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Syllabus

• Prelims – History and Art and Culture

Context: Recently, the Prime Minister of India has paid tributes to Acharya Kripalani on his Jayanti.

About J B Kripalani:

• He was born on 11th November 1888 in Hyderabad, Sindh.
• His original name was Jivatram Bhagwandas Kripalani but was popularly known as Acharya Kripalani.
• Educationist: From 1912 to 1927, he taught at various places before becoming wholly involved in the freedom movement.
  • He earned the moniker ‘Acharya’ around 1922 when he was teaching at the Gujarat Vidyapith, founded by the Mahatma a couple of years before.
• An Environmentalist: He, along with Vinoba Bhave, was involved in preservation and conservation activities throughout the 1970s.
• Books: My Times, his autobiography published posthumously in 2004 and Gandhi: His Life and Thought (1970).

Association with Indian Independence:

• He was associated with Gandhi by 1917 after Gandhi had taken up the cause of indigo workers in Gujarat.
• He was part of the Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-22) and the Civil Disobedience movements (started in 1930) and Quit India Movement (1942).
• He was the President of Indian National Congress (INC) at the time of independence. He served in the Interim government of India (1946–1947) and the Constituent Assembly of India.

Post-Independence political career:

• He became one of the founders of the Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party (KMPP) after independence leaving congress.
• He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1952, 1957, 1963 and 1967 as a member of Praja Socialist Party.
• He moved the first-ever No confidence motion in Lok Sabha in 1963, immediately after the India-China War (1962).
  • In 1963, Sucheta Kripalani, a Congress leader became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, a first for any woman in the country while her husband Acharya remained an opponent to the Congress.
• He was a critic of Nehru’s policies and Indira Gandhi’s rule. He was arrested during Emergency (1975).

Source: PIB

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Syllabus

• Prelims – History and Art and Culture

Context: The Supreme Court sought reports from Maharashtra administration on the demolition drive conducted around the tomb of Afzal Khan, a 17th-century commander of the Adil Shahi dynasty of Bijapur.

About Afzal Khan:

• Afzal Khan was a general who served the Adil Shahi dynasty of Bijapur Sultanate.
• He played an important role in the southern expansion of the Bijapur Sultanate by subjugating the Nayaka chiefs who had taken control of the former Vijayanagara territory.
• In 1659, the Bijapur government sent Afzal Khan to subjugate Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, a former vassal who had started acting independently.
• He was killed at a truce negotiation meeting with Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, and his army was defeated at the Battle of Pratapgad.’

History of Afzal Khan’s tomb:

• With Shivaji’s rise and increasing control of the region, Afzal Khan was seen as the man to subdue him in the Deccan.
• Khan put together a force of 10,000 cavalry and marched from Bijapur to Wai, plundering Shivaji’s territory along the way.
• Shivaji called a council of war at the fort of Pratapgarh, where most of his advisers urged him to make peace.
• Shivaji was not eager to back down and he set up a meeting with Khan.
• Afzal Khan was killed on November 10, 1659 when during a meeting, an embrace between the two turned into an attack in which Shivaji emerged victorious.
• Khan’s remains were buried at the fort and a tomb was constructed on Shivajij’s orders.
• The tower is still known by the name ‘Afzul Buruj’ at Pratapgarh.

Source: Indian Express

Previous Year Question

Q.1) With reference to Indian history, consider the following statements:

1. The first Mongol invasion of India happened during the reign of Jalal-ud-din Khalji.
2. During the reign of Ala-ud-din Khalji, one Mongol assault marched up to Delhi and besieged the city.
3. Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq temporarily lost portions of north-west of his kingdom to Mongols.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (2022)

1. 1 and 2
2. 2 only
3. 1 and 3
4. 3 only

Q.2) With reference to the cultural history of India, consider the following statements :

1. White marble was used in making Buland Darwaza and Khankah at Fatehpur Sikri.
2. Red sandstone and marble were used in making Bara Imambara and Rumi Darwaza at Lucknow.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (2018)

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

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Syllabus

• Prelims – Science and Technology

Context: Amid concerns over the direction that Twitter seems to be taking after its takeover by billionaire Elon Musk, a number of users are flocking to a platform called Mastodon, a decentralised, open source social media platform.

