline in fiscal deficit to 5.9% of gross domestic product (GDP) in FY24, compared with 6.4% in FY23. Ms. Sitharaman said the government planned to continue on the path of fiscal consolidation and reach a fiscal deficit below 4.5% by 2025-26. To finance the fiscal deficit in 2023-24, she said the net market borrowings from dated securities are estimated at ₹11.8 lakh crore, and that the balance financing is expected to come from small savings and other sources. The gross market borrowings are estimated at ₹15.4 lakh crore.
In Union Budget 2023-24, the fiscal deficit to GDP is pegged at 5.9% in FY24. This ratio has declined from 6.4% in 2022-23 (revised estimate) and 6.7% in 2021-22 (actual).
In the revenue budget, the deficit was 4.1% of GDP in 2022-23 (revised estimate). In Union Budget 2023-24, revenue deficit is 2.9% of GDP.
If interest payments are deducted from fiscal deficit, which is referred to as primary deficit, it stood at 3% of GDP in 2022-23 (RE).
The primary deficit, which reflects the current fiscal stance devoid of past interest payment liabilities, is pegged at 2.3% of GDP in Union Budget 2023-24.
The major allocations that have been pared down are food, fertilizer and petroleum subsidies. The food subsidy in 2022-23 (RE) was ₹2,87,194 crore. In 2023-24, it has been reduced to ₹1,97,350 crore.
Similarly, the fertilizer subsidy in 2022-23 was ₹2,25,220 crore (RE); it has been reduced to ₹1,75,100 crore for FY24. The petroleum subsidy in 2022-23 was ₹9,171 crore (RE); it has declined to ₹2,257 crore in 2023-24 (Budget estimate/BE). However, the point to be noted is that compared with BE 2022-23, the decline is not that sharp.
In BE 2022-23, food subsidy was ₹2,06,831 crore; fertilizer subsidy was ₹1,05,222 crore, which was less than what has been allocated in BE 2023-24.
It is a laudable decision to extend food security to the poor for one more year amid rising inflation. However, rationalisation of subsidies is important so that the government can move towards reaching a fiscal deficit target of 4.5% by 2025-26.
Why have mangroves got a Budget push? (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
The Union Budget for 2023-24 announced an initiative for mangrove plantation along the coastline and on salt pan lands, under MISHTI (Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats & Tangible Incomes).
Mangroves are salt-tolerant plant communities found in tropical and subtropical intertidal regions. They are important refuges of coastal biodiversity and also act as bio-shields against extreme climatic events.
With the threat of climate change and frequent tropical storms looming large, planting more mangroves is a welcome development for India which has a coastline of about 7,500 km.
The ‘State of World Mangroves 2022’ report by the Global Mangrove Alliance puts the total mangrove cover of the world at 1,47,000 sq km (14.7 million hectares).
India has about 4,992 sq km (0.49 million hectares) of mangroves, according to the Indian State of Forest Report (IFSR) 2021. Mangroves in India are distributed across nine States and three Union Territories with West Bengal having the highest mangrove cover of 2,114 sq km.
The IFSR report also points out that there has been an increase in the mangrove cover from 4,046 sq km in 1987 to 4,992 sq km in 2021. However, like most other countries, in India too the mangrove ecosystem faces constant pressure due to increasing population in coastal areas and the rising demand for land, timber, fodder, fuel-wood and other non-wood forest products like fisheries.
The tree species that form a mangrove forest or ecosystem are broadly classified as true mangroves and mangroves associates. True mangroves are the ones which display morphological adaptations for a high saline mangrove ecosystem such as pneumatophores, vivipary or crypto vivipary germination and salt-secreting cells.
Botanists put the number of true mangrove species in India at about 42 and mangrove associates at 68. A stable and resilient mangrove ecosystem requires a number of species to exist side by side.
Experts believe that trial and testing with field experience and monitoring for years may be required to create a new mangrove ecosystem along the coastline.