The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India submitted its report on the assessment of the environmental impact of mining activities and its mitigation in Coal India Limited and its subsidiaries on December 11, 2019. The study was conducted from 2013- 14 to 2017-18. Coal India Limited (CIL) is a central public sector enterprise under the Ministry of Coal. It has seven coal producing subsidiaries. Key findings and recommendations of the CAG include:
Air pollution: Certain number of air quality monitoring stations were to be established as specified in the environment clearance for each mine. CAG noted that in 12 of the sampled 30 operating mines, only 58% of the required monitoring stations were established. Further, 12 mines of the 28 mines studied, did not comply with the State Pollution Control Boards directives for installation of continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations.
The National Ambient Air Quality Standards notified by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change prescribe maximum concentration levels of PM10 and PM5 in the air. CAG noted that during 2013-18 in six mines, the concentration of these pollutants always exceeded the prescribed levels.
Water pollution: CAG observed that during 2013-18, out of the 28 mines studied, pollutants exceeded the limits prescribed by Bureau of Indian Standards in eight mines. Further, certain mines continued to use ground water for their operations without obtaining a no-objection certificate from the Central Ground Water Authority.
Land management: In 13 of the 23 mines studied, topsoil was set in the earmarked area and reported periodically. However, basic records indicating the quantity and areas of stacking were not maintained. Further, one subsidiary had not set yearly internal targets for biological reclamation (land reclamation through plantation) of mined out area and another had biologically reclaimed only limited part of the de-coaled area.
Environment management system: The National Environmental Policy (NEP) was formulated in 2006 and requires all concerned central, state and local bodies to prepare environment protection action plans consistent with the NEP. However, CIL amended its original environment policy and formulated a comprehensive environment policy much later in 2012. CAG noted that six of the seven coal producing subsidiaries of CIL did not have an environment policy approved by the Board of Directors as mandated by the Ministry. It recommended that all coal sector companies should have an environment policy approved by their respective Boards.
Adherence to regulations for environment protection: CAG noted that the 35 mines which were closed between April 1946 and July 2009 did not have CIL required Mine Closure Status Report. As of March 2018, 16 units were being operated without valid environmental documents. Nine of these did not have an environment clearance, six units did not have the consent to operate and one did not have the consent to establish.
CIL subsidiaries did not have a uniform policy for dumping ash produce by burning of coal. In one power plant, this ash was dumped in the open space, posing an environmental hazard. CAG recommended CIL to frame uniform and scientific policy towards the use of ash to ensure environmental sustainability.
Monitoring environment activities: CAG noted that while the quality parameters relating to air and water were being monitored fortnightly, reports on these were given to the subsidiaries quarterly. Thus, there was no scope for initiating remedial measures on adverse readings. It recommended strengthening the monitoring mechanism by streamlining the existing reporting process.
CAG noted that from 2013-18, the deployment of executives exceeded the sanctioned strength at CIL headquarter, however, it fell short at the mines. There were inconsistencies in deployment of manpower for environmental activities in the subsidiaries. It recommended that manpower in CIL and its subsidiaries be reorganised.
Other recommendations: CAG made certain other recommendations such as: (i) the subsidiaries should complete all capital work related to pollution control measures expeditiously, and (ii) implementation of solar power projects to increase environmental benefits should be improved.
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The automobile industry is one of the key drivers of the Indian economy. Since the liberalization of the sector in 1991 by way of allowing 100 percent FDI through automatic route, Indian automobile sector has come a long way. Today, there is a presence of almost every global auto manufacturer in the country. All categories of vehicles like two-wheeler, three-wheeler, passenger cars, light commercial vehicles, Trucks, Buses, Tractors and heavy Commercial vehicles are produced in the country. India is the largest manufacturer of 2W and 3W and 4th largest manufacturers of passenger cars in the world. Total turnover of the Indian Automobile Industry during 2018-19 was about 118 Billion USD (Rs 8.2 Lakh Crore), which constitutes 7.1% of the country’s total GDP, 27% of Industrial GDP and 49% of Manufacturing GDP. This industry is one of the largest employers and provides about 37 million direct and indirect jobs. The current annual sale of vehicles of all categories is about 26 million (2018-19) which is slated to increase by more than 3 times to about 84.5 million by 2030.
Import of crude oil to the tune of billions of liter per year and associated emission of millions tons of CO2 and other pollutants are some of the main challenge being faced by the country which is directly related to Automobile sector. Presently, India is facing an acute air pollution crisis and 14 of the top 20 most polluted cities in the world are in India.