About Mastodon:

• Mastodon was founded in 2016 by a German software developer.
• Unlike Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and Instagram, it is a decentralised, open source, ad-free platform that is essentially made up of thousands of different servers, or “instances”, run across the world.
• All the different instances on Mastodon can communicate to each other, that is, what users in a certain instance are posting is accessible to users in a different instance.
• Users or organisations can even start their own servers.
• Otherwise, there’s a list of servers which focus on specific locations or topics of interest.
• The admin of each server can decide the content moderation guidelines for that particular server.
• It essentially means that anyone can download, modify and install Mastodon on their own server.
• The developers of the platform don’t own the copyright.
• However, if someone creates a platform using Mastodon’s code, they will have to acknowledge the source of the code.

Content moderation on Mastodon:

• Since Mastodon is a collection of thousands of different servers, there is not a singular content moderation strategy for the entire platform.
• Content moderation is done by admins of each server who can set their own rules — this means that a kind of speech allowed on one server may not be allowed on a different one.
• Users can also migrate to other instances on Mastodon.

Source: Indian Express

Previous Year Question

Q.1) Consider the following communication technologies:

1. Closed-circuit Television
2. Radio Frequency Identification
3. Wireless Local Area Network

Which of the above are considered of the Short-Range devices/technologies? (2022)

1. 1 and 2 only.
2. 2 and 3 only
3. 1 and 3 only
4. 1, 2 and 3

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Syllabus

• Prelims – Science and Technology

Context: NASA has announced the recovery of debris from the Challenger spaceship that exploded 73 seconds after lift-off killing all seven astronauts aboard 37 years ago.

About the mission:

• The shuttle mission, which was NASA’s 25th, was supposed to be a six-day mission wherein, the seven-member crew was to deploy a large communications satellite, deploy and retrieve an astronomy payload to study Halley’s Comet.
• A teacher, also the first civilian to head to space, was to conduct lessons for schoolchildren from orbit.
• The primary objective of the STS-51L mission was to launch the second Tracking and Data Relay System (TDRS) satellite into orbit.

The Space shuttle disaster:

• The spacecraft broke apart on January 28, 1986 after it suffered a major malfunction less than 2 minutes into its flight with investigations revealing freezing temperatures having affected the integrity of O-ring seals in the solid rocket booster segment joints.
• The O-ring seals are used to keep fluids from leaking and components sealed.
• Ice had formed on the shuttle amid freezing temperatures as Challenger remained on the launch pad overnight.
• The last Challenger mission was dubbed as STS-51L.

Source: Indian Express

Previous Year Question

Q.1) If a major solar storm (solar flare) reaches the Earth, which of the following are the possible effects on the Earth?  (2022)

1. GPS and navigation systems could fail.
2. Tsunamis could occur at equatorial regions.
3. Power grids could be damaged.
4. Intense auroras could occur over much of the Earth.
5. Forest fires could take place over much of the planet.
6. Orbits of the satellites could be disturbed.
7. Shortwave radio communication of the aircraft flying over polar regions could be interrupted.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

1. 1, 2, 4 and 5 only
2. 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7 only
3. 1, 3, 4, 6 and 7 only
4. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7

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Syllabus

• Prelims – Economy and International Relations

Context: The U.S. Department of Treasury removed India along with Italy, Mexico, Thailand and Vietnam from its Currency Monitoring List of major trading partners.

About Currency Monitoring List:

• Putting a country under the Currency Monitoring List would mean that the country is artificially lowering the value of its currency to gain an unfair advantage over others.
• This is because the lower value of the currency will lead to a reduction of the export costs from that country.
• The US Department of Treasury releases a semi-annual report in which it tracks global economic developments and reviews foreign exchange rates.
• It also reviews the currency practices of the US’ 20 biggest trading partners.
• There are three criteria based on which a country is put under the currency watch list.
• A country that meets two of the three criteria in the US’ Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 is put under the Currency Monitoring List.
• A significant bilateral trade surplus with the US — at least $20 billion in 12 months.
• A material current account surplus equivalent to at least 2 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) over a 12-month period.
• Persistent, one-sided intervention, when net purchases of foreign currency totalling at least 2 per cent of the country’s GDP over a 12-month period are conducted repeatedly, in at least six out of 12 months.
• Once a country meets all three criteria, it is labelled as a ‘currency manipulator’ by the US Department of Treasury.
• Once on the Monitoring List, an economy will remain there for at least two consecutive reports to help ensure that any improvement in performance versus the criteria is durable and is not due to temporary factors.

