08 JUNE 2023

Topic 1: Mission on Advanced and High-Impact Research (MAHIR)

Context: Mission on Advanced and High-Impact Research (MAHIR) launched to leverage Emerging Technologies in Power Sector

Key details:

• The Ministry of Power and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy have jointly launched this National Mission.
• The National Mission is titled “Mission on Advanced and High-Impact Research (MAHIR)”.
• Funding:
  • The Mission will be funded by pooling financial resources of:
    • the Ministry of Power,
    • Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and
    • the Central Public Sector Enterprises under the two Ministries.
  • Any additional funding needed will be mobilized from Government of India’s budgetary resources.
• Significance:
  • The Mission will serve as a catalyst for national priorities such as achieving Net Zero emissions and promoting initiatives like Make in India and Start-up India.
  • It will also contribute towards achieving the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• Mission Objectives
  • To identify emerging technologies and areas of future relevance for the Global Power Sector and take up indigenous end-to-end development of relevant technologies
  • To provide a common platform for Power Sector Stakeholders for collective brainstorming, synergetic technology development and devise pathways for smooth transfer of technology
  • To support pilot projects of indigenous technologies (developed especially by Indian Start-ups) and facilitate their commercialization
  • To leverage foreign alliances and partnerships to accelerate research & development of advanced technologies, thereby facilitating exchange of knowhow and Technology Transfer.
  • To seed, nurture and scale up scientific and industrial R&D and to create vibrant & innovative ecosystem in the Power Sector of the country
  • To make our Nation among the leading Countries in Power System related Technologies & Applications development
• Areas Identified for Research
  • Alternatives to Lithium-Ion storage batteries
  • Modifying electric cookers / pans to suit Indian cooking methods
  • Green hydrogen for mobility (High Efficiency Fuel Cell)
  • Carbon capture
  • Geo-thermal energy
  • Solid state refrigeration.
  • Nano technology for EV battery
  • Indigenous CRGO technology
• Structure of the Mission
  • The Mission will have a two-tier structure:
    • a Technical Scoping Committee and
    • an Apex Committee.

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Topic 2: Pandemic Treaty

Context: The latest version of the draft Pandemic Instrument, also referred to as the “pandemic treaty,” was shared with Member States at the World Health Assembly and it became apparent that all mentions of addressing antimicrobial resistance in the Pandemic Instrument were at risk of removal.

What is the pandemic accord?

• All countries of the world resolved in December 2021 to develop an international agreement, referred to as a pandemic accord (and sometimes called a pandemic treaty).
• It will define rules and norms for how countries can better prevent pandemics from happening and respond to future health emergencies in order to protect the safety and well-being of people everywhere.
• Need:
  • International agreements serve an important role in holding countries accountable and solving global problems that transcend borders.
    • For example, the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, the first treaty in the history of the UN to achieve universal ratification, has succeeded in eliminating around 99% of ozone-depleting substances.
  • If widely adopted by countries, the pandemic accord has the potential to stop pandemics before they start and to facilitate a faster, more effective response — saving lives and protecting against losses to the global economy.
• Significance of the accord: An accord could:
  • Improve transparency and early warning of potentially dangerous outbreaks.
  • Ensure health workers have the tools and protection they need.
  • Facilitate faster development and deployment of new vaccines and medicines worldwide.
  • Improve laboratory and surveillance capabilities around the world.
  • Enable a faster, better, and more cooperative response to the next health crisis.
  • Respect and protect human rights.
• Who decides what is in the pandemic accord?
  • The pandemic accord is being determined by governmental leaders from 194 countries through an ongoing negotiation process, facilitated by the World Health Organization (WHO).
  • Once the final agreement is decided, each country will choose whether to be a party to it.
  • Even though this process is being led by governments, there have been many opportunities for the wider public to lend their voice.
  • What it would not do is hand over control of domestic public health policies to WHO or any other international body.
  • As with other international agreements, the pandemic accord would not affect countries’ sovereignty.
  • How each country goes about implementing the agreement would depend on its own domestic laws and policies.

