[Mission 2023] Insights SECURE SYNOPSIS: 28 March 2023

NOTE: Please remember that following ‘answers’ are NOT ‘model answers’. They are NOT synopsis too if we go by definition of the term. What we are providing is content that both meets demand of the question and at the same

General Studies – 1

Topic: Distribution of key natural resources across the world (including South Asia and the Indian sub-continent)

1. What is blue economy? The blue economy of India has enormous potential for sustainable economic growth and equitable use of resources. Evaluate. (250 words)

Difficulty level: Moderate

Reference: The Hindu , Insights on India

Why the question:

 The oceans hold a plenty of opportunities for the prosperity of our planet. It is therefore not surprising that the most prosperous cities and countries are endowed with a coast.

Key Demand of the question:

To write about the potential of blue economy and India’s strengths and weaknesses in this regard.

Directive word: 

Evaluate – When you are asked to evaluate, you have to pass a sound judgement about the truth of the given statement in the question or the topic based on evidence.  You must appraise the worth of the statement in question. There is scope for forming an opinion here.

Structure of the answer:

Introduction: 

Start by defining blue economy and its components.

Body:

Frist, write about the importance of Blue Economy; Contribute to food security, poverty alleviation, Mitigation and resilience to the impacts of climate change, Enhanced trade and investment, Enhanced maritime connectivity. Explain these points in detail.

Next, write ways of harnessing blue economy in India.

Next, write India’s strengths and weaknesses in harnessing blue economy in India.

Conclusion:

Conclude by writing a way forward.

Introduction

“Blue Economy” refers to strategic and sustainable use of Marine Resources for the development of Economy and the well-being of human. Gunter Pauli’s book, “The Blue Economy: 10 years, 100 innovations, 100 million jobs” (2010) brought the Blue Economy concept into prominence. It offers “Green Approach” to meet the aspirations of mankind. India is endowed with a vast coastline of approximately 7500 Km and hence better placed to harness the “potential of oceans” – with an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 2.02 mn. sq.km. It is an upcoming sunrise sector.

Body

Potential of blue economy for sustainable economic growth

• Economy: Blue economy, through sustainable use of oceans, has great potential for boosting the economic growth by providing opportunities for income generation and jobs etc.
  • It can support food security, and diversification to address new resources for energy, new drugs valuable chemicals, protein food, deep sea minerals, security etc.
  • At least 3-5% of global GDP is derived from oceans
• Socio-Economic Development:
  • Blue economy presents India with an unprecedented opportunity to meet its national socio-economic objectives as well as strengthen connectivity with neighbours.
  • Blue Economy can help in focusing on livelihood generation, achieving energy security, building ecological resilience, and improving health and living standards of coastal communities.
  • Blue economy would reinforce and strengthen the efforts of the Indian government as it strives to achieve the SDGs of hunger and poverty eradication along with sustainable use of marine resources by 2030.
• Environmental Benefits:
  • Mangroves and other vegetated ocean habitats sequester 25 percent of the extra CO2 from fossil fuels, i.e., Blue Carbon.
  • Protection of coastal communities from disasters like floods and storms.
  • A Sustainable Blue Economy can help to achieve commitments under UN’s Sustainable Development Goals 2030, Paris climate agreement 2015 and the UN Ocean Conference 2017
• Renewable Energy:
  • Sustainable marine energy can play a vital role in social and economic development.
  • As energy sources on the surface are limited, in the near future the dependency on marine resources will increase, which will require more human resource to be deployed in the field of environment engineering and marine resource protection
• Mineral Wealth:
  • According to ISA there are vast reserves of Poly-metallic Nodules, sulphides, cobalt rich ferro-mangenese crust( rich in cobalt, bismuth, iron, lead, platinum).
  • ISA has notified two major areas “clariton-clipperton fracture zone” and Central Indian Ocean Basin.
  • India has already signed a contract and entered in the league with Japan, USA, China
• Fisheries: Sustainable fisheries can generate more revenue, more fish and help restore fish stocks.
• Maritime Transport:
  • Over 80% of international goods traded are transported by sea.
  • Marine services sector could serve as the backbone of its blue economy and help India become 10 trillion dollar economy by 2022.
  • Indian Ocean is a major conduit of trade with as much as 80% of global oil trade happening through it.
  • Tourism:
  • Ocean and coastal tourism can bring jobs and economic growth.
• Climate Change and Bio-diversity:
  • Oceans are an important carbon sink (blue carbon) and help mitigate climate change.
  • Oceans protect biodiversity, keep the planet cool, and absorb about 30% of global CO2 emissions.
  • Oceans cover three-quarters of the Earth’s surface, contain 97% of the Earth’s water, and represent 99% of the living area on the planet.
  • Waste Management:
  • Better waste management on land can help oceans recover.