The following countries are presently on the list:

• China, Japan, Korea, Germany, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan.

Reasons for removal of  India from the list:

• India was removed from the Monitoring List as they now only met one of the three criteria for two consecutive reports.
• India has been on the list for about two years.

How does it impact India?

• When on the US’ Currency Monitoring List, a country is considered a ‘currency manipulator’.
• A currency manipulator is a designation applied by US government authorities to countries that engage in unfair currency practices for a trade advantage.
• This removal from US’ Currency Monitoring List means that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) can now take robust measures to manage the exchange rates effectively, without being tagged as a currency manipulator.
• To manage exchange rates amid the rupee fall, the RBI recently took actions like buying dollars at the time of excess inflows and selling dollars at the time of outflows.

About Currency Manipulator:

• A currency manipulator is a designation applied by US government authorities to countries that engage in “unfair currency practices” for a trade advantage.
• Putting a country under the Currency Monitoring List would mean that the country is artificially lowering the value of its currency to gain an unfair advantage over others.
• This is because the lower value of the currency will lead to a reduction of the export costs from that country.

Source:NewsOnAir

Previous Year Question

Q.1) Consider the following statements:

1. Tight monetary policy of US Federal Reserve could lead to capital flight.
2. Capital flight may increase the interest cost of firms with existing External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs).
3. Devaluation of domestic currency decreases the currency risk associated with ECBS.

Which of the statements given above are correct? (2022)

1. 1 and 2 only
2. 2 and 3 only
3. 1 and 3 only
4. 1, 2 and 3

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Syllabus

• Prelims – Science and Technology

Context: Recently, the 16th Asian Conference on Diarrhoeal Disease and Nutrition (ASCODD) was held at Kolkata.

Theme: “Prevention and control of cholera, typhoid and other enteric diseases in low and middle-income countries through community participation: beyond the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic”.

Focus Areas:

• Epidemiology of cholera and typhoid
• Roadmap to end Cholera by 2030, Cholera vaccine development and rapid diagnostics,
• Contemporary perspectives of antimicrobial resistance of enteric bacteria: new Initiatives and challenges,
• Enteric bacterial infections, including Shigella spp, epidemiology, burden, and
• vaccines against other viral infections, including Hepatitis,
• Lessons learned about diarrhoea research during the COVID pandemic.

About Diarrhea:

• Gastrointestinal infection leading to Loose, watery and possibly more-frequent bowel movements

Caused by:

• A Variety of bacterial, viral and parasitic organisms.
• Infection is spread through contaminated food or drinking-water, or from person to person as a result of poor hygiene.
• Associated with other symptoms: nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain or weight loss.
• Measures to treat diarrhoea:
• Rehydration with oral rehydration salts (ORS) solution
• Rehydration may require intravenous fluids in case of severe dehydration or shock.
• Zinc supplements
• Nutrient-rich foods.

Achievements of India:

• India successfully ran a free vaccination program with record break vaccination of more than 219 crores.
• India provided vaccinations to other nations so that it can win over the pandemic together. Effective use of safe and affordable vaccines,
• Various Health initiatives under Digital India initiative:
  • Online Registration System,
  • eHospital for hospital management,
  • eSanjeevani telemedicine app

Source: PIB

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Syllabus

• Prelims – Science and Technology

Context: The Global Dashboard for Vaccine Equity has put out recent data that justifies the vexatious core of the vaccine distribution programme.