To address these challenges, different stakeholder departments of the Government are devising strategies like tightening of CAFÉ Norms, introduction of BS VI compliant vehicles by leapfrogging from BS IV to BS VI directly, Fuel efficiency norms for heavy duty commercial vehicles, Start rating for the vehicles and so on. Promotion of Electric Mobility, which has Zero Tail pipe emission is an efforts of the government in this direction to reduce oil dependency and also to reduce vehicular pollution from the cities.
Embracingelectric mobility on large scale is imperative to tackle the various crisis arising due to pollution and giving the citizens of India a better quality of life.
Electric & Hybrid Mobility: Government of India approved the National Mission on Electric Mobility (NMEM) in 2011 and subsequently National Electric Mobility Mission Plan 2020 (NEMMP 2020) was unveiled in 2013 by the Prime Minister.
The NEMMP 2020 is a National Mission document providing the vision and the roadmap for the faster adoption of electric vehicles and their manufacturing in the country. This plan has been designed to enhance national fuel security, to provide affordable and environmentally friendly transportation and to enable the Indian automotive industry to achieve global manufacturing leadership. It is one of the most important and ambitious initiatives undertaken by the Government of India that has the potential to bring about a transformational paradigm shift in the automotive and transportation industry in the country. This plan was a culmination of a comprehensive collaborative planning for promotion of hybrid and electric mobility in India through a combination of policies aimed at gradually ensuring a vehicle population of about 6-7 million electric/hybrid vehicles in India by the year 2020 along with a certain level of indigenisation of technology ensuring India’s global leadership in some vehicle segments.
As part of the NEMMP 2020, the Government approved the scheme titled ‘Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric (&Hybrid) Vehicles in India’ (FAME India) in March, 2015 for an initial period of 2 years from 01stApril, 2015 with an aim to reduce dependency on fossil fuel and to address issues of vehicular emissions. The Scheme has been extendedfrom time to time till 31st March, 2019 with total outlay to Rs. 895 crore. The 1st Phase of FAME India Scheme was implemented through four focus areas namely (i) Demand Creation, (ii) Technology Platform, (iii) Pilot Project and (iv) Charging Infrastructure.
Demand creation is aimed at incentivizing the buyers of xEVsthrough providing demand incentives, leading to an upfront reduced purchase price at the time of purchase of vehicle at dealer level. The component of pilot projects envisaged trial of new technologies, business models etc. with special focus on public transportation. The technology platform under the scheme has been under execution in tandem with theDepartment of Science and Technology (DST) where PPP projects for development of EV (Electric Vehicle) technologies have been approved. Charging Infrastructure component envisages installation of charging station in different cities depending upon the uptake of electric vehicles in the country.
Achievements under Phase-1 of FAME India scheme: Although the FAME Scheme was described as pilot scheme at the time of sanction before consideration of main scheme as envisage in NEMMP 2020, this scheme was very successful in creating the major policy discourse on Electric Mobility among all stakeholders including different departments of Government of India and State Governments.
Some of the quantitative and qualitative success of this scheme is as given below. In this Phase of the Scheme about 2.8 lakh hybrid and electric vehicles are supported by way of demand incentive amounting to about Rs 359 crore resulting in saving of about 50 million liters of fuel and reduction of about 124 million Kg of CO2.
Projects worth about Rs. 158 Crores are sanctioned for the technology development projects like establishment of testing Infrastructure, setting up of ‘Centre of Excellence’ for Advanced Research in electrified transportation, Battery Engineering etc. to various organisations / institutions like Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), IIT Madras, IIT Kanpur, Non Ferrous Material Technology Development Centre (NFTDC) and Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).
Under this scheme, DHI has sanctioned 425 electric and hybrid buses to various cities in the country with total cost of about 300 Crores. Out of 425 e-buses, 400 are received and deployed in various cities such as Indore, Lucknow, Guwahati, J&K, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Shimla andMumbai. Remaining 25 no of e-buses at Mumbai are expected to be deployed by end of this month.
Under charging infrastructure, Government of India has sanctioned about 500 charging stations / infrastructure in cities like Bangalore, Chandigarh, Jaipur and NCR of Delhi. Department of Heavy Industry also entrusted the task of making three expressways fully E-vehicle friendly by way of establishment of charging infrastructure at regular intervals to its public sector undertakings like BHEL and REIL. These highways are Delhi-Chandigarh, Delhi-Jaipur and Mumbai-Pune Expressways. Out of these recently Delhi – Chandigarh highway is declared as first expressway of the country which is E-vehicle friendly expressway.
