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Urging countries to rise above self-interest and deliver on all their climate obligations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that developing countries must get appropriate access to the remaining global carbon budget.
Speaking at the high-level segment of the COP28 meeting here, Modi also proposed to host the 2028 climate change conference, COP33, in India.
India has hosted this annual climate change conference once earlier, COP8 in 2002. Then, the scale of this conference used to be much smaller unlike the most high-profile annual event that it has evolved into now, attracting the attendance of over 100 heads of states and governments, topmost global business leaders, celebrities and others.
The only world leader sitting on the dais at the opening plenary with
COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber and UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Steill, Modi spoke about India’s own actions on climate change.
And reiterated that India was among very few large economies which were on track to fulfil their climate commitments. He said every other country must also do so.
As US sanctions on venezuela case, India set to import oil after 3 years (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
WITH THE United States (US) easing sanctions on Venezuela, India’s crude oil imports from Caracas are set to resume after three years with private sector giant Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) booking three tankers scheduled to load oil from the Latin American country in December and January 2024, as per shipping fixtures shared by trade sources.
Private sector refiners RIL and Nayara Energy (NEL) were regular buyers of Venezuelan crude prior to imposition of US sanctions on Caracas in 2019. Following the sanctions, oil imports from Venezuela stopped.
According to data from commodity market analytics firm Kpler, India last imported Venezuelan crude in November 2020. Venezuela was New Delhi’s fifth-largest supplier of oil in 2019, providing close to 16 million tonnes of crude to Indian refiners, as per India’s official trade data.
In October this year, Washington eased sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector, authorising oil exports without limitation for six months.
Venezuela, a member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has the largest proven oil reserves in the world.
Governor can’t resend re-adopted bill to President after withholding assent: SC (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)
Observing that a Governor cannot refer for Presidential assent a Bill passed by the Assembly and later re-adopted or re-enacted, the Supreme Court said Friday it “would like” Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi to “engage” with Chief Minister M K Stalin and “resolve” the “impasse” over the delay in clearing Bills sent to him by the House.
We are also conscious of the fact that we are dealing with a high constitutional functionary… There are so many things which have to be resolved between the CM and the Governor. We would appreciate, it if the Governor engages with the CM and resolves this impasse… I think it’s appropriate that the Governor invites the CM… Let them sit down and resolve.”
The bench said if the Governor exercises the option to withhold assent to a Bill, he has to send it back to the Assembly, that he cannot simply withhold assent and retain the Bill.
It made these remarks after it was pointed out that the Tamil Nadu Governor had withheld assent but not returned the Bills to the Assembly and referred them for the consideration of the President after the Assembly re-enacted them.
Govt & Politics
A first: Woman officer to take over command of warship: INS Trinkat (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 3, Defence)
The Navy has appointed the first woman commanding officer in a naval ship in line with the Navy’s philosophy of “all roles-all ranks” to deploying women in the service, Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar said.
Sources told The Indian Express that the officer, a Lieutenant Commander, would be commanding INS Trinkat, a fast attack craft based in the western seaboard. She is yet to take over the new role.
This is for the first time that a woman officer would assume command of a ship. As per sources, the officer is a qualified navigation instructor and has been involved in training observers inducted into the Navy.
She is also learnt to be the first woman officer who served as an observer in the Navy’s Tupolev Tu-142 maritime patrol aircraft.
Admiral Kumar said the officer had to go through all the processes for qualification and exams and would now undergo pre-commissioning training before taking over the craft.
Extending BSF jurisdiction doesn’t take away powers of Punjab Police, says SC (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)
The Supreme Court on Friday noted that the Centre’s notification extending the jurisdiction of the Border Security Force (BSF) in Punjab from 15 to 50 km only confers concurrent power on the BSF to prevent the commission of certain offences within the limits and does not take away the power of investigation from the state police.
The power of investigation is not taken away. Nothing is taken away from the Punjab police,” said Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud while presiding over a three-judge bench.
The court was hearing a suit filed by the Punjab government against the Centre’s notification extending the jurisdiction of the BSF.
Appearing for the Centre, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the bench, also comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, that “in all border states, there is a power under the BSF Act to extend the jurisdiction of BSF so far as offences are considered. Since 1969, Gujarat has had 80 kms. In some states it was less.
Now it is uniform 50 kms. And that would merely mean that with regard to some offences like illegal entry into India, Passports Act etc, BSF will also have jurisdiction. Local police will continue to have jurisdiction. BSF is also concurrently conferred with the jurisdiction”.
Express Network
Green credit incentive to take positive action (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched an initiative focusing on generating Green Credits through plantation on degraded wasteland.
During a high-level event at the ongoing climate talks or COP28 in Dubai, he highlighted that the Green Credits Initiative surpasses the commercial nature of carbon credits.
The Green Credits Programme, launched by the Environment Ministry in October this year, is an effort to create a market-based incentive for different kinds of environment-positive actions, not just for carbon emission reductions.
Such a market-based system already exists for carbon, at the national as well as international level, that allows trade in carbon credits.