About Global Dashboard for Vaccine Equity:

• It is a joint effort by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the University of Oxford with cooperation across the UN system.
• Only one in four people has been vaccinated with at least one dose in low and middle income countries.
• In comparison, in high income countries, three in four people have got at least one dose of the vaccine.
• The Global Dashboard for Vaccine Equity combines the latest data on the global roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines with the most recent socio-economic information to illustrate why accelerating vaccine equity is not only critical to saving lives but also to driving a faster and fairer recovery from the pandemic with benefits for all.
• Everyone in the world has the same access to vaccines.
• While the availability of drugs across the world continues to remain iniquitous, disadvantaging large swathes of people in low and middle income countries.

The Dashboard also points out another key factor:

• While vaccination programmes will increase healthcare costs across all countries, it is especially the case in low-income countries as they would need to increase their health expenditure by a staggering 30-60% to reach 70% of their population under the current pricing.
• High-income countries are expected to increase theirs by only 0.8% to achieve the same vaccination rate in one year.

Efforts taken to reduce vaccine inequity:

• A waiver in the TRIPS agreement was proposed as a radical way to overcome the anticipated shortfalls.
• The COVID-19 Vaccine Delivery Partnership (COVAX), a collective international effort was launched by WHO, UNICEF, and Gavi and the World Bank, to intensify country readiness and delivery support.
• It aimed at accelerating COVID-19 vaccination coverage in 34 low coverage countries, along with their governments.

Source: The Hindu

Previous Year Question

Q.1) In the context of vaccines manufactured to prevent COVID-19 pandemic, consider the following statements:

1. The Serum Institute of India produced COVID-19 vaccine named Covishield using mRNA platform.
2. Sputnik V vaccine is manufactured using vector based platform.
3. COVAXIN is an inactivated pathogen based vaccine.

Which of the statements given above are correct? (2022)

1. 1 and 2 only
2. 2 and 3 only
3. 1 and 3 only
4. 1, 2 and 3

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Syllabus

• Mains – GS 2 (Governance) and GS 3 (Economy)

Context: India’s agriculture exports have grown 16.5% year-on-year in April-September, and look set to surpass the record $50.2 billion achieved in 2021-22 (April-March).

• Interestingly, even commodities whose exports have been subjected to curbs — wheat, rice and sugar have shown significant rise in export.

Key Facts about India’s Exports:

• The government had, on May 13, banned the export of wheat. Yet, according to Commerce Ministry data, wheat exports, at 45.90 lakh tonnes during the April-September period, were nearly twice the 23.76 lakh tonnes for the same period last year.
• On May 24, sugar exports were moved from the “free” to “restricted” list. Also, total exports for the 2021-22 sugar year (October-September) were capped at 100 lt. On September 8, exports of broken rice were prohibited, and a 20% duty slapped on all other non-parboiled non-basmati shipments.
• Despite these measures, non-basmati exports have risen alongside that of basmati rice (from 19.46 to 21.57 lakh tonnes). Sugar exports, likewise, grew 45.5% in value terms to $2.65 billion during April-September.

However, imports surging even more:

• The impressive growth in exports is, however, offset somewhat by imports that have surged even more.
• The surplus in agricultural trade matters because this is one sector, apart from software services, where India has some comparative advantage.
• To put things in perspective, India’s deficit in its overall merchandise trade account (exports minus imports of goods) widened from $76.25 billion in April-September 2021 to $146.55 billion in April-September this year.
• During the same period, the surplus in agriculture trade reduced only a tad, from $7.86 billion to $7.46 billion.
• The above table shows that almost 60% of India’s total Agri imports is accounted for by a single commodity: vegetable oils.
• Their imports were valued at a massive $19 billion in 2021-22, and imports have increased by more than 25% in the first half of this fiscal. Vegetable oils are today the country’s fifth biggest import item after petroleum, electronics, gold, and coal.
• In order to counter it, two major decisions taken by the government last month.
• The first is the raising of the minimum support price of mustard from Rs 5,050 to Rs 5,450 per quintal for the 2022-23 crop season.
• The second decision has been to grant clearance (“environmental release”) for commercial cultivation of genetically modified (GM) hybrid mustard.
• Seed yields from the transgenic mustard DMH-11, bred by Delhi University scientists, are claimed to be 25-30% more than from currently-grown popular varieties.
• Besides, the “barnase-barstar” GM technology is seen as a robust platform, which can be used to develop new mustard hybrids giving higher yields than DMH-11 and with better disease-resistance or oil quality traits.
• A similar approach, aimed at boosting domestic output and yields, may be required in cotton.
  • Insect pest-resistant GM Bt technology helped nearly treble India’s cotton production from 140 lakh bales in 2000-01 to 398 lakh bales in 2013-14, and exports to peak at $4.33 billion in 2011-12.