Issues with sustainable development of blue economy

• Threat of sea borne terror:
  • Piracy and armed robbery, maritime terrorism, illicit trade in crude oil, arms, drug and human trafficking and smuggling of contraband etc.
• Natural Disasters:
  • Every year tsunamis, cyclones, hurricanes typhoons etc leave thousands of people stranded and property worth millions destroyed.
• Man-Made disasters:
  • Oil spills, climate change continue to risk the stability of the maritime domain.
• Impact of climate change:
  • Threats of both slow-onset events like sea-level rise and more intense and frequent weather events like cyclones.
  • Long-term climate change impacts on ocean systems like changes in sea temperature, acidity, and major oceanic currents.
• Marine pollution:
  • In form of excess nutrients from untreated sewerage, agricultural runoff, and marine debris such as plastics.
  • Deep sea mining can cause long term irreversible ecological damage to marine ecosystem.
• Geopolitical issues:
  • Geopolitical tussle between in various regions like South China Sea, Indian Ocean Region etc. and undermining International Laws like UNCLOS limits the countries from achieving the full potential of Blue Economy.
• Overexploitation of marine resources:
  • Illegal, unreported, and unregulated extraction of marine resources.
  • FAO estimates that approximately 57 percent of fish stocks are fully exploited and another 30 percent are over-exploited, depleted, or recovering.
• Unsustainable development near marine areas:
  • Physical alterations and destruction of marine and coastal habitats & landscapes largely due to coastal development, deforestation, & mining

Conclusion and Way forward

• India should look to adopt the sustainable approach of balancing economic benefits with sustainability for meeting the broader goals of growth, employment generation, equity and protection of environment.
• We need to come up with technology to explore the minerals deep down at seabed.
• India must focus on marine ICTs, and transport (shipping) and communication services, and the creation of a knowledge hub for marine research and development.
• An effective response mechanism to address humanitarian crises and natural disasters should be made for the evolving Indian Ocean security strategy.
• India should not look at its oceans as just water bodies, but as global stage for continued economic, social, and cultural dialogue.
• Ever increasing marine pollution must be abated and India’s vow to curb plastic pollution must be pursued relentlessly.
• Tackling the Global warming and submergence of low lying islands as part of Paris Climate deal agreement and initiatives like FIPIC.

General Studies – 2

Topic: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes;

2. The digital revolution in India has transformed lives of ordinary citizens, given power to the poorest and marginalised, and offered the young the ability to create. Elaborate. (250 words)

Difficulty level: Moderate

Reference: Indian Express

Why the question:

Until a few years ago, access to technology was considered a privilege restricted to the urban elite. The internet was unaffordable for people in rural areas. Only 25 crore Indians used the internet till 2014, which increased to 84 crore in 2022. Earlier, the cost of 1GB of data was about Rs 300. Now it has come down to about Rs 13.5 per GB, making it affordable.

Key Demand of the question:

To write about the achievements and limitations of India’s digital revolution.

Directive word: 

Elaborate – Give a detailed account as to how and why it occurred, or what is the context. You must be defining key terms wherever appropriate and substantiate with relevant associated facts.

Structure of the answer:

Introduction: 

Begin by giving context.

Body:

First, write about the major aspects of India’s digital revolution – new skills, access job opportunities, and connect with people from all over the world etc. Cite certain schemes launched by the government in this regard.

Next, write about the impact of the above – democratized access to knowledge and communication, giving a voice to the previously marginalized, enabled young people to start businesses and create content, generating economic growth and job creation etc.

Next, write about the limitations of India in the above.

Conclusion:

Conclude with a way forward.

Introduction

Body

Digital India: Background

Digital India was launched with three clear objectives: –

• To transform citizens’ lives, governance and democracy;
• expand the digital economy, create jobs and attract investments;
• make India the leader in the realm of technology — a provider rather than a consumer of technology.
• The government’s increased focus to create a digitally empowered economy is forecast to benefit all sectors, wherein core digital sectors such as information technology & business process management, digital communication services and electronics manufacturing are likely to double their GDPs to US$ 355-435 billion by 2025.
• In another report, McKinsey highlighted that the ‘Digital India’ initiative is expected to boost the country’s digital economy to US$ 1 trillion by 2025, up from US$ 200 billion in 2018.

