[Mission 2023] Insights SECURE SYNOPSIS: 29 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: Role of women and women’s organization

1. What is a glass ceiling? Write about the impacts of the glass ceiling and measures that can be taken to shatter it. (250 words)

Difficulty level: Moderate

Reference: Indian Express , Insights on India

Why the question:

The article discusses the importance of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) as a crucial step towards promoting women’s sports in India and shattering the glass ceiling.

Key Demand of the question:

To write about glass ceiling, impact and measures to break it.

Structure of the answer:

Introduction: 

Begin by defining glass ceiling.

Body:

First, write about the various manifestation of glass ceiling.

Next, write about the impact of glass ceiling – limited opportunities, pay inequity, underutilized talent, and negative effects on diversity and inclusion efforts etc.

Next, write about the measures needed to shatter the glass ceiling – educate, encourage mentorship and sponsorship, implement diversity and inclusion initiatives, provide training and development opportunities, and advocate for societal and legislative change etc.

Conclusion:

Conclude by writing a way forward.

Introduction

Glass ceiling is a metaphor used to represent an invisible barrier that prevents women from rising beyond a certain level in a hierarchy. It refers to the fact that a qualified person wishing to advance within the hierarchy of his/her organization is stopped at a lower level due to a discrimination most often based on sex or race. The glass ceiling refers thus to vertical discrimination most frequently against women in companies. The metaphor was first coined by feminists in reference to barriers in the careers of high-achieving women.

Body

Impacts of Glass Ceiling effect

• Affects Economic empowerment: Women’s earning potential may be capped at a certain level, and upward mobility may be less accessible because of the glass ceiling.
• Diminished opportunities: Due to deep-rooted biases, it is difficult for women to access many experiences and networks that are easily accessible to men.
• Social barriers and gender norms: Personal barriers include notions of compromise and sacrifice that are ingrained in women. This feeds into how women present themselves. External barriers and cultural cues reinforce how men and women “ought” to behave.
• Gender Inequity: Stereotypes related to gender brilliance or gender-based intrinsic aptitude generate inequity which remains unnoticed.
• Low self-confidence: Our socio-cultural constructs reflect absolute patriarchy causing even women to be sceptical about their abilities, to accept the roles set for them in the household.
• Affects Minorities as well: While women are the group to which the term glass ceiling originally and primarily refers, individuals from other historically underrepresented groups are also often held back by the deeply ingrained cultural biases that exist within organizations.

Measures to tackle Glass Ceiling effect

• Companies can work toward eliminating this barrier by recruiting women and minorities into leadership and executive roles, something that’s lacking in many corporate companies.
• On top of that, companies can do an internal audit for their hiring and promotion processes and offer a level of transparency to employees.
• companies should be transparent when it comes to their promotion process so they can show that they have given all qualified employees equal opportunities for career advancement.
• This will eliminate bias and effectively destroy the glass ceiling,
• Most importantly, gender equality or parity will happen only when there is a change in mindset and institutions consider women as assets rather than simply a diversity rectification issue.

Way forward

• To break the glass ceiling, you first have to identify it. Look for warning signs such as a lack of diversity in leadership roles, inappropriate comments, and a lack of innovation.
• Individuals can tackle the problem by learning more about it, raising their concerns, and taking responsibility for their own development.
• Organizations can take action by honestly exploring whether a glass ceiling exists, asking employees for their views, investing in unconscious bias training, and offering support to employees.

Conclusion

The glass ceiling affects women’s career trajectories and, therefore, their financial lives. Change is something that can happen within companies by reviewing promotional practices and employee retention. While women can strive to support other women in the workplace, men must also be willing to step up, speak up, and advocate for the advancement of women in the workplace. So often they are the ones in positions of power, and change can start from there.

General Studies – 2

Topic: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

2. Addressing the issue of stray dogs in India will require a multipronged approach in a humanely yet effective manner. Discuss. (250 words)

Difficulty level: Tough

Reference: Indian Express

Why the question:

The article argues that sterilization is the best solution to the stray dog problem in India. The author suggests that sterilization programs can help reduce the population of stray dogs, prevent the spread of diseases, and reduce the number of dog attacks on people.

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:

Bring out the context due to which the issue is in news.