Companies, or nations, can claim carbon credits if they take action to reduce their carbon footprint. These credits can they be traded for money. Companies unable to achieve their emission standards pay to buy these credits and improve their performance.
El Nino, other factors to cause warm winter (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast a warm winter season across the country, saying minimum temperature could remain higher than normal.
This follows an overall warming trend experienced globally, including India, which witnessed the third warmest November since 1901.
With February, August and November being the warmest months since 1901 in India, 2023 is on its way to becoming the warmest year ever recorded on Earth.
Due to large-scale features like the El Nino, in addition to the regional factors like western disturbances and the upcoming cyclone developing in the Bay of Bengal, there are chances of higher-than-normal minimum temperatures, making it a warm winter season in the country. Fewer and less intense cold waves could further keep the December to February period warm.
At present, the El Nino condition — the warmer than usual sea surface temperatures recorded over the equatorial Pacific Ocean — is inching to its peak. As per the recent observations, the Nino 3.4 region remained 2.4 degrees Celsius above the threshold.
Editorial
A bridge not barrier (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Constitution)
Within the domain of religious texts, power usually rests with priests, forming a story in which human-divine communication is often restricted.
The complexity within the British common law tradition is along similar lines — legal texts are deliberately crafted in intricate language, posing challenges for the average citizen to navigate.
The Indian government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is embarking on a mission to simplify legal language.
This strategic initiative resonates harmoniously with the overarching vision of “Access to Justice”, seeking to dismantle the barriers of legal complexity that have impeded the common citizen’s understanding.
During the Constituent Assembly debates, B R Ambedkar, the Chairman of the Drafting Committee, said: “We must not forget that the constitution is for the people of India and it is for the ordinary people.
We must see that the constitution is not only passed by the Constituent Assembly but that it is also worked by the common people of the country.
These words underscore the foundational principle that the Constitution and its accompanying legal language should be comprehensible to every citizen, irrespective of their legal expertise.
Ideas Page
The good news on growth (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The Indian economy expanded by a staggering 7.6 per cent in the second quarter of the ongoing financial year. The economy has now grown at 7 per cent plus for two straight quarters.
This raises a serious question over the accuracy of forecasts that have been continuously casting doubt on India’s macroeconomic resilience post the pandemic.
In a departure from the past, the manufacturing sector grew at a robust 13.9 per cent in the second quarter, compared to 4.7 per cent in the first quarter. Growth in the second quarter was at a nine-quarter high. The contribution of the sector also reached a nine-quarter high of 2.5 per cent.
This could be a sign of an uptick in manufacturing, triggered by a slew of policy initiatives, ranging from steady government capital expenditure, the PLI scheme (ensuring export competitiveness in specific sectors), the formalisation drive in both MSMEs (Udyam) and the labour force (e-shram), and the stabilisation in incremental credit deployment.
Explained
GDP growth surprise (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) threw up a massive surprise Thursday when it released the economic growth data for the second quarter — covering months of July, August and September — of the current financial year (2023-24 or FY24). India’s Gross Domestic Product — the measure of economic output — had grown by 7.6% in Q2.
In other words, India’s real GDP (that is, after one takes away the effect of price inflation) in Q2 of FY24 is 7.6% more than what it was in the same three months of FY23.
This is welcome news because not only is this a fairly impressive level of economic growth, it also beats all market expectations.
The first significance of the news is that it has triggered a flurry of upward revisions in the GDP forecast for the full financial year.
Secondly, it seems to be vindicating the growth projections of India’s central bank. At the start of the financial year, the Reserve Bank of India looked like an outlier when it forecast a full-year GDP growth rate of 6.5% while most other professional economists had pegged it close to 6%; some even lower — as low as 5.5%. With most others now pushing up the FY24 projection to 6.5%, the RBI looks like it got its forecast spot on.
Loss and Damage fund approved at COP 28: Why this is a major step forward (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
On the opening day of the COP28 climate conference in Dubai, a loss and damage fund to help vulnerable countries cope with the impact of climate change has been officially launched.
The initial funding is estimated to be $475 million — host UAE pledged $100 million, the European Union promised $275 million, $17.5 million from the US, and $10 million from Japan.
The loss and damage fund was first announced during COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, last year. However, it was not until a few weeks before COP 28 that rich and poor countries managed to iron out some of their differences and agree on key points of the fund.
Here is a look at the fund, why it is needed by vulnerable countries, and how it will operate.
Economy
Factory production rises in November (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
India’s manufacturing activity accelerated in November from an eight-month-low recorded the preceding month on robust demand, while input cost inflation slipped to 40-month low.
The purchasing managers index (PMI) for manufacturing rose to 56 in November, up from 55.5 in October, though it remained below 57.5 reported in September, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
During October, manufacturing activity recorded the slowest rate of expansion since February. The 50-mark separates expansion from contraction.
The latest survey result comes a day after the data showed that the Indian economy grew at an impressive rate of 7.6% in the second quarter.
The rise in manufacturing activity was accompanied by a substantial easing of price pressures. Although average purchasing costs rose again, the rate of inflation eased to the lowest in the current 40-month sequence of increases and was negligible by historical standards.