FAME India Scheme Phase II: Based on the outcome and experience of the FAME India Scheme, the second Phase of FAME Scheme was finalised and notified on 8thMarch 2019 with the approval of Union Cabinet. Second phase of thescheme commenced from 1st April 2019 with an outlay of Rs. 10,000 Crorefor a period of 3 years. This scheme has 3 components. namely – a) Demand Incentives: b) Charging Infrastructures: c) Administrative Expenditure including Publicity, IEC Activities: Salient features of FAME India Scheme Phase II: This phase aims to generate demand by way of supporting 7090 e-Buses, 5 lakh e-3 Wheelers, 55000 e-4 Wheeler Passenger Cars (including Strong Hybrid) and 10 lakh e-2 Wheelers.
With greater emphasis on providing affordable &environment friendly public transportation options for the masses, the scheme will be applicable mainly to vehicles used for public transport or those registered for commercial purposes for all segment of vehicles. For e-2W segment, this scheme is also applicable to privately owned registered e-2W also.
Depending upon offtake of different category of e-Vehicles, the provision has been made in the scheme for inter as well as intra segment wise fungibility. Scheme is applicable to only those xEVs, which is fitted with advanced chemistry battery. Scheme is applicable to only those vehicles, which is defined as Motor Vehicle as per CMVR and eligible to registered with Road Transport Authority.
In this phase, the demand incentive is linked to battery capacity i.e. Rs. 10,000/KWh for all eligible Vehicles except e-Buses (for which the incentive is Rs. 20,000/KWh), subject to capping at certain percentage of cost of eligible Vehicles [i.e. 40% for e-Bus and at 20% for all other categories of eligible Vehicle].
Demand incentive is extended to only those vehicles having ex-factory prices less than the threshold value. Further, keeping in view market and technology trends in batteries, a provision has been made for revision of demand incentives from time to time under the scheme. The incentive is applicable to vehicles manufactured in India as per phase manufacturing program issued by the department. Only OEMs which have achieved 40% localization level in case of 4W and Buses and 50% localization in case of 2W and 3W are only eligible to get incentives.
Performance under FAME India scheme Phase II: OEMs and Vehicle Models: So far, 13 OEMs have registered their 39 EV Models [2W= 14; 3W=11 & 4W=14] for availing benefit of demand incentives under Phase-II of FAME Scheme. So far about 5500 EVs have been sold to the eligible user of the electric vehicle.
Sanction of Electric Buses: In order to promote electric mobility in public transport, Department has invited the proposal from cities and state transport corporations through an Expression of Interest for deployment of Electric Buses under Operation cost model basis. After examining the proposal department has sanctioned of 5595 no of e-buses to 64 cities for intra-city and intercity operations across 26 states/UT under the Scheme. These buses will runabout 4 billion Kilometer distance during their contract periodand are expected to save cumulatively about 1.2 billion litersof fuel over the contract period, which will result into avoidance of 2.6 million tonnes of CO2 emission.
Sanction of Charging Infrastructure: To address the issue of range anxiety, department has issued an Expression of Interest (EoI) inviting Proposals from Urban Local Bodies (ULBs)/municipal corporations, PSUs (State/Central) and public/private entities desirous for deployment of EV charging infrastructure in different states/cities for availing incentives under Fame India Scheme Phase II. About 100 proposals are received in response to the EoI for deployment of about 7000 charging stations in above cities. All proposals are under examination and sanction of charging station across the cities will be issued shortly.
Other initiatives to promote Electric Mobility: In addition to FAME India scheme Phase II, different wings of Government is working to promote electric mobility in the country. Some of the major action in this regards are as given below.
GST on EVs is reduced to 5% from the current rate of 12%. Government has extended an additional income tax deduction of Rs 1.5 Lakh on interest paid on loans to the buyers of Electric Vehicle to buy EVs is provided. Ministry of Power has allowed sale of electricity as ‘service’ for charging of electric vehicles. This would serve as an incentive to attract investments into charging infrastructure.
Ministry of Road Transport Highways (MoRTH) issued notification regarding exemption of permit in case of battery operated commercial vehicles. MoRTH has issued a notification for Green Number plate for the use of Electric Vehicles. Ministry of Finance has revised the custom duty on the EV components to promote local manufacturing of these components.
