THE ENVIRONMENT, ECOLOGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

1. MORADABAD 2ND IN WORLD IN NOISE POLLUTION: UN REPORT

THE CONTEXT: According to the latest report unveiled by the United Nations Environment Programme, Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh has emerged as the second noisiest city in the world, with Delhi, Kolkata, Asansol and Jaipur also exceeding permissible noise limits.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The UN report titled ‘Frontiers 2022: Noise, Blazes and Mismatches’, released in February 2022, measured noise levels in 61 cities of the world.
• Notably, all the top three cities are from South Asia. Other Indian cities which recorded a higher decibel than the permissible levels were Delhi (83 dB), Kolkata and Asansol (both 89 dB) in West Bengal and Jaipur (84 dB).
• The UNEP report further found that Irbrid in Jordan at 60 decibels was the world’s quietest city, followed by Lyon in France (69 dB), Madrid in Spain (69 dB), Sweden’s capital Stockholm in (70 dB) and Belgrade in Serbia (70 dB).

What are permissible sound levels?

• According to 1999 WHO guidelines, the report said, the permissible noise level limits are 55 dB (decibels) LAeq (equivalent continuous sound level is the sound level in decibels) for outdoor residential areas and 70 dB LAeq for commercial areas and where there is traffic.
• According to experts that noise above 70 dB over a prolonged period of time can increase the risk of hearing loss. “High levels of noise impair human health and well-being – by disrupting sleep or drowning out the beneficial and positive acoustic communications of many animal species that live in these areas.

2. INDIAN OCEAN HIT BY SIX HEATWAVES IN 2021: DEPT OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

THE CONTEXT: According to the Department of Science and Technology, the Indian Ocean witnessed six marine heatwaves in 2021 over a period of 52 days. The situation was grim in the Bay of Bengal, which suffered four of the six weather-related events.

THE EXPLANATION:

According to the Ministry, the weather-related incident is not a single event, and the tropical Indian Ocean has been facing the brunt of rising temperatures for decades. The minister informed that the western Indian Ocean region experienced a four-fold rise in marine heatwave events (increasing at a rate of 1.5 events per decade) and the North Bay of Bengal experienced a two-to-three-fold rise (at a rate of 0.5 events per decade).

What is Marine Heatwave?

A marine heatwave is defined as when seawater temperatures exceed a seasonally-varying threshold (usually the 90th percentile) for at least 5 consecutive days. Successive heatwaves with gaps of 2 days or less are considered part of the same event.

Value Addition:

• A report released by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) had dire warnings for India stating that 12 coastal cities in the country could be submerged by the end of the century.
• The cities could be nearly three feet underwater by the century’s end, the climate change report has warned. The cities include Mumbai, Chennai, Kochi, and Visakhapatnam, among others.
• Researchers have predicted that because of rising temperatures, extreme sea events along coastlines will become 100 times more frequent by the end of the century.
• Globally, areas likely to be affected most include the Southern Hemisphere, locations along the Mediterranean Sea and the Arabian Peninsula, the southern half of North America’s Pacific coast, and areas including Hawaii, the Caribbean, the Philippines, and Indonesia.

3. FIRST-EVER SIGHTING OF ROUGH-TOOTHED DOLPHINS IN WATERS

THE CONTEXT: A Marine Mammals Research (MMR) team of the Department of Environment and Forest in Lakshadweep has reported the first-ever live sighting of rough-toothed dolphins (Steno bredanensis) in Indian waters.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The Rough-toothed Dolphin is a slender dolphin and has a forehead and the sides of the head sloping smoothly on to a long and slender beak, making the entire body in front of the flippers appear very long and nearly conical. There is no prominent melon and no crease between the beak and forehead, unlike many other dolphins. The flippers are moderately long. The dorsal fin is relatively tall and sickle shaped.
• Rough-toothed Dolphins are variable in coloration but are generally dark grey to purplish black above. The eyes are large and bulging.

Found In: Rough-toothed Dolphins are to be found mainly at and beyond the edges of the continental shelves in deep water. They feed on octopus, squid and fish.

IUCN REDLIST: LEAST CONCERN

Records from India: Found offshore along the southwest and east coasts of India and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Reported as by catch in gill nets in India.

4. DETECTING MICROPLASTICS IN HUMAN BLOOD

THE CONTEXT: A study by researchers from Netherlands published has examined blood samples of 22 persons, all anonymous donors and healthy adults, and found plastic particles in 17 of them.

THE EXPLANATION:

The report conveys that about half of these were PET (polyethylene tertraphthalate) plastics, which is used to make food grade bottles. The size of the particles that the group looked for was as small as about 700 nanometres (equal to 0.0007 millimetres). This is really small and it remains to be seen if there is a danger of such particles crossing the blood cell walls and affecting the organs. Also, a larger study needs to be conducted to firm up the present findings.