Body:

In the first part of the body, write about the causes of stray dogs are a problem in India – overpopulation, lack of waste management, and irresponsible pet ownership.

In the next part, write about the possible solutions – sterilization programs, spaying and neutering programs, proper waste management, education and awareness programs, adoption and rescue programs, and animal control measures etc.

Conclusion:

Conclude with a way forward.

Introduction

A dog is considered to be man’s best friend, but there is, unfortunately, a dark side to having dogs on streets. Post-independence, dogs continued to be killed by local authorities – both regularly and in response to complaints. More than a hundred years of street dog eradication, however, did not make much of a difference to dog population sizes and the incidence of human rabies.

Body

Situation of Stray Dogs in India

• Since 2005, the Union government’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s Central Bureau of Health Intelligence (CBHI) has been annually publishing a National Health Profile for the country.
• According to the 2021 edition, there were 105 cases of human death from rabies in India in 2019.
• The 2018 edition put the figure at 97 in 2017.
• According to the relevant preceding annual National Health Profiles, there were 86 human deaths from rabies in 2016, 113 in 2015, 125 in 2014 and 132 in 2013.

Measures needed

• Many animal welfare organizations believe that the spay-and-neuter model — where both male and female dogs are taken from the street, sterilized, vaccinated, and returned to their original area — can be successful
• Since sterilized dogs are returned to their original area, dogs will not migrate to and fight over that territory.
• Sterilized females cannot breed, which decreases their aggressiveness.
• Organizations push for increased adoption, which is far less popular in India than in parts of the United States.
• Greece’s collective adoption, where communities and the Greek government collectively care for and treat local dogs.
• A key part of government’s work will be changing the public’s idea of stray dogs in India.
• promoting the adoption of stray dogs and ensuring that people do not support mass killings
• National campaigns by the government can help create this systemic change in the public’s mindset.
• The only long-term solution is to implement strict pet ownership rules, prohibit people from carelessly feeding dogs everywhere, and set up facilities funded by animal welfare organisations that can either house dogs for life or, or humanely euthanise them so that they don’t suffer on the streets.

Way forward

• Thus, a multi-pronged approach that addresses these multiple factors is required, and not one that focuses narrowly on managing dog populations.
• effective public health programme to tackle dog bites and rabies will have to include
  • proper waste management underpinned by appropriate infrastructure
  • public education and behaviour change with regard to live safely with free-living dogs and what to do when bitten
  • systematic and carefully-designed neutering and vaccination programmes
  • Adequate facilities for post-exposure prophylaxis and treatment.
• We need to call for holistic town planning. We have to plan for dog walking paths

Topic: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

3. Enumerate the key features of National Education Policy (NEP), 2020.  Discuss the challenges that public universities in India face and how the NEP can help address these challenges. (250 words)

Difficulty level: Easy

Reference: Indian Express ,Insights on India

Why the question:

The National Education Policy 2020 (NEP) has gained traction unusual for a government policy. The Centre has set into motion structural changes and innovations, particularly in higher education, with an unprecedented speed and determination to create an ecosystem for the vision of the policy to sprout.

Key Demand of the question:

To write about the features of NEP and its potential in overcoming challenges faced by public universities.

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: 

Begin by giving context NEP, its aims and objectives.

Body:

In the first part, mention major components of NEP.

Next, write about the issues faced by public universities in India – inadequate funding, outdated curriculum, poor quality of teaching, inadequate infrastructure, bureaucratic hurdles, and lack of autonomy etc.

Next, write about the role that NEP can play in addressing the above issues.

Conclusion:

Conclude with a way forward.

Introduction

India’s higher education system is the third largest in the world, next to the United States and China. Higher Education sector has witnessed a tremendous increase in the number of Universities/University level Institutions & Colleges since Independence. Some institutions of India, such as IITs, NITs, IIMs have been globally acclaimed for their standard of education..