Challenges faced in wider adoption of EVs (i) Lack of awareness among people (ii) Range anxiety (iii) High capital cost of EVs as compared to ICE vehicle (iv) Sub-Par performance of EVs as compared to ICE vehicle (v) Recycling of battery
Way Forward: Government is working on following initiatives to promote electric mobility. Sanction of about 1000 charging stations in various cities in response to Expression of Interest issued by Department of Heavy Industry Issue of fresh Expression of Interest for inviting proposals fromeligible public entities for installation of charging infrastructure on major identified highways.
Monitoring timely deployment of 5595 electric buses sanctioned under the schemes to 64 cities and eight State Transport corporations. Publicity activities to promote public to adopt electric mobility. Issue of fresh EOI for sanction of additional buses to the states/cities for intra city and intercity operations.
Department of Public Enterprises Government of India is granted Maharatna status to Power Grid Corporation of India limited and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation limited which will enable the Boards of these CPSEs to exercise greater Financial and operational powers and facilitate expansion of operation in the global market.
Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited(BHEL), a Maharatnacompany BHEL took the following initiatives of Commissioning India’s first Lithium-ion based Space Grade Cell manufacturing facility at BHEL Bengaluru, utilizing technology developed by ISRO. It also commissioned manufacturing facilities for gates & dampers to meet emission norms for coal-based power plants.
BHEL supplied special Tanks, Rigs, Batteries and Solar Panels for ISRO’S Chandrayaan modules a significant contribution by the company in the space programme of the country. For the first time BHEL received order for 25 nos of 5000 HP electric locos (WAG-7 type) with regenerative braking system from Indian Railways.
DPE is monitoring the capital expenditure (CAPEX) by CPSEs & other Government organizations where target is more than Rs. 500 crore. This has resulted in better spending for infrastructure projects by the CPSEs and other Government organizations. The CAPEX achievement of these organizations has increased to Rs. 2,05,368 crore in first six months of 2019-20 as compared to Rs. 1,94,331 crore in first half of previous year (increase of 5.69%). CAPEX review meetings have been conducted on 03.09.2019 and 05.09.2019 in respect of 16 CPSEs.
Key facts: This is a part of Wipro’s Corporate Social Responsibility programme, TalentNext. TalentNext aims to enhance the quality of engineering education by preparing faculty and academic leaders to train students.
The programme has now been extended to students directly through Future Skills.
What is Future Skills? It is a new age platform built to bridge the industry-academia skill gap and help students keep pace with the emerging technologies — artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing, cybersecurity and internet of things (IoT) – to make them future-ready.
Significance: The platform enables learning the skills required in emerging technologies. More importantly, it helps individuals develop an aptitude for learning.
Need for: As a host of emerging technologies change the future of work, a massive disruption is facing the IT-ITES industry today. Of the 4.5 m people employed in the industry today, 1.5 -2 m are expected to require reskilling in the next 4-5 years. A decoupling of revenue and headcount growth is visible even today and employers and employees need to adapt themselves to the changing job environment of technological shifts and changing stakeholder expectations.
The problem is too large to be handled alone. It needs a collaborative industry level response. With NASSCOM as the enabler, IT-ITeS Industry has stepped up to the challenge with the FutureSkills Initiative – a truly industry driven learning ecosystem.
Why? Because of the apprehensions among the general public about the conduct of NPR related activities would lead to national register of citizens (NRC) in the wake of citizenship amendment act 2019.
What is National Population Register (NPR)? It is a Register of usual residents of the country. It is being prepared at the local (Village/sub-Town), sub-District, District, State and National level under provisions of the Citizenship Act 1955 and the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003.
It is mandatory for every usual resident of India to register in the NPR. Objectives: To create a comprehensive identity database of every usual resident in the country.
Who is a usual resident? A usual resident is defined for the purposes of NPR as a person who has resided in a local area for the past 6 months or more or a person who intends to reside in that area for the next 6 months or more.
Components: The NPR database would contain demographic as well as biometric details. As per the provisions of the NPR, a resident identity card (RIC) will be issued to individuals over the age of 18. This will be a chip-embedded smart card containing the demographic and biometric attributes of each individual.
The UID number will also be printed on the card.
What is the controversy around it? Comes in the backdrop of the NRC excluding lakhs of people in Assam. It intends to collect a much larger amount of personal data on residents of India. There is yet no clarity on the mechanism for protection of this vast amount of data.
Why does the government want so much data? Every country must have a comprehensive identity database of its residents with relevant demographic details. It will help the government formulate its policies better and also aid national security.
