Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

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‘Ease of Doing Business’ rank: India jumps 30 places

News:

• India climbed 30 positions in the latest ease of doing business ranking by the World Bank, in its Doing Business 2018 report released on Tuesday.

Beyond News:

• The report ranks India at 100 among 190 countries. Last year, India was ranked 130.
• India’s upward jump in ranking is based on the improvement in the distance to frontier score — an absolute measure of progress towards the best practice.

India found a place for the first time in the top ten economies improving the most in a given year. The ranking compares economies with one another; the DTF score benchmarks economies with respect to regulatory best practice.

• The report measures aspects of regulation affecting 11 areas of the life of a business. India made eight reforms across these areas last year, the highest for the country in a single year.

India is one of the three countries last year that undertook reforms in as many as eight areas.

China denies plan to divert river

News:

• The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post (SCMP) had reported on Monday that Chinese engineers were testing techniques that could be used to build a 1,000 km tunnel — the world’s longest — to carry water from Tibet to Xinjiang.

Beyond News:

• China on Tuesday denied media report that it was planning to divert water from the Brahmaputra in Tibet to its arid Xinjiang province by constructing a 1,000 km tunnel.
• The report, if true, would have had a major impact on livelihoods in India and Bangladesh, as the Brahmaputra, known as Yarlung Tsangpo in China, passes through both these countries before emptying into the Bay of Bengal.

UN predicts 3°C temperature rise by end of the century

News:

• The latest UNEP Emissions Gap report envisages a temperature rise of at least 3°C by the end of the century.

Beyond News:

• It forecasts this breaching of the safe limits of 2°C for global warming levels even assuming the current climate commitments – the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) that form the core of the Paris Agreement – were fully implemented.
• Fossil fuels and cement production still account for about 70% of greenhouses gases, according to the report.
• The alarming number and intensity of extreme weather events in 2017, such as hurricanes, droughts and floods, adds to the urgency of early action to curb climate change, the report notes.

Closing the emissions gap

• The report reveals a large gap between 2030 emission levels and those consistent with least expensive pathways to the 2°C and 1.5°C goals respectively.
• The 2°C emissions gap for the full implementation of both the conditional and unconditional NDCs for 2030 is 11 to 13.5 Gigatonne CO2 equivalent (GtCO2 e). The gap in the case of the more ambitious 1.5°C target is 16 to 19 GtCO2 e.

Solutions

• A large part of the potential to close the emissions gap comes from solar and wind energy, efficient appliances, efficient passenger cars, afforestation and stopping deforestation. These six present a combined potential of up to 22 GtCO2e per annum.

Strong action on plugging other GHGs, such as hydro fluorocarbons, through the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, and other short-lived climate pollutants such as black carbon, could also make a real contribution.

• CO2 emissions have remained stable since 2014, driven in part by renewable energy, notably in China and India. This has raised hopes that emissions have peaked, as they must by 2020 to remain on a successful climate trajectory.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

Farmers call off protest against land acquisition

 

News:

• Farmers at Nindar village, around 20 km called off their month-long unusual agitation, during which they dug pits and trenches and buried themselves waist-deep in the mud to protest against acquisition of their land for a housing project.

Beyond News:

• The farmers began the Zameen Samadhi Satyagraha on October 2, Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary, in connection with 1,350 bigha land which was acquired in several stages since 2010 for a housing project despite the land owners’ refusal to accept compensation.
• The Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) gave them a written assurance for a fresh survey of the land.
• The Nindar Bachao Yuva Kisan Sangharsh Samiti activists spearheaded the protest with the demand for a fresh survey.
• State government has now agreed for conducting a survey of structures, tubewells and fruit-bearing trees on the farmers’ land.

After Tuesday’s written orders, the farmers were hopeful that the new survey would reflect the ground situation and ensure a better compensation.

Centre clears mega project to acquire 111 helicopters for Navy

News:

• In a major move, the Defence Ministry on Tuesday approved procurement of 111 utility helicopters for the Indian Navy at a cost of ₹21,738 crore.

Beyond News:

• The long-pending proposal was cleared at a meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
• They said, 16 helicopters will be procured at a fly away condition while 95 will be manufactured in India.

The acquisition of the helicopters will be made under the strategic partnership model.

The government will now start the process to identify a foreign helicopter maker and an Indian defence firm for a joint venture for the project.

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