Body

key features of National Education Policy (NEP), 2020

Transforming School Education:

• Ensuring Universal Access at all levels of school education:
  • NEP 2020 emphasizes on ensuring universal access to school education at all levels- pre-school to secondary.
  • About 2 crores out of school children will be brought back into main stream under NEP 2020.
• Early Childhood Care & Education with new Curricular and Pedagogical Structure:
  • With emphasis on Early Childhood Care and Education, the 10+2 structure of school curricula is to be replaced by a 5+3+3+4 curricular structure corresponding to ages 3-8, 8-11, 11-14, and 14-18 years respectively.
  • This will bring the hitherto uncovered age group of 3-6 years under school curriculum, which has been recognized globally as the crucial stage for development of mental faculties of a child.
  • The new system will have 12 years of schooling with three years of Anganwadi/ pre schooling.
• Attaining Foundational Literacy and Numeracy:
  • Recognizing Foundational Literacy and Numeracy as an urgent and necessary prerequisite to learning, NEP 2020 calls for setting up of a National Mission on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy by MHRD.
• Reforms in school curricula and pedagogy:
  • The school curricula and pedagogy will aim for holistic development of learners by equipping them with the key 21st century skills, reduction in curricular content to enhance essential learning and critical thinking and greater focus on experiential learning.
  • Students will have increased flexibility and choice of subjects.
  • There will be no rigid separations between arts and sciences, between curricular and extra-curricular activities, between vocational and academic streams.
  • Vocational education will start in schools from the 6th grade, and will include internships.
• Multilingualism and the power of language:
  • The policy has emphasized mother tongue/local language/regional language as the medium of instruction at least till Grade 5, but preferably till Grade 8 and beyond.
  • Sanskrit to be offered at all levels of school and higher education as an option for students, including in the three-language formula.
  • Other classical languages and literatures of India also to be available as options.
  • No language will be imposed on any student.
• Equitable and Inclusive Education:
  • NEP 2020 aims to ensure that no child loses any opportunity to learn and excel because of the circumstances of birth or background.
  • Special emphasis will be given on Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Groups(SEDGs) which include gender, socio-cultural, and geographical identities and disabilities.
• Robust Teacher Recruitment and Career Path:
  • Teachers will be recruited through robust, transparent processes.
  • Promotions will be merit-based, with a mechanism for multi-source periodic performance appraisals and available progression paths to become educational administrators or teacher educators.
  • A common National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST) will be developed by the National Council for Teacher Education by 2022, in consultation with NCERT, SCERTs, teachers and expert organizations from across levels and regions.
• School Governance:
  • Schools can be organized into complexes or clusters which will be the basic unit of governance and ensure availability of all resources including infrastructure, academic libraries and a strong professional teacher community.
• Standard-setting and Accreditation for School Education:
  • NEP 2020 envisages clear, separate systems for policy making, regulation, operations and academic matters.
  • States/UTs will set up independent State School Standards Authority (SSSA).
  • Transparent public self-disclosure of all the basic regulatory information, as laid down by the SSSA, will be used extensively for public oversight and accountability.
  • The SCERT will develop a School Quality Assessment and Accreditation Framework (SQAAF) through consultations with all stakeholders.

Transforming Higher Education:

• Increase GER to 50 % by 2035:
  • NEP 2020 aims to increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education including vocational education from 26.3% (2018) to 50% by 2035. 3.5 Crore new seats will be added to Higher education institutions.
• Holistic Multidisciplinary Education:
  • The policy envisages broad based, multi-disciplinary, holistic Under Graduate education with flexible curricula, creative combinations of subjects, integration of vocational education and multiple entry and exit points with appropriate certification.
  • UG education can be of 3 or 4 years with multiple exit options and appropriate certification within this period.
  • For example, Certificate after 1 year, Advanced Diploma after 2 years, Bachelor’s Degree after 3 years and Bachelor’s with Research after 4 years.
• Regulation:
  • Higher Education Commission of India(HECI) will be set up as a single overarching umbrella body the for entire higher education, excluding medical and legal education.
  • HECI to have four independent verticals – National Higher Education Regulatory Council (NHERC) for regulation, General Education Council (GEC) for standard setting, Higher Education Grants Council (HEGC) for funding, and National Accreditation Council (NAC) for accreditation.
  • HECI will function through faceless intervention through technology, & will have powers to penalise HEIs not conforming to norms and standards.
  • Public and private higher education institutions will be governed by the same set of norms for regulation, accreditation and academic standards.
• Rationalised Institutional Architecture:
  • Higher education institutions will be transformed into large, well resourced, vibrant multidisciplinary institutions providing high quality teaching, research, and community engagement.
  • The definition of university will allow a spectrum of institutions that range from Research-intensive Universities to Teaching-intensive Universities and Autonomous degree-granting Colleges.