Antimicrobial resistance

• Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is the process by which infections caused by microbes become resistant to the medicines developed to treat them.
  • Microbes include bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites.
• Bacterial infections alone cause one in eight deaths globally.
• AMR is fueling the rise of drug-resistant infections, including drug-resistant tuberculosis, drug-resistant pneumonia and drug-resistant Staph infections such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
• AMR is now a leading cause of death worldwide.

Inclusion in the pandemic treaty:

• Without knowing what the next pandemic will be, the “pandemic treaty” must plan, prepare and develop effective tools to respond to a wider range of pandemic threats, not solely viruses.
• Even if the world faces another viral pandemic, secondary bacterial infections will be a serious issue.
• During the COVID-19 pandemic for instance, large percentages of those hospitalized with COVID-19 required treatment for secondary bacterial infections.
• Treating these bacterial infections requires effective antibiotics, and with AMR increasing, effective antibiotics are becoming a scarce resource.
• Essentially, safeguarding the remaining effective antibiotics we have is critical to responding to any pandemic.
• That’s why the potential removal of measures  from the pandemic treaty that would help mitigate AMR and better safeguard antimicrobial effectiveness is so concerning.
• Sections of the text which may be removedincludemeasures to prevent infections (caused by bacteria, viruses and other microbes), such as:
  • better access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene;
  • higher standards of infection prevention and control;
  • integrated surveillance of infectious disease threats from human, animals and the environment; and
  • strengthening antimicrobial stewardship efforts to optimize how antimicrobial drugs are used and prevent the development of AMR.
• The exclusion of these measures would hinder efforts to protect people from future pandemics.

Way forward:

• The Pandemic Instrument is the best option to mitigate AMR and safeguard lifesaving antimicrobials to treat secondary infections in pandemics.
• AMR exceeds the capacity of any single country or sector to solve.
• Global political action is needed to ensure the international community works together to collectively mitigate AMR and support the conservation, development and equitable distribution of safe and effective antimicrobials.
• By missing this opportunity to address AMR and safeguard antimicrobials in the Pandemic Instrument, we severely undermine the broader goals of the instrument: to protect nations and communities from future pandemic emergencies.
• It is important going forward that Member States recognize the core infrastructural role that antimicrobials play in pandemic response and strengthen, rather than weaken, measures meant to safeguard antimicrobials.
• If governments are serious about pandemic preparedness, they must support bold measures to conserve the effectiveness of antimicrobials within the Pandemic Instrument.

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Topic 3: Amrit Generation Campaign: Naye Bharat Ke Sapne

Context: Meta and Ministry of Women and Child Development launch the Amrit Generation Campaign: Naye Bharat Ke Sapne

Key details:

• The Amrit Generation campaign is an initiative to empower and engage the youth of India by encouraging them to express their aspirations and dreams for the future.
• The campaign invites young people from across the country to showcase their creativity and share their aspirations by creating Reels on Instagram and Facebook.
• Fifty entries from the campaign will be selected and invited to New Delhi for a unique opportunity to interact with senior policymakers and industry leaders, providing valuable insights into their respective fields and offering guidance on how to achieve their dreams.

About Meta:

• Meta builds technologies that help people connect, find communities, and grow businesses.
• Meta is moving beyond 2D screens toward immersive experiences like augmented and virtual reality to help build the next evolution in social technology.

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Topic 4: Process of travelling abroad for state ministers

Context: The Centre informed Delhi High Court that Delhi Education Minister has been cleared to travel to the UK.

Key details:

• The Cabinet Secretariat and the Ministry of External Affairs should be kept informed of the proposed foreign visit, either official or private, of Chief Ministers and Ministers of State Governments/Union Territories.
• Prior political clearance and FCRA (Foreign Contribution Regulation Act) clearance are mandatory.