What are microplastics?

• Microplastics are tiny bits of various types of plastic found in the environment. The name is used to differentiate them from “macroplastics” such as bottles and bags made of plastic.
• There is no universal agreement on the size that fits this bill — the U.S. NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and the European Chemical Agency define microplastic as less than 5mm in length. However, for the purposes of this study, since the authors were interested in measuring the quantities of plastic that can cross the membranes and diffuse into the body via the blood stream, the authors have an upper limit on the size of the particles as 0.0007 millimetre.

What were the plastics that the study looked for in the blood samples?

The study looked at the most commonly used plastic polymers. These were polyethylene tetraphthalate (PET), polyethylene (used in making plastic carry bags), polymers of styrene (used in food packaging), poly (methyl methylacrylate) and poly propylene. They found a presence of the first four types.

What are the key results of this study?

• The study found that 77% of tested people (17 of the 22 persons) carried various amounts of microplastics above the limit of quantification.
• In 50% of the samples, the researchers detected PET particles.
• In 36%, they found presence of polystyrene. 23% of polyethylene and 5% of poly(methyl methylacrylate) were also found. However, traces of poly propylene were not detected.
• They found in each donor, on average, 1.6 microgram of plastic particles per milli litre of blood sample.

What is the significance of the study?

• The authors of the paper also remark that validated methods to detect the tiny (trace) amounts of extremely small-sized (less than 10 micrometre) plastic particles are lacking. Hence this study, which builds up a method to check the same, is important.
• Owing to the small size of the participants, the study results cannot be taken as such to mould policy etc, but the power of this paper is in the method and in demonstrating that such a possibility of finding micro plastics in the blood exists.

5. THE PHENOMENON OF CORAL BLEACHING

THE CONTEXT: The management authority of the world’s largest coral reef system, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, confirmed on March 25, 2022 that the reef is experiencing a mass coral bleaching event.

THE EXPLANATION:

• This is the sixth time that the coral reef system is being hit by a widespread and damaging bleaching event and the fourth time in six years that such an event has occurred. The bleaching event coincides with a 10-day UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) scientific mission currently underway in Australia.

What are coral reefs?

• Corals are marine invertebrates or animals not possessing a spine. Each coral is called a polyp and thousands of such polyps live together to form a colony, which grows when polyps multiply to make copies of themselves.
• Corals are of two types — hard coral and soft coral.
• Hard corals, also called hermatypic or ‘reef building’ corals extract calcium carbonate (also found in limestone) from the seawater to build hard, white coral exoskeletons. Soft coral polyps, however, borrow their appearance from plants, attach themselves to such skeletons and older skeletons built by their ancestors.
• Soft corals also add their own skeletons to the hard structure over the years and these growing multiplying structures gradually form coral reefs. They are the largest living structures on the planet.
• Corals share a symbiotic relationship with single-celled algae called zooxanthellae. The algae provides the coral with food and nutrients, which they make through photosynthesis, using the sun’s light. In turn, the corals give the algae a home and key nutrient. The zooxanthellae also give corals their bright colour.
• Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest reef system stretching across 2,300 km. It hosts 400 different types of coral, gives shelter to 1,500 species of fish and 4,000 types of mollusc.

What is Coral Bleaching?

• Bleaching happens when corals experience stress in their environment due to changes in temperature, pollution or high levels of ocean acidity. Under stressed conditions, the zooxanthellae or food-producing algae living inside coral polyps start producing reactive oxygen species, which are not beneficial to the corals.
• So, the corals expel the colour-giving zooxanthellae from their polyps, which exposes their pale white exoskeleton, giving the corals a bleached appearance. This also ends the symbiotic relationship that helps the corals to survive and grow.
• Under all positive outlooks and projections in terms of cutting greenhouse gases, sea temperatures are predicted to increase by 1.5°C to 2°C by the time the century nears its end.

Why does it matter?

• Coral reefs support over 25% of marine biodiversity, including fish, turtles and lobsters; even as they only take up 1% of the seafloor. The marine life supported by reefs further fuels global fishing industries. Even giant clams and whales depend on the reefs to live.
• Besides, coral reef systems generate $2.7 trillion in annual economic value through goods and service trade and tourism. In Australia, the Barrier Reef, in pre-COVID times, generated $4.6 billion annually through tourism and employed over 60,000 people including divers and guides.
• Aside from adding economic value and being a support system for aquatic life, coral reefs also provide protection from storm waves.

THE GOVERNMENT SCHEMES AND INITIATIVES IN NEWS

6. INDIA CROSSES MILESTONE OF 50,000 ODF PLUS VILLAGES

THE CONTEXT: The country has crossed a milestone of 50 thousand open defecation-free (ODF) Plus villages. Among the top performing States are Telangana with 13 thousand 960 ODF Plus villages followed by Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh.