Other Provisions for transformation of educational sector:

• Motivated, Energized, and Capable Faculty:
  • NEP makes recommendations for motivating, energizing, and building capacity of faculty through clearly defined, independent, transparent recruitment, freedom to design curricula/pedagogy, incentivising excellence, movement into institutional leadership.
  • Faculty not delivering on basic norms will be held accountable
• Teacher Education:
  • A new and comprehensive National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education, NCFTE 2021, will be formulated by the NCTE in consultation with NCERT.
  • By 2030, the minimum degree qualification for teaching will be a 4-year integrated B.Ed. degree.
  • Stringent action will be taken against substandard stand-alone Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs).
• Mentoring Mission:
  • A National Mission for Mentoring will be established, with a large pool of outstanding senior/retired faculty – including those with the ability to teach in Indian languages – who would be willing to provide short and long-term mentoring/professional support to university/college teachers.
• Financial support for students:
  • Efforts will be made to incentivize the merit of students belonging to SC, ST, OBC, and other SEDGs.
  • The National Scholarship Portal will be expanded to support, foster, and track the progress of students receiving scholarships.
  • Private HEIs will be encouraged to offer larger numbers of free ships and scholarships to their students.
• Professional Education:
  • All professional education will be an integral part of the higher education system.
  • Stand-alone technical universities, health science universities, legal and agricultural universities etc will aim to become multi-disciplinary institutions.
• Adult Education:
  • Policy aims to achieve 100% youth and adult literacy.
• Financing Education:
  • The Centre and the States will work together to increase the public investment in Education sector to reach 6% of GDP at the earliest.
• Open and Distance Learning:
  • This will be expanded to play a significant role in increasing GER.
  • Measures such as online courses and digital repositories, funding for research, improved student services, credit-based recognition of MOOCs, etc., will be taken to ensure it is at par with the highest quality in-class programmes.

Challenges faced by Public Universities

• Financial issues
  • Spending on higher education as a percentage of government expenditure has stagnated at 1.3-1.5% since 2012.
  • Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education continues to push higher education institutions to increase their intake capacity by 25%
  • The Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA), which provides funding for all infrastructure loans to institutions, saw its budget reduced from ₹2,000 crore in FY 20-21 to ₹1 crore in FY 21-22.
• Management Issues
  • Management of Indian education faces challenges of over-centralization, bureaucratic structures and lack of accountability, transparency, and professionalism.
• Inadequate Research Grants
  • There are insufficient resources and facilities, as well as limited numbers of quality faculty to advise students. Most of the research scholars are without fellowships or not getting their fellowships on time which directly or indirectly affects their research.
  • Moreover, grants under the UGC’s minor and major research project schemes have declined from ₹42.7 crore in FY 2016-17 to ₹38 lakh in FY 2020-21.
  • India has over 1,040 universities, but just 2.7% offer PhD programmes, given paltry funding and poor infrastructure.
• Infrastructural Issues
  • Investments in university infrastructure have shrunk.
  • Most Indian universities and colleges have overcrowded classrooms, poor ventilation and sanitation, and unsatisfactory hostel accommodation.
• Poor Teaching Capacity
  • The QS World University Rankings 2022 revealed that although Indian universities have improved their performance on academic reputation metric and research impact, they continue to struggle on the teaching capacity metric.
  • No Indian university ranks among the top 250 for faculty-student ratio.
  • Poor performance on teaching capacity is not because of any drop in hiring, but rather an increased student intake mandated by the government to implement reservations for economicallyweaker sections.
• Fall in Academic Standards
  • Academic standards and processes are not being maintained. Examination paper leaks have become common.
  • Candidates have anecdotally highlighted examination centre operators charging a hefty amount from candidates to help them pass.