What is political clearance?

• This comes from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), and is required not just for public servants but for any government servant who is seeking to go abroad.
• Without this clearance, no public servant can travel overseas.

Additional clearances

• Union ministers need clearance from the Prime Minister’s Office in addition to the political clearance from the MEA for both official and personal trips.
• Members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha need clearance from the Speaker and Chairperson (Vice President of India) respectively, but only if the trip is official.
  • However, many MPs keep the Lok Sabha/ Rajya Sabha secretariat in the loop even for a private trip.
• For government employees, all foreign trips, official or personal, need approval.
• For officers up to the rank of Joint Secretary, clearance is given by the Minister concerned, after the MEA’s political clearance.
• For officers above that rank, the proposal is approved by a screening committee of secretaries.
• If the visiting Indian official is hosted by organisations other than those of the United Nations, FCRA clearance is needed from the Home Ministry.

Rules for judges:

• For official visits, a judge of the Supreme Court or a state High Court has to send the proposal to the Department of Justice in the Union Ministry of Law and Justice after obtaining clearance from the Chief Justice of India.
• The DoJ issues approval after taking political clearance from the MEA and, in some cases (where FCRA is involved), from the Home Ministry.

What is the FCRA?The FCRA regulates foreign donations and ensures that such contributions do not adversely affect internal security.First enacted in 1976, it was amended in 2010 when a slew of new measures were adopted to regulate foreign donations.The FCRA is applicable to all associations, groups and NGOs which intend to receive foreign donations.It is mandatory for all such NGOs to register themselves under the FCRA.The registration is initially valid for five years and it can be renewed subsequently if they comply with all norms.Registered associations can receive foreign contribution for social, educational, religious, economic and cultural purposes.Filing of annual returns, on the lines of Income Tax, is compulsory.It also said all such NGOs would have to operate accounts in either nationalised or private banks which have core banking facilities to allow security agencies access on a real time basis.

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Topic 5: How can we transition to a low-carbon city?

Context: Transitioning to low-carbon or even net-zero cities requires us to integrate mitigation and adaptation options in multiple sectors. This is called the ‘sector-coupling approach’, and it is necessary to decarbonise urban systems.

Significance of energy-system transitions:

• An energy-system transition could reduce urban carbon dioxide emissions by around 74%.
• With rapid advancements in clean energy, we have crossed the economic and technological barriers to implementing low-carbon solutions.
• The transition must be implemented both on the demand and the supply side.
  • Mitigation options on the supply side include phasing out fossil fuels and increasing the share of renewables in the energy mix, and using carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies.
  • On the demand side, using the ‘avoid, shift, improve’ framework would entail reducing the demand for materials and energy, and substituting the demand for fossil fuels with renewables.
• In order to address residual emissions in the energy sector, we must implement carbon-dioxide removal (CDR) technologies.

Different strategies

• Strategy for an established city:
  • An established city can retrofit and repurpose its infrastructure to increase energy efficiency, and promote public as well as active transport like bicycling and walking.
  • Walkable cities designed around people can significantly reduce energy demand, as can electrifying public transport and setting up renewable-based district cooling and heating networks.
• Strategy for a rapidly growing city:
  • A rapidly growing city can try to colocate housing and jobs — by planning the city in a way that brings places of work closer to residential complexes, thus reducing transport energy demand.
  • Such cities can also leapfrog to low-carbon technologies, including renewables and CCS.
• Strategy for new and emerging cities:
  • New and emerging cities have the most potential to reduce emissions:
    • using energy-efficient services and infrastructure, and
    • a people-centric urban design.
  • They can also implement building codes that mandate net-zero energy use and retrofit existing buildings, all while gradually shifting to low-emission construction material.

How can an energy transition be just?