Recent trends in composition of trade:

• The above table shows India’s top agriculture export items. As many as 15 of them individually grossed more than $1 billion in revenue during 2021-22.
• All barring two (cotton and spices) have posted positive growth in the first half of the current fiscal too.
• In cotton, not only have exports collapsed from over $1.1 billion in April-September 2021 to $436 million in April-September 2022, imports have soared from below $300 million to $1.1 billion.
• This has primarily been due to lower domestic production — the 2021-22 crop was estimated at just 307.05 lakh bales (of 170 kg each), as against 353 lakh bales and 365 lakh bales in the preceding two years — forcing mills to import. In the process, India has turned a net cotton importer.
• Equally interesting is spices, where India’s exports in recent times have been powered mainly by chilli, mint products, oils & oleoresins, cumin, turmeric, and ginger.
• On the other hand, in traditional plantation spices such as pepper and cardamom, the country has become as much an importer as an exporter.
• India has been out-priced by Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Brazil in pepper, while it has lost market share to Guatemala in cardamom.
• Another traditional export item where India has largely turned an importer is cashew. In 2021-22, the country’s cashew exports were valued at $453.08 million, compared to imports of $1.26 billion.
  • Imports have further shot up to $1.4 billion-plus during the first six months of this fiscal alone.

Way Forward:

• Therefore, diversification of export basket of agricultural commodities will lead to rise in export of agricultural commodities which will help in Balance of Payments along with rising the income of farmers.
• Along with it, use of state of art technology such as GM based crops should also be promoted in order to  increase the production  certain production deficit crops. So that in place of net importer, Indian become net export of those crops.

Source: Indian Express

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Syllabus

• Mains – GS 2 (Governance)

Context: Recently concluded DefExpo22 exposed the need for India to acquire self-reliance in the defence sector.

New Developments at DefExpo2022:

• HTT-40 aircraft:
  • The HTT-40 indigenous trainer aircraft was unveiled at the India Pavilion during the Expo.
  • It is designed and developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
• Deesa airfield:
  • The foundation stone for the Deesa airfield in Gujarat which will be a forward Air Force base was also unveiled.
  • Forward air force base would add to the security architecture of the country.
• Mission DefSpace:
  • “Mission DefSpace” is launched for developing innovative solutions for the Armed Forces.
• Indian Ocean Region plus (IOR+) conclave:
  • The 2nd Indian Ocean Region plus (IOR+) conclave was also held during the Expo,
  • This will provide a stage for a comprehensive dialogue to promote defence cooperation amongst IOR+ nations to foster peace, growth, stability and prosperity.
  • It is in line with the Prime Minister’s vision for Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR).
• India-Africa Defence Dialogue:
  • India-Africa Defence Dialogue was held on the side-lines of DefExpo 2022.
  • Gandhinagar Declaration was adopted to enhance cooperation in the fields of training & military exercises.
• The theme of the second India-Africa defence dialogue was:
  • “Adopting strategies for synergising and strengthening defence and security cooperation”.
  • This is the first defence expo where only Indian companies are participating and it features only Made in India equipment.

Need of self-reliance in the defence sector:

National security:

• Even as India aspires to become a $5-trillion economy, it is evident that it faces many national security inadequacies.

Dependency on foreign suppliers:

• The high dependency index on foreign suppliers (traditionally the former USSR now Russia) for major military inventory items is stark.
• This dependency induces a macro national vulnerability and dilutes India’s quest for meaningful and credible strategic autonomy.