Digital revolution in India

• Internet access and 4G in India: Private sector innovation has helped bring internet-enabled services to millions of consumers and made online usage more accessible.
  • For example, Reliance Jio’s strategy of bundling virtually free smartphones with mobile-service subscriptions has spurred innovation and competitive pricing. Data costs have plummeted by more than 95 percent since 2013 and fixed-line download speeds quadrupled between 2014 and 2017.
• Technology and IT sector: In 2020, the Indian technology sector accounted for 8% of India’s gross domestic product (GDP).
  • In addition, the sector remained a net employer with emphasis on digital upskilling. NASSCOM also estimated that the country’s digital talent pool is likely to exceed ~1.17 million employees in FY21, a 32% YoY surge.
• Aadhar: The government’s efforts to ramp up Aadhaar, the national biometric digital identity program, has played a major role. Aadhaar has enrolled 1.2 billion people since it was introduced in 2009, making it the single largest digital ID program in the world, hastening the spread of other digital services.
  • From banking to post office banking has become easier than ever to rural people.
• Growth and employment: India has leapfrogged into a ‘mobile-first’ country and houses one of the largest mobile manufacturing factories in the world. Indian mobile plants servicing this new-age consumer have increased from two in 2014 to 127 in 2019.
  • Annually, over 225 million mobile phones are domestically produced.
  • This rapidly growing sector has created about 400,000 jobs during the last five years.
• Covid-response: Digital India played a significant role in India’s response to the pandemic. It ensured that the government could reach people in remote parts of the country.
  • Health, education and other essential services migrated swiftly to the online mode. It would not be an aberration to say that post-Covid, India emerged as a preeminent nation in the use of technology for governance.
• Scaling payments and financial inclusion: Despite the devastation of the covid pandemic, the digital transformation induced by it is an example of how technology can help connect people and build an inclusive society. The adoption of digital payments on UPI has fast-forwarded the pace of financial literacy across the board, from urban enthusiasm to rural need.

Conclusion

With digital revolution there must be digital inclusion and transformation must be accompanied by empowerment of masses. Else the spoils will go to the victors and the poor will remain the vanquished in this new era of digital governance. Sabka Saath is more important for sabka vikas.

Topic: India and its neighborhood- relations.

3. Examine the reasons for frequent political instability in Nepal. How can India deal with it whilst continuing cordial and prosperous relations with Nepal? (250 words)

Difficulty level: Tough

Reference: The Hindu , Insights on India

Why the question:

In a short span of time since being in power from December 25, 2022, Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’, supremo of the Maoist Centre (MC), has had to face a vote of confidence twice — on January 10, 2023 and again on March 20. Though it would seem unusual, it is not an unexpected happening given the state of disarray contemporary Nepali politics is in after the general election in November 2022.

Key Demand of the question:

To write about the reasons for instability in Nepal and measures India should take to deal with it

Directive word: 

Examine – When asked to ‘Examine’, we must investigate the topic (content words) in detail, inspect it, investigate it and establish the key facts and issues related to the topic in question. While doing so we should explain why these facts and issues are important and their implications.

Structure of the answer:

Introduction: 

Begin by giving context.

Body:

First, write about the reasons for political instability in Nepal – historical legacy of weak political systems, ethnic and regional divisions, economic challenges, corruption, geopolitical factors, constitutional issues, and ineffective political leadership. Write about its impact.

Next, write about how India should deal with the frequent instability.

Conclusion:

Conclude by writing a way forward.

Introduction

In a short span of time since being in power from December 25, 2022, Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’, supremo of the Maoist Centre (MC), has had to face a vote of confidence twice — on January 10, 2023 and again on March 20. Though it would seem unusual, it is not an unexpected happening given the state of disarray contemporary Nepali politics is in after the general election in November 2022.

Body

Political instability in Nepal: Reasons

• As in the earlier three general elections, the November 2022 election too resulted in a hung Parliament, where the Nepali Congress (NC), the Unified Marxist-Leninist (UML) and the MC were placed first, second and third, respectively, in the House of Representatives. The smaller parties and independents have a combined strength of 76 seats.
• No government formed since the dawn of democracy in Nepal, in 1951, has survived its full term.
• Even the one-party majority government lasted for 18 months in 1959-1960, and for three years in 1991-1994 and 1999-2002.
• It has been bad in the case of coalition governments, especially the ones led by the third largest party.
• It is no exaggeration to say that the average life of a coalition government in Nepal is nine months, and a ‘Prachanda’-led coalition government is unlikely to be an exception.

Impact of instability on India

• PM Oli’s cartographic expansion of Nepal’s territory in 2020 with a new map that included disputed territory with India symbolises a tendency among Nepalese politicians to use anti-India rhetoric as also push their two powerful neighbours in covert manoeuvres for domestic political gains.
• A clear instance of this trend is Oli’s conversion of a challenge to his leadership into a larger ploy involving India and China.
• Nepal’s internal political processes are, therefore, significant to India’s strategic interests.
• Moreover, Sino-Nepali economic ties began to grow in 2015, but in 2018, China’s influence in Nepal started to gather momentum.
• Having played an essential role in the NCP’s formation, China came to wield enormous influence over the NCP government.
• It resulted in China ousting India as Nepal’s number one investor.
• More importantly, Nepal’s foreign policy under the NCP government became strongly pro-China.