• Justice concerns include:
  • land dispossession related to large-scale renewable energy projects,
  • spatial concentration of poverty,
  • the marginalisation of certain communities,
  • gendered impacts, and
  • the reliance on coal for livelihoods.
• Energy systems are directly and indirectly linked to livelihoods, local economic development, and the socio-economic well-being of people engaged in diverse sectors.
• So a one-size-fits-all approach is unlikely to ensure a socially and environmentally just transition.
• The energy supply needs to be balanced against fast-growing energy demand (due to urbanisation), the needs of energy security, and exports.

Way forward

• Ensuring a transition to low-carbon energy systems in cities at different stages of urbanisation, national contexts, and institutional capacities requires strategic and bespoke efforts.
• They must be directed at governance and planning, achieving behavioural shifts, promoting technology and innovation, and building institutional capacity.
• We must also adopt a comprehensive approach to address the root causes of energy and environmental injustices. This includes:
  • mitigation and adaptation responses that engage multiple stakeholders in energy governance and decision-making,
  • promoting energy-efficiency,
  • scaling up climate investments, and
  • capturing alternate knowledge streams (including indigenous and local lived experiences).

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Topic 6: Shagri-La Dialogue

Context: Singapore is hosting the 20th Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD) for three days.

What is Shangri-La Dialogue?

• The Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD) is an inter-governmental security conference.
• It is held annually in Singapore by an independent think tank, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
• The dialogue is commonly attended by defence ministers, permanent heads of ministries and military chiefs of mostly Asia-Pacific states.
• The forum’s name is derived from the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore, where it has been held since 2002.
• Aim of the summit:
  • To cultivate a sense of community among the most important policymakers in the defence and security community in the region.
• Participants:
  • Singapore, Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Russia, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States and Vietnam.

Key takeaways of the 2023 Shangri La Dialogue for India

• India China
  • India is caught in a military standoff situation with China for the past more than three years in eastern Ladakh.
  • India is engaged in consistent dialogue with China to ride over the problems in the cold desert region of Ladakh.
  • India has tried to keep its issue with China confined to its bilateral dialogue, yet the world has its own perceptions.
  • The dialogue can be a platform for India to get all the support it needs against Chinese aggression.
• India-Pakistan:
  • India hosted one of the G20 events in Kashmir to showcase its sovereignty over the place.
  • The dialogue would help in convincing the world that it is sincerer in having peace, and the G 20 grouping has an obligation to endorse India.
• Improvement in the US-China ties:
  • If it happens, will certainly have salutary effect on the India-China situation.
  • The overall global atmosphere in which the tensions de-escalate and the territorial integrity and national sovereignty are honoured, it can help check the expansionist tendencies of China.

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Topic 7: Global Stocktake

Context: One of the most important tasks to be accomplished at this year’s Bonn meeting is what is known as Global Stocktake, or GST.

What is Global Stocktake?

• Global stocktake’ refers to a proposed five-yearly review of the impact of countries’ climate change actions.
• Under the Paris Agreement, every country must present a climate action plan in five-yearly cycles.
• Under the Paris Agreement, the first global stocktake will happen in 2023.
  • It will assess whether the net result of the climate actions being taken was consistent with the goal of keeping the increase in global average temperature from pre-industrial times to within 2 degree Celsius.
• Significance:
  • Country-wise plans:
    • The Paris Agreement calls on each country to set its own plan to cut emissions and adapt to climate impacts.
    • It also established a process for countries to continually strengthen their national climate plans.
    • These national climate change plans are formally known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
  • Accountability:
    • To hold themselves accountable, countries agreed to regularly report on and review their individual efforts and to take stock of their collective progress.
    • The Paris Agreement created the global stocktaking process, which follows a five-year cycle.
  • Assessing achievements:
    • The global stocktake will help national governments see what they have achieved so far in implementing their climate plans, identify what still needs to be done to meet their targets, and highlight opportunities to increase their ambition on climate action.
• How it works?
  • While every country is required to participate in the global stocktake, the exercise will not assess actions of any individual country.
  • It will only make an assessment of the collective efforts of the world.
• What will it cover?
  • Results of actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
  • Results of actions being taken to adapt to the effects of climate change as well.
  • Assessment of whether developed countries are offering adequate help to developing countries by providing money and technology, as mandated by the Paris Agreement.
  • The other thing to be included in the stocktake is the latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
    • It is the United Nations-backed scientific body that reviews all published climate science in 5-6 year cycles and draws conclusions from them.
    • IPCC reports form the scientific basis on which the world is taking climate action.
• Concerns:
  • There was some debate over the frequency of the global stocktakes.
  • Countries like India preferred a 10-year period, while the EU and some others demanded a five-year cycle.
  • India had been arguing that five years is too short a time to assess whether the actions were having the desired impacts.

