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The Union Cabinet on January 4 approved the National Green Hydrogen Mission, which is aimed at making India the global hub for the production of green hydrogen.
The total outlay for the mission is ₹19,744 crore, out of which the government has allocated ₹17,490 crore for the Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition (SIGHT) programme, ₹1,466 crore for the upcoming pilot projects, ₹400 crore for R&D, and ₹388 crore towards other mission components.
The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved National Green Hydrogen Mission.The National Hydrogen Mission was launched on August 15, 2021, with a view to cutting down carbon emissions and increasing the use of renewable sources of energy.
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) will formulate the scheme guidelines for implementation.The mission seeks to promote the development of green hydrogen production capacity of at least 5 MMT (Million Metric Tonnes) per annum with an associated renewable energy capacity addition of about 125 GW in the country by 2030.
It envisages an investment of over ₹8 lakh crore and creation of over 6 lakh jobs by 2030.It will also result in a cumulative reduction in fossil fuel imports of over ₹1 lakh crore and abatement of nearly 50 MMT of annual greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
The mission will have wide-ranging benefits — creation of export opportunities for green hydrogen and its derivatives; decarbonisation of industrial, mobility and energy sectors; reduction in dependence on imported fossil fuels and feedstock; development of indigenous manufacturing capabilities; creation of employment opportunities; and development of cutting-edge technologies.
The mission will facilitate demand creation, production, utilisation and export of green hydrogen. Under the Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition Programme (SIGHT), two distinct financial incentive mechanisms — targeting domestic manufacturing of electrolysers and production of green hydrogen — will be provided under the mission.
The mission will also support pilot projects in emerging end-use sectors and production pathways. Regions capable of supporting large-scale production and/or utilisation of hydrogen will be identified and developed as Green Hydrogen Hubs.
States
Silent Valley bird species’ number goes up to 175 (Page no. 5)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
A bird survey conducted at the Silent Valley National Park in the last week of December identified 141 species, of which 17 were new. So far, 175 species of birds have been spotted in Silent Valley.
The survey held on December 27, 28 and 29 marked the 30 th anniversary of the first bird survey in Silent Valley. Although the first survey was held in the last week of December 1990, the anniversary could not be celebrated in 2020 December because of COVID-19 restrictions.
Veteran birders such as P.K. Uthaman and C. Sushant were the only members in the 7 th survey team who had attended the first survey held in 1990.
As many as 30 birders and forest staff took part in the bird survey by staying in seven camps inside the core area of the Silent Valley. Wildlife Warden S. Vinod said that another bird survey would soon be held in the buffer zone of the national park.
The survey was held in association with the Kerala Natural History Society.Brown wood owl, Banded bay cuckoo, Malabar woodshrike, White-throated kingfisher, Indian nightjar, Jungle nightjar, and Large cuckooshrike were among the 17 species newly identified in the Silent Valley.
As many as 139 birds had been identified in a survey held in 2006, and the number species went up to 142 in the last survey held in 2014.
Birds such as Crimson-backed sunbird, Yellow-browed bulbul, Black bulbul, Indian white-eye and Indian swiftlet were found in abundance in Silent Valley.
Silent Valley officials said that several species endemic to high elevation areas were also identified during the survey. Among the birds they sighted were Nilgiri laughingthrush, Nilgiri flowerpecker, Brown-cheeked fulvetta, Black-and-orange flycatcher, Grey-headed canary-flycatcher, Greenish warbler, Common chiffchaff, Tytler’s leaf warbler, Shaheen falcon, Nilgiri wood pigeon, and Malabar whistling thrush.
Editorial
The values of local self-governance (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
In December 1992, Parliament passed the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments, which instituted panchayats and municipalities, respectively.
These amendments mandated that State governments constitute panchayats (at the village, block and district levels) and municipalities (in the form of municipal corporations, municipal councils and nagar panchayats) in every region.
They sought to institute a third-tier of governance in the federal framework through the devolution of functions, funds, and functionaries to local governments.
Since local governments seldom derive their authority directly from the Constitution, India’s constitutional reforms for decentralisation are exceptional.
But despite these reforms, municipal governments are often seen to be ineffective in addressing even the most basic needs of citizens, such as reliable water supply and walkable footpaths. Urban residents tend to blame “corrupt” local politicians for these civic woes.
Understanding the normative basis of local self-governance is important since this also informs the institutional form local governments take. Local self-governance is linked to the idea of subsidiarity and is typically grounded on two broad arguments. First, it provides for efficient provision of public goods since governments with smaller jurisdictions can provide services as per the preferences of their residents.
Second, it promotes deeper democracy since governments that are closer to the people allow citizens to engage with public affairs more easily.