Measures India must take to deal with Nepal

• The need today is to avoid rhetoric on territorial nationalism and lay the groundwork for quiet dialogue where both sides display sensitivity as they explore what is feasible. India needs to be a sensitive and generous partner for the neighbourhood first policy to take root.
• India should engage more proactively with Nepal in terms of people-to-people engagement, bureaucratic engagement as well as political interactions.
• The Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPPA) signed between India and Nepal needs more attention from Nepal’s side

Conclusion

Centuries of social, cultural, political, strategic, and economic ties can only remain strong if they can remain relevant to changing times. The governments of India and Nepal must reset the narrative, modernize their policies, and get out of the way so that the ties between people thrive again.

General Studies – 3

Topic: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

4. Climate change is a significant challenge for India, with a range of impacts on the country’s environment, society, and economy. While India has made efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change, there is still a long way to go to achieve its goals. Analyse. (250 words)

Difficulty level: Easy

Reference: Insights on India

Why the question:

The question is part of the static syllabus of General studies paper – 3 and mentioned as part of Mission-2023 Secure timetable.

Key Demand of the question:

To write about the implications of changing climate on various aspects of Indian region and also evaluate upon the Key actions taken by India towards combating and adapting to climate change.

Directive:

Analyse – When asked to analyse, you must examine methodically the structure or nature of the topic by separating it into component parts and present them in a summary.

Structure of the answer:

Introduction: 

Begin by defining climate change.

Body:

First, write in detail the implications of changing climate on various aspects of Indian region such as – food security, Agriculture systems, water security, Energy infrastructure and supply, coastal ecosystem etc. Also explain its effect on human health, social issues, cascading of climatic hazards etc.

Then discuss the key actions taken by India towards combating and adapting to climate change. Evaluate their impact. Cite statistics and examples to substantiate.

Conclusion:

Conclude by writing a way forward on overcoming the above shortcomings.

Introduction

Climate Change is a periodic modification of Earth’s climate brought about due to the changes in the atmosphere as well as the interactions between the atmosphere and various other geological, chemical, biological and geographical factors within the Earth’s system.

Climate change includes both global warming driven by human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases and the resulting large-scale shifts in weather patterns. Though there have been previous periods of climatic change, since the mid-20th century humans have had an unprecedented impact on Earth’s climate system and caused change on a global scale