Way forward:

• The response to the stocktake or assessment needs to be a roadmap for the next five years.
  • The next GST is slated for 2028.
• The global stocktake must not be treated as a “single-point delivery initiative” and forgotten, as has happened in the past.
• The GST should provide us with a response: what is the roadmap for the next five years.
• If done properly, the roadmap should contain the ambition and elements that would prescribe what every government, state and non-state actor should do in the next five years.
• Countries will not be able to escape their individual responsibilities towards climate change mitigation.
• Therefore, now is the time to take the pressure off the international negotiations to set the rules, and begin the arduous process of following them.
• With new rules in hand, it’s finally time to begin implementing the Paris Agreement and delivering action on the ground.

What is Paris Agreement?

• The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change.
• It was adopted by 196 Parties at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris, on 12 December 2015.
• It entered into force on 4 November 2016.
• Aim:
  • Its overarching goal is to hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
  • The Paris Agreement is a landmark in the multilateral climate change process because, for the first time, a binding agreement brings all nations together to combat climate change and adapt to its effects.

How does the Paris Agreement work?

• The Paris Agreement works on a five-year cycle of increasingly ambitious climate action –.
• Since 2020, countries have been submitting their national climate action plans, known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs).
• Each successive NDC is meant to reflect an increasingly higher degree of ambition compared to the previous version.
• Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)
  • In their NDCs, countries communicate actions they will take to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in order to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement.
  • Countries also communicate in their NDCs actions they will take to build resilience to adapt to the impacts of climate change. 
• Long-Term Strategies
  • The Paris Agreement invites countries to formulate and submit long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategies (LT-LEDS).
  • LT-LEDS provide the long-term horizon to the NDCs.
  • Unlike NDCs, they are not mandatory.

How are countries supporting one another?

• Finance
  • The Paris Agreement reaffirms that developed countries should take the lead in providing financial assistance to countries that are less endowed and more vulnerable.
  • Climate finance is needed for mitigation, because large-scale investments are required to significantly reduce emissions.
  • Climate finance is equally important for adaptation, as significant financial resources are needed to adapt to the adverse effects and reduce the impacts of a changing climate.
• Technology
  • The Paris Agreement speaks of the vision of fully realizing technology development and transfer for both improving resilience to climate change and reducing GHG emissions.
  • It establishes a technology framework to provide overarching guidance to the well-functioning Technology Mechanism.
• Capacity-Building
  • The Paris Agreement places great emphasis on climate-related capacity-building for developing countries and requests all developed countries to enhance support for capacity-building actions in developing countries.

How progress is tracked?

• With the Paris Agreement, countries established an enhanced transparency framework (ETF).
• Under ETF, starting in 2024, countries will report transparently on actions taken and progress in climate change mitigation, adaptation measures and support provided or received.
• It also provides for international procedures for the review of the submitted reports. 
• The information gathered through the ETF will feed into the Global stocktake which will assess the collective progress towards the long-term climate goals.
• This will lead to recommendations for countries to set more ambitious plans in the next round.