Measures needed to improve status of Indian Universities:

• The best Indian universities would require a kind of “cultural revolution” to join the ranks of global world-class universities and to be able to lure top faculty.
• It is virtually impossible for India to attract large numbers of international professors of high standing and ability without dramatic changes in many aspects of the existing governance structure in higher education. Dramatically enhanced funding would also be required.
• The Ministry of Human Resource Development should be working closely with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to have a road map that incentivizes CSR funding to be made available for universities.
• There need to be an immediate move to attract more candidates, such as the faculty recruitment drive in the US, and monetary incentives like the Young Faculty Incentive Fellowship Scheme.
• Parallel development in infrastructure is necessary to accommodate the research needs of incoming faculty.
• The structural and practical realities of Indian universities make them generally unattractive to academic talent from abroad, this must be rectified at the earliest.
• The key motivation for hiring foreign faculty must be to improve international competitiveness and secure positions in global rankings, which in turn would also attract more motivated students.
• Attracting foreign nationals, Indians who studied at prestigious foreign universities by offering higher salaries and other benefits.
• The moral and motivation of the academics have to be maintained. Not only attract the quality but also retain the quality of teachers. For this, the recruitment and the promotion policy have to be looked into. Recruitment policy on merit, kind of promotion on merit and in intervals would retain good teachers.

Way forward

• Thus a complete revamp is needed to meet the present demand and address the future challenge that India is about to face.
• To reap the diverse culture demographic dividend and to maintain peace and social harmony among them quality education with values are the necessary area to focus.
• The higher education is facing many challenges as pointed
  above, most the challenges are difficult but are not impossible to resolve.
• Our goal to be a world power, the resolving and restructuring of higher education is must, then only we will be able to harness the human potential and resources of nation to the fullest and channelize it for the growth of the
• Youth is the most important asset for a country their future is the future of the Nation. So, the government must be compelled to provide basic education and skills.

Conclusion

If universities become center of fresh knowledge production, then things change. Complete freedom of thought in direction and ideas is need of the hour. There is a prevailing culture that knowledge is finite and job of student is to master pre-existing knowledge. This has a limiting problem in educational culture which needs to be challenged.

General Studies – 3

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

4. The carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) technology is seen as an important tool in the fight against climate change, as it allows for continued use of fossil fuels while reducing their carbon emissions. However, it is a complex and expensive technology, and its implementation has been limited so far. Analyse. (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 capture utilisation technologies and their significance in mitigating emissions.

Directive word:

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: 

Briefly explain the concept of carbon capture utilisation technologies.

Body:

Explain the coming of carbon capture utilisation technologies; Carbon Capture and Storage, is a technology which captures carbon dioxide (CO2) from the burning of coal and gas for power generation, and from the manufacturing of steel, cement and other industrial facilities.  It involves the transportation of CO2 either by pipeline or ship, for safe and permanent underground storage. Thus, it helps in preventing it from entering the atmosphere and contributing to anthropogenic climate change.

Next, write about the limitations of CCUS technologies.

Conclusion:

Conclude by writing a forward and efforts needed to explore this technology.

Introduction

Carbon capture utilization refers to the recycling (collection, storages and then utilization) of carbon released from fossil fuels emissions. It is one of the flexibility phenomena under the Clean Development Mechanism of Kyoto Protocol.

The aim is to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from point sources (especially industrial sources within the power, chemicals, cement, and steel sectors) in order to avoid the release of these gasses into the atmosphere. Next, the captured CO2 is converted into other components and products, such as chemical feedstocks, fuels or building materials, which are otherwise typically derived from fossil-based resources.

Body

Potential of CCUS

• The captured carbon is recycled for producing economically valuable products and services. Captured carbon can be utilised in producing oil, via Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) or can be used to produce fuels (eg methane, methanol, aviation fuels, gasoline), construction material, chemicals, plastics and algae-based products such as fertilisers and animal feed.
• The costs associated with carbon capture can be partially offset by the revenue generated from the utilisation measures.
• CC helps in economic goods and use in core sector such as, Carbon neutral industries of methanol, ammonia/fertilizer, olefins for plastic, steel and power.
• Also helps to phase CO2 from atmosphere as CO2 leads to global warming.
• Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) technologies are two subsets of the overall larger set of crucial technologies that is collectively called Carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS).