India’s decentralisation agenda is also arguably driven by these values. The 73rd and 74th amendments require States to vest panchayats and municipalities with the authority “to enable them to function as institutions of self-government”, including the powers to prepare and implement plans and schemes for economic development and social justice.
They also mandate the regular conduct of local elections, provide for the reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes, Schedules Tribes and women in local councils, and institute participative forums like gram sabhas in panchayats and ward committees in municipal corporations.
Hence, the core values that the amendments sought to entrench are that of deepening local democracy and devolving functions for meeting the ends of economic development and social justice.
Explainer
Jallikattu: cultural practice or cruelty? (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Government Policies and Interventions)
With the Supreme Court recommencing its work after the winter vacation, all eyes in Tamil Nadu are on the verdict of a five-member Constitution Bench of the Court on a batch of petitions seeking to strike down a 2017 Tamil Nadu law that protects jallikattu, a traditional event involving bulls.
As the conduct of the event will coincide with the Pongal festival, the Bench, which reserved its judgment on December 8, is expected to give its ruling next week.
A massive agitation erupted on the Marina beach in Chennai in January 2017, demanding that the Central and State governments come up with a law that would annul the Supreme Court’s ban on jallikattu which was imposed, through a judgment in May 2014 in the Animal Welfare Board of India vs A. Nagaraja case.
Apart from demanding that the event be allowed again, the protesters had raised the issue of “redeeming Tamil identity and culture.”
Many prominent personalities, including film music director A.R. Rahman and chess maestro Viswanathan Anand, voiced their support for the bull-taming sport. It was against this context that the law in question was then enacted originally in the form of an Ordinance — the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Ordinance 2017.
The Assembly had subsequently adopted a Bill to replace the Ordinance which resulted in the Court being moved and the case referred to the Constitution Bench in February 2018.
The primary question involved is whether jallikattu should be granted constitutional protection as a collective cultural right under Article 29 (1) — a fundamental right guaranteed under Part III of the Constitution to protect the educational and cultural rights of citizens. The court examined if the laws — the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act of 2017 and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Conduct of Jallikattu) Rules of 2017 — “perpetuate cruelty to animals” or were actually a means to ensure “the survival and well-being of the native breed of bulls”.
This assumes relevance in the context of the Court quashing 2014 the Tamil Nadu Regulation of Jallikattu Act, 2009, which had allowed jallikattu.
The Court had then talked of how bulls were being “tortured to the hilt” in the process of performing for the event. The apex court then scrutinised the question of whether the new jallikattu laws were “relatable” to Article 48 of the Constitution which urged the state to endeavour to organise agriculture and animal husbandry on modern and scientific lines.
Why has a high-power Ladakh committee been formed? (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
On January 2, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) constituted a high-powered committee chaired by Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai for the Union Territory of Ladakh.
The committee will discuss measures to protect the region's unique culture and language taking into consideration its geographical location and strategic importance; ensure protection of land and employment for the people of Ladakh; strategise inclusive development and discuss issues related to the empowerment of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill District Councils of Leh and Kargil.
Civil society groups in Ladakh have been demanding protection of land, resources and employment for the past three years after the special status of the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution was read down by Parliament on August 5, 2019.
The fear of big businesses and conglomerates taking away land and jobs from the local people have contributed to this demand.
The sixth schedule under Article 244 of the Constitution protects the autonomy of tribal populations through creation of autonomous development councils which can frame laws on land, public health and agriculture. As of now ten autonomous councils exist in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.
As per the 2011 Census, the total population of Ladakh was 2,74,289, and nearly 80% of them are tribals.
In 2020, the Peoples Movement for Constitutional safeguard under the sixth schedule or the Apex Body, Leh was formed. They announced that they would boycott the upcoming district autonomous council elections if their demands were not met.
The representatives which included former BJP MP ThupstanChhewang and SkyabjeThikseyKhampoRinpochey were called to Delhi for a meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah following which they called off the boycott call.
They were assured that discussions would commence after 15 days of the culmination of elections. In the same year, the Apex Body and the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) from the two districts of Leh and Kargil in Ladakh came together to jointly fight for constitutional safeguards for the region.
On August 2, 2022, the two bodies renewed their demand to seek full Statehood for Ladakh. The UT has shut down at least twice and protested several occasions in the past three years over these demands.
However, members of the new committee state that the MHA order instituting the committee is not clear as it avoids any mention of the primary demand for inclusion under the sixth schedule of the Constitution.
Moreover, even before the committee was announced, the Apex Body and KDA had scheduled a meeting in Jammu on January 7 to chart the future course of action.