Combat capacity:

• Furthermore, the current gaps in combat capacity expose the chinks in the Indian ability to safeguard core national security interests.

Meeting targets:

• The government has set a defence export target of $5 billion (Rs 40,000 crore).
• This is an ambitious target and will demand mission-mode resolve to be realised.

India’s progress in recent years:

• India’s defence exports have grown eight times in the last five years.
• India is exporting defence materials and equipment to more than 75 countries of the world.
• In 2021-22, defence exports from India reached $1.59 billion (about Rs 13,000 crore).

Challenges associated with Self Defence:

Global issues:

• Unexpected exigencies such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine and other factors including the Covid that disrupted the global economy and related supply chains.

Weakening of rupee:

• The global challenges are further exacerbated by a weakening rupee add to the challenges faced by the Indian defence manufacturing ecosystem.

Manufacturing sector:

• India missed the industrial design and manufacturing bus, a national competence demonstrated by nations like South Korea and China, over the last five decades.
• Technological advances have made the design and manufacture of the semiconductor chip the new currency of national prosperity and military power.
• The US and China are now locked in intense competition in this domain and India is yet to acquire a profile that would be deemed relevant.

Aatmanirbhar in defence production

Make-I Category:

• Under the Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020, ‘Make’ Category aims to achieve self-reliance by involving greater participation of Indian industry.
• Projects involving design and development of equipment, systems, major platforms or upgrades thereof by the industry can be taken up under this category.
• Financial Support:
• The Ministry of Defence will provide financial support up to 70% of the total cost of prototype development.

Make-II Category:

• It is funded by industry with assured procurement. The following platform has been listed –
• Anti-jamming Systems for Multiple Platforms

Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) Model:

• Under this, private industry will be encouraged to take up the design and development of military platforms and equipment in collaboration with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and other organisations.
• Following two platforms have been identified under this category.
  • Long Range Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) [High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE)]
  • Indian Multi Role Helicopter (IMRH)

iDEX:

• Projects of Start-ups, MSMEs etc. involving high-end innovation would be pursued under the iDEX category and the following platform has been selected under this category –
• Low Orbit Pseudo Satellites.

Way Forward:

• To become a major defence manufacturer, India needs to re-examine its structure of governing defence production, as the Chinese did in 2000.
• Progressively changing this techno-strategic landscape in India’s favour should be accorded the highest priority in the national policy debate.
• This will give a chance to employing more people in India and thereby increasing the Growth parameters of the Economy.

Source: Indian Express

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Syllabus

• Mains – GS 2 (International Relations)

Context: In a boost to India’s efforts to create a regional power grid, cross border electricity trade has been taking place on the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX).

• Central Electricity Regulatory Commission has issued the notification of CBET (Cross-border electricity trade) Regulations in the year 2019.
• CBET Rules were notified in March 2021 by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA).
• Nepal is the first country to avail the benefit of buying day ahead power from power exchange.

About Central Electricity Regulatory Commission

• It is a statutory body functioning with quasi-judicial status under the Electricity Act 2003.
• CERC is a key regulator of the power sector in India and is headquartered in New Delhi.
• CERC is constituted for rationalization of electricity tariffs, transparent policies regarding subsidies, promotion of efficient and environmentally benign policies, and for matters connected Electricity Tariff regulation.

About Central Electricity Authority:

• It is a statutory organization constituted in 1951 and works as per the Electricity Act 2003.
• New Delhi is the headquarters of the Central Electrical Authority.
• The Central Electricity Authority of India (CEA) advises the government on policy matters and formulates plans for the development of electricity systems.
• The CEA is also responsible for concurrence of hydro power development schemes of central, state and private sectors.