Carbon Capture Technology for India:

• To tread the path of clean energy, India has to pursue different categories of carbon mitigation options, or the 4 R’s, i.e. reduce, reuse, recycle and remove,
• India had identified Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) as a priority area in its Second Biennial Update Report that was submitted to UNFCCC.
• In 2019, IOCL signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), on a combined CCUS and Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) system.
• As per the MoU, CO₂ that is captured at IOCL’s Koyali refinery would be transported by pipeline to the nearby ONGC Gandhar oilfield in the state of Gujarat.
• Additionally, IOCL has also signed a similar MoU with Oil India Limited (OIL) for IOCL’s Digboi refinery to provide CO₂ for EOR at OIL’s Naharkatiya and Dikom oilfields in the state of Assam.
• India is also an active participant of the Carbon Capture Innovation Challenge under Mission Innovation (MI) and has launched a funding opportunity to the tune of $17 million in FY19 for 47 projects across the themes of carbon capture, sustainable biofuels and converting sunlight.
• India can look towards tackling emissions via a material efficiency approach, thereby addressing the dual challenge of resource scarcity and emission reduction. India has made some initial headways in the context of material efficiency. For instance, the Draft National Resource Efficiency Policy (NREP), 2019, represents a comprehensive framework for resource efficiency.
• In line with the notion of Circular Carbon Economy (CCE) model, India may consider broadening the scope of the issue of climate change and acknowledge the role played by high material consumption in contributing to the energy demand and by extension to emissions.
• According to a recent report by Ellen MacArthur Foundation and Material Economics (2019), while 55% of the emissions can be managed by mitigation pathways such as the use of renewable energy and adoption of energy efficiency measures, the remaining emissions can be tackled via the adoption of a circular economy model.
• The deepening of the carbon credit market may be pursued, additionally. (carbon credit are tradable certificate or permit representing the right to emit one tonne of carbon dioxide).

Global examples:

• China is largest producer of methanol produces using carbon capture technologies.
• South Africa has become world’s largest coal gasification based company.

Challenges

• Carbon capture involves the development of sorbents that can effectively bind to the CO2 present in flue gas or the atmosphere, which is expensive.
• Converting CO2 into useful chemicals of commercial importance, or utilizing CO2 for oil extraction or remediation of alkaline industrial wastes, would add economic value to this greenhouse gas.
• However, the demand for CO2 is limited compared to the vast amount of CO2 that needs to be removed from the atmosphere, to reduce the detrimental environmental impacts of climate change.
• To report carbon tax credits and make sure rules are being followed, significant amounts of CO2 that are transferred between producers and consumers must be correctly evaluated.
• New infrastructure is required to safely transport liquefied CO2 to sites for storage or use.
• Because the gas is highly toxic and leakages in high quantity at such sites would render the air largely unbreathable.

Way forward

• India’s dependency on fossil-based Energy Resources is likely to continue in future and hence CCUS policy in Indian Context is the need of the hour.
• Key to a successful CCUS implementation in India is to enact a policy framework that supports the creation of sustainable and viable markets for CCUS projects.
• The policy should be carbon credits or incentives based to seed and promote the CCUS sector in India through tax and cash credits.
• The policy should establish early-stage financing and funding mechanisms for CCUS projects.

Conclusion

Carbon capture utilisation technologies can play a key role not only in meeting CO2 emission reduction targets (such as the ones set by the Paris Agreement), but also in accelerating the transition to Circular Carbon Economy. As the technology matures and the associated costs fall further, India should consider designing policies and programs to encourage faster deployment.

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

5.Climate change is expected to increase the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as floods in many regions of India. Critically analyse. (150 words)

Difficulty level: Tough

Reference: Insights on India

Why the question:

The question is part of the static syllabus of General studies paper – 1 and mentioned as part of Mission-2023 Secure timetable.

Key Demand of the question:

To write about the extent of impact of climate change on floods in India.

Directive word: 

Critically analyze – 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. When ‘critically’ is suffixed or prefixed to a directive, one needs to look at the good and bad of the topic and give a balanced judgment on the topic.

Structure of the answer:

Introduction: 

Begin by giving context.

Body:

In first part, write about the impact of climate change on flood in India and how it has made the more recurrent and intense. Cite facts and examples to substantiate.

Next, write about the floods as natural phenomenon and other anthropogenic factors apart from climate change contributing to it.