Body

Impact of climate change in India

Impact of Climate Change in various regions in India

• Indo gangetic plain:The Indo-Gangetic plain is one of the most populous and productive agricultural ecosystems in the world.Climate change will result in both flood and drought, impacting agriculture in the region
  • Floods: High-intensity precipitation events projected to increase, leading to floods, particularly in the eastern parts of the basin.
  • Drought: Western parts of the basin both Haryana and Punjab are likely to become vulnerable to drought.
• Punjab:Drought days to extend by 23-46 days in lower Sutlej basin
• Increase in flash floods. Severe water-logging in south-western region
• West Bengal: Intensity of cyclone to increase and Sea surge height may increase to 7.46 metres. Sea level rise will be higher than global average
  • Sunderbans and Darjeeling hill to have more rain
• UP and Bihar: A mere 1°C rise in temperature to reduce wheat yeilds significantly in UP
• Rice yeilds are expected to decline in Bihar
  • Drought to increase in UP and Bihar
• The Indian Himalayan region: The Himalayas, which represent about 16.2 per cent of the total area of the country, are not only a key watershed of India but also play a crucial role in the monsoon system. Climate change impacts on the mountain range can affect the entire sub-continent
  • The mean temperature of the Himalayas has gone up by 0.6°C in the past 30 years; the frequency of warmer days is also increasing
  • The northeastern states of India, particularly parts of Assam and Manipur, are vulnerable. Flash flood due to glacial lake outbursts may lead to landslides and affect large-scale food security
  • Himalayan glaciers melting faster than others elsewhere in the world
  • Productivity of apple has decreased by 2-3% over the past few years. This will go down further
  • Projected increase in intensity of rainy days is 2-12% in the Himalayan region
• Central and Peninsular India: The region covers most of India’s rainfed areas that contribute more than 40 per cent of the country’s food grain production. Already ravaged by frequent floods and droughts, this region will be severely impacted by climate change, affecting the country’s food security
  • Temperature rise: Six of the 11 states will witness a temperature rise of 1°C to 4°C. Maharashtra will record a 3.4°C increase by 2100
  • Most states will have hotter summer and winter.
  • The winter temperature in Jharkhand will rise to such an extent that the lowest minimum temperature in the 2080 will be higher than the highest minimum temperature in the 2020s
  • Rainfall: Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand will witness increase in rainfall.
    • Summer rainfall will increase by the end of this century and the number of rainy days during summer will increase by up to 10 days by 2100 in Jharkhand
    • The post-monsoon and pre-monsoon increase in rainfall is projected to be more than the increase in rainfall projected for the monsoon period for 2100
    • Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh, parts of Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka will witness less rainfall. In Andhra Pradesh, there will be drastic decrease in southwest rainfall over Anantapur and Kadapa districts
    • Northern Karnataka, already witnessing less rainfall and higher temperature, will see the temperature trends accentuated
  • The desert region: The Thar desert, covering 10 per cent of the total geographic area of India, is the seventh largest desert in the world. The region has witnessed unheard of floods in the recent past.
    • Drought: Parts of Rajasthan and the Kutch region of Gujarat have the highest probability of occurrence of drought
    • Rajasthan: The share of water for agriculture is set to reduce from 83% to 70% by 2050
    • Gujarat: There will be heat stress and water shortages in the state. Luni and the West-flowing rivers of Kutch and Saurashtra to experience acute water shortage
    • The severity of drought for the Mahi and Sabarmati rivers will increase between 5% and 20% by 2050
  • The coast and islands: The region is already witnessing climate change impacts like frequent, severe cyclones and sea ingression due to sea level rise.
    • Cyclone: The Kutch region in Gujarat and the entire eastern coastal region are projected to have the highest incidence of cyclone.
    • Coconut yields in Kerala are projected to increase by 30%
    • Sea water intrusion will impact drinking water sources
    • A one-metre rise in sea level will displace 7.1 million people in India
    • Temperature fluctuation will negatively impact winter crop in AP.

Efforts to mitigate effects of climate change

• Deploying lower-carbon Energy:
  • There are four main types of low-carbon energy: wind, solar, hydro or nuclear power. The first three are renewable, which means these are good for the environment – as natural resources are used (such as wind or sun) to produce electricity.
  • Deploying lower carbon energy would help address both domestic and international climate challenges while simultaneously improving the economic well-being of India’s citizens.
• Mainstreaming Renewable energy:
  • India’s energy mix is dominated by coal powered electric generation stations as of now.
  • The need of the hour is increase the share of renewable energy in this energy mix.
• Focus on Energy Efficiency:
  • Will need energy efficient buildings, lighting, appliances and industrial practicesto meet the net-zero goal.
• Increased usage of Biofuels:
  • Can help reduce emissions from light commercial vehicles, tractors in agriculture.
  • In aviation, the only practical solution for reducing emissions is greater use of biofuels, until hydrogen technology gains scale.
• Transition towards Electric vehicles:
  • This will further help curb the carbon emissions.
• Carbon Sequestration:
  • India willhave to rely on natural and man-made carbon sinks to soak up those emissions. Trees can capture 0.9 billion tons; the country will need carbon capture technologies to sequester the rest.
• Carbon Pricing:
  • India, which already taxes coal and petroleum fuels, should consider putting a tax on emissions to drive change.

India’s action for Climate Change

• National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC): outlines existing and future policies and programs addressing climate mitigation and adaptation. The Action Plan identifies eight core “national missions” running through to 2017: Solar Energy; Enhanced Energy Efficiency; Sustainable Habitat; Water; Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem; Green India; Sustainable Agriculture; and Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change. Most of these missions have strong adaptation imperatives.
• National Clean Energy Fund: The Government of India created the National Clean Energy Fund (NCEF) in 2010 for financing and promoting clean energy initiatives and funding research in the area of clean energy in the country. The corpus of the fund is built by levying a cess of INR 50 (subsequently increased to INR 100 in 2014) per tonne of coal produced domestically or imported.
• Paris Agreement: Under the Paris Agreement, India has made three commitments. India’s greenhouse gas emission intensity of its GDP will be reduced by 33-35% below 2005 levels by 2030. Alongside, 40% of India’s power capacity would be based on non-fossil fuel sources. At the same time, India will create an additional ‘carbon sink’ of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of Co2 equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030.
• International Solar Alliance: ISA was launched at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris on 30 November 2015 by India and France, in the presence of Mr. Ban Ki Moon, former Secretary-General of the United Nations.
• Bharat Stage (BS) Emission Norms: Emissions from vehicles are one of the top contributors to air pollution, which led the government at the time to introduce the BS 2000 (Bharat Stage 1) vehicle emission norms from April 2000, followed by BS-II in 2005. BS-III was implemented nationwide in 2010. However, in 2016, the government decided to meet the global best practices and leapfrog to BS-VI norms by skipping BS V altogether.