It will ease the life of those residing in India by cutting red tape. Not only will it help target government beneficiaries in a better way, but also further cut down paperwork and red tape in a similar manner that Aadhaar has done.
With NPR data, residents will not have to furnish various proofs of age, address and other details in official work. It would also eliminate duplication in voter lists, government insists.
This was the second meeting of the Follow-up Committee for implementation of the trilateral Chabahar Agreement between India, Afghanistan and Iran at the level of Joint Secretary/ Director General.
Outcomes of the meet: The three countries have decided to open Mormugoa and New Mangalore Port in addition to JNPT, Mundra, Kandla and Cochin as part of designated route under the Chabahar Agreement. It was agreed to finalise the protocol to harmonise transit, roads, customs and consular matters. Till that time, the TIR Convention will continue to be used for cargo movement.
Background: The work of the Chabahar port is being conducted by the Port Global Ltd Company.
Where is Chabahar Port? Located on the Gulf of Oman and is the only oceanic port of the country.
Why Chabahar port is important for India? With this, India can bypass Pakistan in transporting goods to Afghanistan. It will also boost India’s access to Iran, the key gateway to the International North-South Transport Corridor that has sea, rail and road routes between India, Russia, Iran, Europe and Central Asia.
It also helps India counter Chinese presence in the Arabian Seawhich China is trying to ensure by helping Pakistan develop the Gwadar port. Gwadar port is less than 400 km from Chabahar by road and 100 km by sea.
With Chabahar port being developed and operated by India, Iran also becomes a military ally to India. Chabahar could be used in case China decides to flex its navy muscles by stationing ships in Gwadar port to reckon its upper hand in the Indian Ocean, Persian Gulf and Middle East.
Trade benefits: With Chabahar port becoming functional, there will be a significant boost in the import of iron ore, sugar and rice to India. The import cost of oil to India will also see a considerable decline. India has already increased its crude purchase from Iran since the West imposed ban on Iran was lifted.
From a diplomatic perspective, Chabahar port could be used as a point from where humanitarian operations could be coordinated.
About United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA): It’s basically NAFTA 2.0, with major changes on cars and new policies on labor and environmental standards, intellectual property protections, and some digital trade provisions. The changes include:
Country of origin rules: Automobiles must have 75% of their components manufactured in Mexico, the US, or Canada to qualify for zero tariffs (up from 62.5 percent under NAFTA).
Labor provisions: 40 to 45 percent of automobile parts have to be made by workers who earn at least $16 an hour by 2023. Mexico has also agreed to pass laws giving workers the right to union representation, extend labor protections to migrant workers, and protect women from discrimination. The countries can also sanction one another for labor violations.
US farmers get more access to the Canadian dairy market: The US got Canada to open up its dairy market to US farmers, which was a big issue for Trump. Intellectual property and digital trade: The deal extends the terms of copyright to 70 years beyond the life of the author (up from 50). It also extends the period that a pharmaceutical drug can be protected from generic competition.
It also includes new provisions to deal with the digital economy, including prohibiting duties on things like music and e-books, and protections for internet companies so they’re not liable for content their users produce.
Sunset clause: The agreement puts in a 16-year “sunset” clause — meaning the terms of the agreement expire, or “sunset,” after a set period of time. The deal is also subject to a review every six years, at which point the US, Mexico, and Canada can decide to extend USMCA.
What is NAFTA? NAFTA is the initialism for the North American Free Trade Agreement, an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that reduced or eliminated trade barriers in North America. (Since the U.S. and Canada already had a free trade agreement (signed in 1988), NAFTA merely brought Mexico into the trade bloc.)
Negotiations for the trade agreement began in 1990 under the administration of George H.W. Bush and were finalized under Bill Clinton’s presidency in 1993. The agreement went into effect on January 1, 1994.
What was the purpose of NAFTA? In 1993 the European Union (EU) created a “single market”—one territory without any internal borders or other regulatory obstacles to the free movement of goods and services. This allowed every country and business in the EU to have access to more than 500 million consumers.
NAFTA, which was approved that same year, was designed to have a similar effect, providing a way to allow the exchange of goods and services to flow more freely across national borders without the artificial restrictions. NAFTA provided for progressive elimination of all tariffs on any goods qualifying as North American. The deal also sought to protect intellectual property, establish dispute-resolution mechanisms, and, through corollary agreements, implement labor and environmental safeguards.
Why is NAFTA controversial? NAFTA was controversial when first proposed, mostly because it was the first [free trade agreement] involving two wealthy, developed countries and a developing country. Some people felt that allowing free trade with a developing country provides an incentive for U.S-based business to move their operations to that country.