About (Cross Border Trade of Electricity) Regulations, 2019:

• These regulations shall be applicable to the Participating Entities in India and the neighboring countries which are engaged in cross border trade of electricity with India.
• Cross border trade of electricity between India and the neighboring country shall be allowed through mutual agreements between Indian entities and entities of the neighboring country under the overall framework of agreements signed.
• The Designated Authority appointed by the Ministry of Power, Government of India shall be responsible for facilitating the process of approval and laying down the procedure for import and export of electricity.
• Transmission Planning Agency shall be responsible for planning of transmission systems for the purpose of facilitating cross border trade of electricity.
• For India, this function shall be discharged by the Designated Authority.
• Settlement Nodal Agency shall be responsible for settling all charges pertaining to grid operations including operating charges, charges for deviation and other charges related to transactions with a particular neighboring country.
• Central Transmission Utility shall be responsible for granting long-term access and medium-term open access with respect to cross border trade of electricity.
• The National Load Dispatch Centre shall be responsible for granting short-term open access.
• It shall act as the System Operator for cross border trade of electricity between India and the neighboring countries and
• Tariff for import of electricity by the Indian Entity shall be determined through a process of competitive bidding as per the Tariff Policy.
• Tariff for export of electricity to entities of a neighboring country by the Indian entities through long-term or medium-term or short-term agreements or discovered through competitive bidding.
• Where the tariff for import or export of electricity is mutually agreed the same shall be final.

India’s Power Exchange with Neighbouring Countries:

India-Nepal:

• Nepal started optimally meeting its dry season demand by trading in India’s day-ahead market since April 2021.
• Nepal Electricity Authority started selling surplus monsoon electricity through competition in the day-ahead market since June 2022.
• According to the NEA, between May and August, over 780 million of electricity have been sold in the Indian market, earning about ₹7.2 billion.

India-Bhutan:

• Bhutan started trading on the Indian Day ahead market in January 2022, importing power for a maximum of 400 megawatt (MW) for import during the lean season.

India-Bangladesh:

• Bangladesh stands to benefit from CBET with India when it participates in India’s power market.
• Through CBET, Bangladesh can import power from India, with the pricing of this energy being optimized through the country’s participation in spot markets.
• By importing green power from across the border, Bangladesh’s current reliance on fossil fuel-fired power plants can decrease, and in time may usher more investments and efforts into growing the contribution from RE in its own energy mix.

Benefits of Cross-border Electricity Trade: An integrated south as power market has many benefits including:

• Enhanced energy access and security
• Integrated Power Market
• Competitive power prices:
• Transparent and efficient power procurement
• Resource optimisation

Way Forward:

• As more of India’s neighboring countries begin to participate in CBET, a South Asian power market will emerge which will allow for a price discovery that will be unique for the region.
• CBET will prove to be mutually beneficial for all participating countries and usher in economic and sustainable development to the entire region.

India is moving towards its ambitious global electricity grid plans to roll out “One Sun, One World, One Grid” (OSOWOG).

Source: The Hindu

Q.1) Consider the following statements and identify the personality among the following:

1. He was part of the Non-Cooperation Movement, the Civil Disobedience movements, and Quit India Movement (1942).
2. He was the President of Indian National Congress (INC) at the time of independence.
3. He became one of the founders of the Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party.
4. He was a critic of Nehru’s policies and Indira Gandhi’s rule.

Choose the correct answer using the code given below:

1. Rajendra Prasad
2. Abdul Kalam Azad
3. B N Rau
4. J B Kripalani

Q.2) Recently, the Global Dashboard for Vaccine Equity has put out recent data that justifies the vexatious core of the vaccine distribution programme. It was jointly established by

1. United Nations Development Programme, World Health Organization and the University of Oxford
2. United Nations Development Programme and World Health Organization
3. World Health Organization and World Bank
4. United Nations Development Programme, World Health Organization and the World Bank

Q.3) The term ‘new collective quantified goal on climate finance’ (NCQG) often mentioned in news is related to

1. India’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
2. A global climate finance target being proposed by developing countries at COP 27 of UNFCCC, 2022.
3. One of the global climate finance commitments under Paris Climate Deal of 2015.
4. A corporate sector initiative across the world to pool together CSR to finance climate action.

Comment the answers to the above questions in the comment section below!!

ANSWERS FOR ’14th November 2022 – Daily Practice MCQs’ will be updated along with tomorrow’s Daily Current Affairs.st

Q.1) – c

Q.2) – b

Q.3) – b