Conclusion

The socio-economic impact of decarbonising the economy and the way humans live would be crucial in setting our priorities. We have limited time and our resources are scarce. Paris agreement must be implemented on war footing in India as well as across the globe to limit the devastating impact of climate change.

Topic: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

5. The carbon emissions trading mechanism can function as a policy instrument for managing greenhouse gas emissions, aiming to lower emissions and keeping the costs of overall emissions reduction at a minimum through market transactions. Critically examine.  (250 words)

Difficulty level: Moderate

Reference: Insights on India

Why the question:

The question is part of the static syllabus of General studies paper – 3 and mentioned as part of Mission-2023 Secure timetable.

Key Demand of the question:

To write about carbon market and India’s potential in using it to fight climate change.

Directive word: 

Critically examine – When asked to ‘Examine’, we have to look into the topic (content words) in detail, inspect it, investigate it and establish the key facts and issues related to the topic in question. While doing so we should explain why these facts and issues are important and their implications. When ‘critically’ is suffixed or prefixed to a directive, one needs to look at the good and bad of the topic and give a fair judgment.

Structure of the answer:

Introduction: 

Begin by defining carbon market.

Body:

In the first part, in detail, write about the structure and functioning of carbon market and its brief history.

Next, write about the potential of carbon markets in reducing carbon emissions and fighting climate change. Write the ways in which it would help. Substantiate with facts and examples.

Next, write about the challenges and limitations associated with carbon markets in India. Mention ways to overcome them.

Conclusion:

Conclude by writing a way forward.

Introduction

Emission trading or Carbon markets allow for buying and selling of carbon emissions with the objective of reducing global emissions. Carbon markets existed under the Kyoto Protocol, which is being replaced by the Paris Agreement in 2020. Carbon Markets can potentially deliver emissions reductions over and above what countries are doing on their own.

Body

About carbon market

• Carbon Markets and Carbon Credits are components of emissions trading, a market-based approach to to reduce the concentration of Greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere. It works by providing economic incentivesfor reducing the emissions of the designated pollutants. A carbon market allows investors and corporations to trade both carbon credits and carbon offsets simultaneously.
• Carbon credits (or allowances) work like permission slips for emissions.
  • When a companybuys a carbon credit, they gain permission to generate more CO2 emissions.
  • One tradable carbon credit equals one tonne of carbon dioxide or the equivalent amount of a different greenhouse gas reduced, sequestered or avoided.
• Credits are measured against ‘benchmarks’ or allowed GHG emissions. If emissions are below the allowed limit, the emitter earns carbon credits (reducing 1 tonne of CO2 earns 1 carbon credit).
  • If emissions are above the allowed limit, the emitter must buy carbon credits from those who have excess credits.
  • Thus, crossing the emissions limit imposes a cost (amount spent on purchase of carbon credits) on the emitter. The idea is that this cost will force the emitters to be more efficient and reduce emission.

Carbon market in India: Significance

• First, it will help in mitigating the adverse impacts of climate change by reducing the GHG emissions.
• Second, there are multiple co-benefits of offset projects such as: ecosystem management, forest preservation, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy generation in third-world countries, etc.
• Third, the voluntary carbon market for offsets is smaller than the compliance market, but expected to grow much bigger in the coming years. It’s open to individuals, companies, and other organizations that want to reduce or eliminate their carbon footprint, but are not necessarily required to by law.
• Fourth, consumers are increasingly aware of the importance of carbon emissions. Consequently, they’re increasingly critical of companies that don’t take climate change seriously. By contributing to carbon offset projects, companies signal to consumers and investors that they’re paying more than just lip service to combat climate change.
• Fifth, it opens an additional revenue stream for environmentally beneficial businesses. For instance, Tesla, the electric car maker, sold carbon credits to legacy car manufacturers to the tune of $518 million in just the first quarter of 2021.