Since its implementation NAFTA has remained a prime target of trade protectionists (those who advocate taking measures such as taxing imports to “protect” domestic industries from foreign competition).
Aim: To identify gaps in knowledge regarding environment and then train postdoctoral leaders in research and outreach on these topics, incorporating current public and private efforts.
Key features: It will provide a template for cross-disciplinary leadership in India with the specific focus of increasing research, knowledge, and awareness of Indian ecology and the environment.
The Network would develop a national network to catalyse a new generation of Indians who can synthesize interdisciplinary concepts and tackle real-world problems in medicine, agriculture, ecology, and technology.
How it works? Through interactive sessions with citizens, industry, academia, and the government, the Network will identify gaps in knowledge regarding selected topics in human and environmental ecosystems. The program will then train postdoctoral leaders in research and outreach on these topics, while also incorporating current public and private efforts into a national network.
It would then go on to establishing nation-wide awareness in these issues through public discourse and education for citizens, industry, and government with information exchange at all educational levels.
The need: Despite concerted efforts to promote ecological and environmental research, India lacks trained scientists with interdisciplinary skills and collaborative mind-set. Educators and students need to be trained to identify and solve problems in an interdisciplinary manner.
This network will inspire an entirely new approach to Indian education and exploration necessary for the post-technological world.
Overview and key features of the European Green Deal:
Climate neutrality: The EU has promised to bring a law, binding on all member countries, to ensure it becomes “climate neutral” by 2050.
What is it? Climate neutrality, sometimes also expressed as a state of net-zero emissions, is achieved when a country’s emissions are balanced by absorptions and removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Absorption can be increased by creating more carbon sinks like forests, while removal involves technologies like carbon capture and storage.
Increase in 2030 emission reduction target: In its climate action plan declared under the Paris Agreement, the EU was committed to making a 40 per cent reduction in its emissions by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. It is now promising to increase this reduction to at least 50 per cent and work towards 55 per cent.
Significance of the deal: EU with 28 member countries are together the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world after China and the United States. Therefore, the announcement was hailed as a major step forward, even though it needs complementary efforts from other countries to make a significant impact.
Implications and Lessons for other countries: Over the last few months, there had been a growing demand for countries to commit to net-zero emissions by 2050. The UN Secretary-General had convened a special meeting on the sidelines of the General Assembly session in September to persuade countries to commit to this target. Over 60 countries had agreed to scale up their climate actions, or to the 2050 target, but these were all relatively small emitters. The EU is now the first major emitter to agree to the 2050 climate neutrality target.
The EU also happens to be only one among major emitters to retain the 1990 baseline for emission cuts, originally mandated under the Kyoto Protocol for all developed countries. Most other countries have shifted their baselines to 2005 or even later under the 2015 Paris Agreement.
What else is expected from developed regions like EU? EU has not been fulfilling all its climate obligations. The Kyoto Protocol required the rich and developed countries to provide finance and technology to the developing countries to help them fight climate change. In those respects, there has been little climate money flowing out of the EU, especially for adaptation needs of developing countries, and transfer of new climate-friendly technologies has been mired in patent and ownership complications.
This is the reason why developing countries, like India and China, have been repeatedly raising the issue of unfulfilled obligations of developed countries in the pre-2020 period, that is covered by the Kyoto Protocol.
Concerns and challenges: The Green Deal is important but inadequate in itself to achieve the emission reductions that scientific assessments say would be required to save the world from catastrophic and irreversible impacts of climate change.
There has been no signal from other big emitters, including large developing countries like China and India, that they were considering immediate scaling up of their climate actions.
As long as many international partners do not share the same ambition as the EU, there is a risk of carbon leakage, either because production is transferred from the EU to other countries with lower ambition for emission reduction, or because EU products are replaced by more carbon-intensive imports.
If this risk materializes, there will be no reduction in global emissions, and this will frustrate the efforts of EU and its industries to meet the global climate objectives of the Paris Agreement.
Why in News? The Indian Pharmacopoeia (IP) has been recognised formally by the National Department of Regulation of Medicines and Health Products of the Ministry of Public Health of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
It will also be used based on the requirement as reputable pharmacopoeia in the laboratory of medicines and health products quality.
What is IP? IP is an officially recognized book of standards as per the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and Rules 1945 thereunder.
The IP specifies the standards of drugs manufactured and marketed in India in terms of their identity, purity and strength.