Conclusion:

Conclude by writing a way forward to deal with floods.

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 is accelerating due to global warming driven by human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases and there is resulting large-scale shifts in weather patterns.

Body

Impact of Climate Change on India

• Coastal areas:7500 km long coastline is already vulnerable to various disasters like cyclone, coastal flooding, storm surges, heavy rainfall (as seen in Mumbai) etc.
  • The rise in the sea temperature and level will only increase the frequency of such hazards endangering the life and livelihood of the coastal population.
  • Also, India being close to the equator will experience much higher increase in sea level than higher latitudes
• Monsoon: Phenomenon such as El Nino will increase the variabilityof the monsoon worsening the agricultural crisis with more than 50% area still being rain-fed and threatening the food security.
  • Climate change has about 4-9 per cent impact on agriculture each year.
  • As agriculture contributes 15 per cent to India’s GDP, climate change presumably causes about 1.5 per cent loss in GDP(1).
• Disasters:More weather aberrations as recently seen in Mumbai and Chennai and increase incidence of the disasters like flood and drought will threaten both rural and urban economy
• Biodiversity: Loss of biodiversity put the livelihood of the forest dependent and hill communities at risk and disturb the biogeochemical cycles that help maintain the flow of nutrient, water and pure air.
  • Increase in human-wildlife conflict as observed in State like Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand is another threat.
• Health: Increased disease outbreaks especially of the tropical diseases like Malaria and Dengue, heat waves aggravating the urban heat island effect andwater scarcity compelling people to consume polluted water will increase the burden of mortality and morbidity.
• Migration: Rising inequalities as poor will be most affected due to climate change will increase the burden of migration and cripple the urban economies.
  • Illegal migration from the neighbour countries will also cause security threats.

Effects of climate change on the Indian monsoons:

• Climate Change has been ruining quite a few things such and Indian Monsoon might be one of them.
• The worst part here is that the effects of the Indian Monsoon are also felt by others and not just India, making it an active feature of the weather across the globe.
• Research has confirmed that Monsoon in Asia is entwined with several aspects of global climate along with having an influence over the global atmospheric circulation as well.
• Since the year 1950, average summer rains in India have declined by around 7 percent.
• In 1990s, high concentrations of aerosols were found in the northern Indian Ocean. In fact, satellite images even showed a stain across the Indo-Gangetic Plain and over the Indian Ocean, which was named as the “brown cloud”. In 1999, a team of investigators set out to understand what brown cloud exactly was.
• Black carboncombines with sulfates and other aerosols, wherein the Indo-Gangetic Plain contributes highly due to intensive industrial and extractive activity.
• Regional Climate Change has been occurring also because of changes in land use.
• In the last 15 decades, forest cover over Asia has reduced significantly.
• Increase in agricultural production in India, excessive use of water for irrigation has caused a negative impact on the moisture of the soil thereby diminishing its capability to reflect or absorb heat.
• Due to all these factors, Monsoon is shifting its patterns.
• Aerosols absorb solar radiation due to which less of it reaching the surface of the Earth.
• This leads to cooling of land, reducing the contrast of temperature between sea and land, thereby weakening the atmospheric circulation that sustains the Indian Monsoon.
• Not only this, changes in circulation in the Indian subcontinent affect air-sea interaction which is the binding factor between Asia and the Indian Ocean.

Measures needed

• 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.

Conclusion

Climate change is set to inescapably alter the ocean temperatures around the Indian neighborhood. So, giving more importance to understanding the vagaries of the NE monsoon should be among India’s key priority in adapting to climate change. India needs to step up research to improve the performance of the monsoon prediction models. Preparedness is the best way forward.

General Studies – 4

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

6. What does this quote means to you? (150 words)

“In the digital age, transparency is the new objectivity.”  -David Weinberger

Difficulty level: Moderate

Why the question:

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

Structure of the answer:

Introduction:

Begin by explaining the literal meaning of the quote and the context in which it was said.

Body:

Write about the concept of digital age and how more comprehensive and interconnected information, can replace the traditional notion of objectivity as a standard of truth. It suggests that in the digital age, transparency can provide a more accurate and reliable way of understanding information and the world around us. Cite examples to substantiate.

Conclusion:

Summarise by highlighting the importance of this quote in this present day.