News
Acid attack victims failed by lack of a cohesive law, legal process (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
One strong spurt of hot liquid on her face from a steel mug and a terrible burning sensation — that is all Nirupama remembers from an otherwise regular day in 2013.
The acid attack melted her left ear and disfigured her face permanently, causing both physical and psychological scarring. What followed were 10 surgeries with more to come, innumerable hospital visits, and many rounds of the courts, which continue to this day.
But the perpetrator, the stalker whom she identified as her former teacher, was released after a short three-month stint in jail. The acid that scarred her for life can still be freely and cheaply bought from the shelves of neighbourhood shops in her village of Kamargaon in Assam’s Darrang district.This is the story of most acid attack victims in India since the first recorded incident came to light in 1982.
The National Crime Records Bureau’s (NCRB) data reveals that there has been no let up in the number of this gender-based crime — in 2011, there were 83 acid attacks; in 2021, it grew to 176 (albeit down from 249 in 2019).
West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh consistently record the highest numbers of acid attacks, generally accounting for nearly 50% of all cases in the country year on year. In 2021, 153 men were charge-sheeted. Merely seven have been convicted.
Many activists say the lack of cohesive legislation in regulating the sale of acids, and in ensuring punishment for perpetrators, is probably the chief reason for their misuse.
They give the example of Bangladesh, where acid attacks came down drastically after the government brought in two laws dedicated to the control and prevention of this crime.
The Bangladesh Acid Control Act, 2002 and the first and second Acid Crime Prevention Acts, 2002 restrict the import and sale of acid in open markets. Once known as a country with the highest number of recorded acid attacks (496 in 2002), the number dropped to 70 in 10 years after the laws came into being, according to the non-profit Acid Survivors Trust International.
In India, the National Commission for Women floated a draft ‘Prevention of Offences (by Acid)’ Bill in 2008, but it failed to see the light of the day.
Cabinet panel clears scheme to upgrade Prasar Bharati (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the “Broadcasting Infrastructure and Network Development (BIND)” scheme with an outlay of ₹2,539.61 crore up to 2025-26, paving the way for upgrade and expansion of the public service broadcasting infrastructure across the country.
As a result, FM broadcasting of All India Radio (AIR) is expected to cover over 80% of the country’s population, while eight lakh Doordarshan Free Dish DTH set-top boxes will be distributed to people living in remote, tribal and border areas, aspirational districts and zones affected by Left Wing Extremism.
“Prasar Bharati, as the public broadcaster of the country, is the most important vehicle of information, education, entertainment and engagement for the people especially in the remote areas of the country through Doordarshan and All India Radio, the BIND scheme will enable the public broadcaster to undertake a major upgrade of its facilities with better infrastructure which will widen its reach and provide high quality content to the viewers,” said a government statement.
Currently, Doordarshan operates 36 TV channels, including 28 regional ones, and AIR operates over 500 broadcasting centres.
Business
Cards, mobile, net banking top complaint areas at banking ombudsman: RBI (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Issues related to ATM/debit cards and mobile/electronic banking were the top grounds of complaints received at the Office of Banking Ombudsman (OBO) during April 1 to November 11, 2021.
The volume of complaints received under the Ombudsman Schemes/Consumer Education and Protection Cells during 2021-22 increased by 9.39% over the previous year and stood at 4,18,184.
Of these, 3,04,496 complaints were handled by the 22 Offices of RBI Ombudsman (ORBIOs), including the complaints received under the three erstwhile Ombudsman Schemes till November 11, 2021.
Complaints related to ATM/ debit cards were the highest at 14.6% of the total, followed by mobile/ electronic banking at 13.6%.
About 90% of the total complaints were received through digital modes, including on the online Complaint Management System (CMS) portal, e-mail, and Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS).
Majority 66.1% of the maintainable complaints were resolved through mutual settlement/conciliation/mediation.The RBI further said the rate of disposal of complaints by ombudsmen improved to 97.9% in 2021-22 from 96.6% in 2020-21.
Under the RBI-OS, 2021, following the 'One Nation, One Ombudsman' principle, the territorial jurisdictions for the ORBIOs have been abrogated, and complaints are assigned to all the ORBIOs by the CMS.
Grounds of complaint covered under the RBIOS have also been expanded to cover all complaints involving 'deficiency of service', which has been defined under the scheme, adding the CMS was upgraded to align with the requirements under RB-IOS, 2021 to improve its overall efficiency.
The coverage of RBIOS was extended to include the non-scheduled Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs) with a deposit size of ₹50 crore or above as at the end of previous Financial Year. Credit Information Companies (CICs) were brought under RBI-IOS with effect from September 1, 2022.