Challenges with carbon market

• There are concerns regarding the effectiveness of carbon markets in curbing emissions.
  • Some companies simply buy credits without making any effort to reduce emissions themselves.It is cheaper for them to buy carbon credit than to invest in emission reducing technologies
• The issue of old carbon credits (certified carbon emissions, or CERs), issued under — the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol — are still valid.
  • Counting them as valid would slow down climate action because those who are under commitments to reducing emissions would just buy the CERs and call it a done deal.
  • However, declaring them invalid would disappoint all those entities that were given the credits.
• Phenomenon of ‘double counting’ exists. If an emission reduction takes place in one country and another entity in another country buys the carbon credits, only one of the two countries should be logically allowed to use the activity against its own commitments — not both.
• Issues related to a fee levied on each carbon trading transaction for a fund to help poor countries adapt to the vagaries of the climate change.
• Buying carbon credits candeviate the rich nations from the path of reducing emissions. They can simply continue to emit and buy cheap carbon credits from developing countries.
• It is difficult to establish the amount of carbon reduced by offset projects (like afforestation or wind energy project). The complexity is in establishing baseline emissions (Emissions baseline represents what would happen if your project did not occur i.e., the emissions in the absence of the project).
  • This makes it difficult to verify emission reductions and assigning carbon credits.
• India’s own PAT (Perform, Achieve, Trade) Scheme has failed to achieve meaningful emissions reduction.According to an analysis by the Center for Science and Environment, the emission reduction under the scheme has been only 1.57% and 1.44% over the two cycles.

Conclusion

The establishment of a carbon market is a progressive step. However, the actual benefit will depend upon the effectiveness of the market. For this, the Government must ensure that proper regulations are established. Moreover, there must be periodic assessment of its functioning and corrective steps its necessary. Climate Change is real and imminent, Government must take all possible steps to mitigate the challenges.

Topic: Aptitude and foundational values for Civil Service, integrity, impartiality and nonpartisanship, objectivity, dedication to public service, empathy, tolerance and compassion towards the weaker-sections.

6. Objectivity helps maintain credibility, ensure accuracy, and promote fairness in decision making and conclusions. Discuss. (150 words)

Difficulty level: Moderate

Why the question:

The question is part of the static syllabus of General studies paper – 4 and part of ‘Conceptual Tuesdays’ in Mission-2023 Secure.

Key Demand of the question:

To write about the importance of objectivity

Directive word: 

Discuss – This is an all-encompassing directive – you must debate on paper by going through the details of the issues concerned by examining each one of them. You must give reasons for both for and against arguments.

Structure of the answer:

Introduction:

Start by defining objectivity.

Body:

Write about how Objectivity helps in taking decisions based upon established facts and figures, helps avoid personal opinion and bias and arrive at fair decision.

Cite suitable examples to substantiate your points in public service and private life.

Conclusion:

Complete the answer by stressing on the significance of objectivity.

Introduction

Objectivity in governance means adherence to rationality, legality and to proven standards, procedures and norms in institutions by the public authorities. It implies that the governance decisions should be taken based on merit and after rigorous analysis of evidence.

Objectivity is considered one of the most fundamental values in governance because it helps the public authorities to make correct decisions on the merit of evidence. It compliments other values like Integrity, impartiality, non partisanship, empathy, tolerance and compassion in governance.

Body

Objectivity is a central philosophical concept, related to reality and truth, which has been variously defined by sources. Generally, objectivity means the state or quality of being true even outside of a subject‘s individual biases, interpretations, feelings, and imaginings. A proposition is generally considered objectively true when its truth conditions are met without biases caused by feelings, ideas, and opinions (mind-independent).

Importance of objectivity

• Fairness: Objectivity helps to ensure that decisions are fair and just, as they are based on objective criteria rather than subjective opinions or biases. This is especially important when it comes to people decisions, as personal biases can often lead to unequal treatment or opportunities for certain groups of people.
• Accuracy: Objectivity helps to ensure that decisions are accurate and based on factual information, rather than assumptions or stereotypes. This is important in people decisions, as stereotypes and assumptions can often be harmful and misleading.
• Inclusivity: Objectivity helps to create a more inclusive and welcoming environment, as decisions are based on objective criteria rather than subjective opinions or biases. This can help to create a more diverse and representative workforce, which can lead to increased innovation and productivity.
• Trust: Objectivity helps to build trust within an organisation, as it shows that decisions are being made in a transparent and unbiased manner. This is important in people decisions, as trust is a key component of creating a positive and inclusive work culture.