Introduction

Objectivity serves its purpose, but in some of the most important realms, its time has passed. In those realms, transparency is the new objectivity. In the networked digital age, transparency is fundamental.

Objectivity – even if unattainable – served an important role in how we came to trust information, and in the economics of newspapers in the modern age.

Body

Consider the realm of journalism which today has transformed into online journalism. Both transparency and objectivity serve the greater idea of fairness. While people are rarely totally objective or transparent, they can be fair by following rules and standards and avoiding the temptation to cheat. News organizations that post their ethical codes – or go further and embed source information, writer bios and ethical goals as metadata underlying their stories, or even further and write all their news algorithms, crowd-counting software and other news bots in open source code – would be transparently objective in superb fashion.

Since the digital revolution in communication, there is a crisis of trust in media and David Weinberger’s premonition “transparency is the new objectivity” (2009) has become a recipe out of this crisis. What is the source of data or news being published and whether what is portrayed has a basis to it, should be made known widely. The power of internet is such that news travel fast.

Such news can be dangerous of false and malicious. Mob lynching, overthrowing of governments are all consequences that shake the stability of society. Hence transparency with objectivity is the need of the hour.

Conclusion

What we used to believe because we thought the author was objective we now believe because we can see through the author’s writings to the sources and values that brought her to that position. Transparency gives the reader information by which she can undo some of the unintended effects of the ever-present biases. Transparency brings us to reliability the way objectivity used to.

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

7. What does this quote means to you? (150 words)

” Because power corrupts, society’s demands for moral authority and character increase as the importance of the position increases.”  – John Adams

Difficulty level: Easy

Why the question:

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

Structure of the answer:

Introduction:

Begin by explaining the literal meaning of the quote.

Body:

Write about those in positions of power have a responsibility to act with integrity and to always consider the ethical implications of their actions. It also highlights the importance of holding leaders accountable for their behavior and actions. Cite examples to substantiate.

Conclusion:

Summarise by highlighting the importance of this quote in this present day.

Introduction

Power is defined as the ability to influence and control events. This power is recognized by the social power that stems from the relationships among people. Social philosopher Hannah Arendt (1969) states that “Power is never the property of an individual; it belongs to a group and remains in existence only long as the groups keep together.”

Body

“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”

People with power are respected by people not because they generate fear or not by their titles but good deeds.

Vivekananda the great spiritual master bolstered the image of India as the spiritual guru of the world but there are other spiritual gurus whose irresponsible behavior has eroded the faith of people in religion and spiritualism. In fact responsibility means doing the assigned tasks, fulfilling the commitments, standing by the side of truth and justice, helping the meek and the poor, etc. There are bureaucrats and technical experts who delivered what they were assigned to do and they are worshipped by the people. The pioneer of nuclear research in India Homi Jahangir Bhabha or Sridharan, head of Delhi Metro or the Varghese Kurian of Amul fame have become iconic. The billionaires like Bill Gates, George Soros, Azim Premji or Sachin Tendulkar have become philanthropists beyond comparison because they feel that after their success in life, they have responsibilities towards society which gave them wealth and power. On the other hand there are examples of so many irresponsible authorities who earned bad names as they impeded the process of welfare and development, stole from public exchequer, etc. These people are much known for showing the ugly face of power and wealth. This includes erring politicians and bureaucrats among others

Nehru and Mandela are two individuals who have set examples on how to wield and relinquish power responsibly. Coming to Nehru, for all his flaws, he was a consummate democrat. Though many other attributes characterised his style of decision making — including idealism which at times bordered on naivete — he never shied away from his responsibilities as a parliamentarian and a legislator. His scientific temper is one of the many reasons India stood as a democracy much after he left his job unfinished.

In the case of both personalities, democratic values were cultivated after a long struggle which involved not just winning battles of mind with the opposition but also achieving victory in battles with oneself. The fight was as much with one’s own inner demons as it was with the external forces.

Conclusion

Power is a multidimensional concept. In today’s world money wields power. Hence values of democracy, liberty are required to stop the dictatorial governments. Sadly, even today there are dictatorship and authoritarian governments around the world. What the world needs today are great leaders who do not want to wield power but do good for the society like Plato says.

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