Relevance of Objectivity in Public Services:

• Being non-partisan
  • Objectivity will help civil servants to be non-partisan, impartial and more service oriented.
  • For example District collector in making appointments needs to give priority to merit rather than other factors like the caste or background of the caste.
• Critical thinking and taking rational decisions
  • By thinking both pros and cons and then taking a decision.
  • It also contributes in rational merit based decision makings in day to day work of them. Team work, solving emergency issues like riotous situation.
  • Within judicial / administrative procedure, there should be mechanism for appellate board in taxation, land acquisition etc.
  • It also plays a big role in reducing menace of corruption from the system.
• Right to be heard:
  • Often officers don’t hear the complaint or opinion of people properly and just do the things that are in their mind. Hence new schemes should have ‘social audit / public hearing’ components.
• Information management:
  • If you don’t have hardcore information /statistics, you can’t take objective decisions.
  • Eg: sustainable development goals (SDG) have 17 goals and 169 targets. Previously in Millennium development goals (MDG), we had 18 indicators, yet we lacked proper statistical databases to compare performance. Lack of data, prevents us from finding the faults and fixing them.
• Transparency:
  • Being objective ensures that work of civil servant becomes fair, transparent and visionary above all narrow considerations of kinship, nepotism, favouritism.
  • Eg Right to information act. Bureaucrat will think twice before taking subjective/discretionary decisions, fearing that he’ll have to answer it if someone files an RTI

Relevance in Private life

• Objectivity is necessary to get an accurate explanation of how things work in the world.
  • Eg: In a country like India, where black magic, superstition is still prevalent, objectivity becomes very imperative in bursting the myths.
• It helps to tackle prejudices and stereotypes.
  • Eg: The disabled and crippled are seen as a curse, while being unaware of the scientific reasons behind it.
  • The women are always held responsible for birth of a girl child while the actual fact remains that it is the man and his genes which is responsible for sex of the child.
• Objectivity helps to tackle fake news menace which is growing at rampant rate.
• Objectivity helps to overcome the ethical dilemmas, value judgement & complexities of social phenomena.

Conclusion

In public life objectivity as a value must strive for in all interaction but at many times being objective become difficult. Fairness as a value closest to objectivity can be practiced which progressively leads to objectivity.

General Studies – 4

Topic: Human Values – lessons from the lives and teachings of great leaders, reformers and administrators;

7. Detachment from the outcome and a focus on the process can lead to a sense of freedom from the pressures of success or failure. Elaborate. (150 Words)

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Why the question:

The question is part of the static syllabus of General studies paper – 4 and part of ‘Conceptual Tuesdays’ in Mission-2023 Secure.

Key Demand of the question:

To write about the importance of focussing on the intent and not on the outcome.

Directive word: 

Elaborate – Give a detailed account as to how and why it occurred, or what is the context. You must be defining key terms wherever appropriate and substantiate with relevant associated facts.

Structure of the answer:

Introduction:

Begin by giving context regarding the difference between intent and action.

Body:

Write about importance of focusing on the present moment and the action being performed, rather than worrying about the potential outcomes or rewards that may come from it. Mention as to what happens when the outcome of the action more emphasised rather than the intent of the action. One tends to lose their path to have favourable outcomes rather than sticking to original intent. Cite examples to elaborate.

Conclusion:

Give a concise summation of your views to conclude the answer.

Introduction

‘Action is thy duty, reward is not thy concern’. This is an extremely popular verse of the Bhagavad Gita. It offers deep insight into the proper spirit of work. The endeavour is to instil in the young learners the virtue to perform duties without concern for results.

Body

Intentional detachment means recognizing that, although you might want a certain outcome, you know that it’s not completely in your hands. Detaching doesn’t mean you don’t care or that you’re lazy. It’s another approach to the same situation. Consider when we try to make a sale. We can do our best to make the customer see our virtues, but there are a myriad of factors that go into buying decisions.

The more you crave something, the less likely you are to get it. This is a common dilemma and an essential life paradox

Most people are desperately chasing things. They are after either love, or chasing money, success or even chasing someone to reply to their WhatsApp message. But the more you chase, the farther they seem to be going away from you. This is because of the law of abundance and scarcity.

Therefore, what we can do is perform actions to the best of our ability and not worry about the results. That is why Lord Krishna advises in the Bhagavad Gita to perform actions without expectation of results. It doesn’t mean that one should work without accepting the wages. If we are able to perform actions without being preoccupied with the benefits, we will be able to discharge our duties efficiently. The results will come to us, naturally.

That doesn’t mean that after failure we should sit indolent, accepting it as the will of God. If there is a possibility for success, we should try again. Even after sincere effort, if we again meet with failure, we should accept it as the will of God. If we accept success as the grace of God and failure as His will, we will neither become elated in success nor go to pieces in failure. We should be able to accept even failure as a necessary experience that we have to undergo at a particular time for our growth. We should feel happy that our prarabdha (ramifactions of past actions we must reap in this lifetime) is over. We should look upon it as a lesson and learn from it so that we can advance in our lives.

Conclusion

The right attitude towards action will liberate us from boredom and bondage. If our attitude is right, we will be able to perform our duties with diligence and enthusiasm. When this is coupled with belief, success will certainly be ours. Whatever be the case, we should not despair. Success is always with those who put forth effort sincerely with the right attitude.

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