THE EXPLANATION:

• According to the Ministry of Jal Shakthi, the mission towards becoming ODF Plus has several components including biodegradable waste management including the GOBAR dhan Scheme, Grey water management, Plastic waste management and Faecal sludge management.
• The Ministry has said, ODF Plus villages have been divided into three categories, Aspiring, Rising, and Model, to showcase their progress.
• This has created a healthy, competitive spirit, resulting in people participation for accelerated implementation of sustaining sampoorn swachhata. Also, it noted as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, more than one crore people across 22-thousand-gram panchayats participated in various sanitation activities.

 THE PRELIMS PERSPECTIVE

7. WHAT IS ALOPECIA AREATA?

According to US Department of Health and Human Services, alopecia areata is condition that happens when the immune system attacks hair follicles and causes hair loss.

• The condition usually affects the head and face.
• Hair typically falls out in small, round patches about the size of a quarter, but in some cases, hair loss is more extensive. Most people with the disease are healthy and have no other symptoms, the US Department of Health said.

What causes the condition?

In alopecia areata, the immune system mistakenly attacks hair follicles, causing inflammation. Researchers do not fully understand what causes the immune attack on hair follicles, but they believe that both genetic and environmental (non-genetic) factors play a role.

Types of alopecia areata

Health experts have classified the hair loss condition in three types:

• Patchy: In the most common type, hair loss happens in one or more coin-sized patches on the scalp or other parts of the body.
• Totalis: People with this type lose all or nearly all of the hair on their scalp.
• Universalis: This is an extremely rare type, there is a complete or nearly complete loss of hair on the scalp, face, and rest of the body.

  THE PRELIMS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

QUESTIONS OF THE DAY 29^th MARCH  2022

Q1. Consider the following statements:

1. Zozila pass is located in the Pir Panjal range of Western Himalayas.
2. It connects Jammu to Srinagar.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

a) 1 only

b) 2 only

c) Both 1 and 2

d) Neither 1 nor 2

ANSWER FOR 28^TH MARCH 2022

 Answer: D

Explanation:

• The National Chambal Sanctuary (NCS), a protected riverine area, spans Rajasthan, MadhyaPradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
• Chambal flows though the sanctuary, which is home to rare wildlife.
• The river harbours some of the most pristine sandbanks, which are the basking and egg-laying habitats for the critically endangered gharial, for the endangered Indian skimmer,the critically endangered, red-crowned roofed turtle, and a host of other threatened andendangered species. India’s national aquatic animal, the endangered Ganges river dolphin,is also spotted here.
• Illegal sand mining in the protected riverine area continues unabated, endangering several threatened species. According to reports, rampant sand mining within NCS is forcing gharialsto migrate to Kuno and Parbati rivers, tributaries of the Chambal, in search of safer egg-laying habitats.

1. An Ethical View of the Current Geopolitics Behind the War on Ukraine READ MORE
2. How to Overcome Anxiety READ MORE

1. Indian Ocean hit by six heatwaves in 2021, temp rising by 0.15 degrees Celcius per decade READ MORE
2. Record-Smashing Heatwaves Are Hitting Antarctica, the Arctic Simultaneously READ MORE

1. India’s senior citizens are an untapped group. For startups, they can mean new business READ MORE
2. The problems with Common University Entrance Test that need examination READ MORE
3. Criminalizing marital rape: When is an exception not an exception? READ MORE

1. The MCD bill is about control over Delhi, not improving city’s governance READ MORE
2. With the Russian invasion, the spotlight is on Poland’s role in European politics READ MORE
3. Only tech can’t ensure good governance READ MORE
4. Why strikes are less successful READ MORE
5. Custodial deaths: Improve monitoring to curb excesses in prisons, lock-ups READ MORE
6. Simultaneous Elections, Democratic Concerns READ MORE

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. Social Forestry Schemes READ MORE  
2. Water Crisis in The Country READ MORE
3. Rough-toothed dolphins sighted first time ever in Indian waters READ MORE
4. The Startup India initiative READ MORE
5. Explained: What is alopecia areata, the auto-immune disorder that Jada Pinkett Smith suffers from? READ MORE
6. From a record low of 0.55, India’s Covid R value rises to 0.77 this month READ MORE
7. India crosses milestone of 50,000 ODF Plus villages READ MORE
8. Moradabad 2nd in world in noise pollution: UN report READ MORE

Main Exam  

GS Paper- 1

1. India’s senior citizens are an untapped group. For startups, they can mean new business READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. The MCD bill is about control over Delhi, not improving city’s governance READ MORE
2. With the Russian invasion, the spotlight is on Poland’s role in European politics READ MORE
3. Only tech can’t ensure good governance READ MORE
4. Why strikes are less successful READ MORE
5. Custodial deaths: Improve monitoring to curb excesses in prisons, lock-ups READ MORE
6. Simultaneous Elections, Democratic Concerns READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUES

1. The problems with Common University Entrance Test that need examination READ MORE
2. Criminalizing marital rape: When is an exception not an exception? READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. A subregional grouping that must get back on course READ MORE
2. How Delhi carved out its diplomatic space on Russia-Ukraine war READ MORE
3. Between BRICS and Quad READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. RBI cannot ignore inflation READ MORE  
2. Sri Lanka’s agrarian crisis a cautionary tale for India READ MORE
3. Unlocking the potential of platform cooperatives READ MORE
4. Farmers and FCI need a new regime of MSP READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY  

1. Indian Ocean hit by six heatwaves in 2021, temp rising by 0.15 degrees Celcius per decade READ MORE
2. Record-Smashing Heatwaves Are Hitting Antarctica, the Arctic Simultaneously READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. An Ethical View of the Current Geopolitics Behind the War on Ukraine READ MORE
2. How to Overcome Anxiety READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. Discuss how the rivers interlinking project are helpful to solve the drought and flooding issues?
2. Discuss the reasons for the drought and flooding in the Bundelkhand region. How is the Ken-Betwa Rivers interlinking project helpful to address these issues?

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• The worst form of injustice is pretended justice.
• BIMSTEC is in need of a framework to tackle the specific challenges confronting the Bay of Bengal region.
• Marine environmental protection must become a priority area for cooperation in the Bay of Bengal. Enforcement must be strengthened, and information shared on best practices.
• The challenges that confront the Bay of Bengal region brook no more delay. BIMSTEC must arise, awake and act before it is too late.
• Inflation is best addressed by the central bank using monetary policy, not by the government adjusting taxes.
• Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana should be seen as a safety net, not the norm for all times.
• The cooperative model will benefit the vulnerable producers and consumers who are at the base of the pyramid.
• In treating technology as a panacea, we ignore its tendency to aggregate and centralise. Simultaneously, we have ignored the potential of decentralization.
• The diligence with which the footage is stored and accessed holds the key to preventing excesses in custody. The setting up of fast-track courts to deal with such cases can make a transformational difference.
• A crisis of credibility faces the Indian judiciary. Increasingly, death sentences and life terms awarded by lower courts in murder cases are getting reversed in appeals by the higher courts for reasons of error, subjectivity, or sentiment.
• India lacks a startup that can leverage the business and monetisation potential that the country’s ageing population holds.
• A step forward towards the re-implementation of the practice of simultaneous elections would effectively be two steps back for democracy in India.

50-WORD TALK

• US President Joe Biden’s declaration that Russian President Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power”, is dangerously misguided. Waving the regime-change sword at Russia’s leadership encourages it to fight to the end, instead of negotiating a face-saving exit. That will mean more hardship across the world — and more devastation in Ukraine.

Things to Remember:

• For prelims-related news try to understand the context of the news and relate with its concepts so that it will be easier for you to answer (or eliminate) from given options.
• Whenever any international place will be in news, you should do map work (marking those areas in maps and exploring other geographical locations nearby including mountains, rivers, etc. same applies to the national places.)
• For economy-related news (banking, agriculture, etc.) you should focus on terms and how these are related to various economic aspects, for example, if inflation has been mentioned, try to relate with prevailing price rises, shortage of essential supplies, banking rates, etc.
• For main exam-related topics, you should focus on the various dimensions of the given topic, the most important topics which occur frequently and are important from the mains point of view will be covered in ED.
• Try to use the given content in your answer. Regular use of this content will bring more enrichment to your writing.

[WpProQuiz 188]

THE INTRODUCTION: Global Industrial activity continued to be affected by the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. While the Indian industry was no exception to these disruptions, its performance has improved in 2021-22. Gradual unlocking of the economy, record vaccinations, improvement in consumer demand, continued policy support towards industries by the government in the form of Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, and further reinforcements in 2021-22 have led to an upturn in the performance of the industrial sector. The introduction of the production linked incentive scheme (PLI) to encourage scaling up of industries and a major boost provided to infrastructure-both physical as well as digital– combined with continued measures to reduce transaction costs and improve ease of doing business, would support the pace of recovery.

INDEX OF INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION (IIP)

• The impact of the pandemic on the industrial sector is reflected in the negative growth of 8.4 percent in 2020-21. From April-November 2021-to 22 the IIP grew by 17.4 percent as compared to (-15.3) percent in the corresponding period of the previous year.
• The supply-side measures as also steps to bolster demand, taken to address the contraction, are responsible for the significantly improved performance of the industrial sector in 2021-22.
• In November 2021 the IIP index grew by 1.4 percent with the mining sector recording a growth of 5.0 percent followed by electricity at 2.1 percent and manufacturing at 0.9 percent.

EIGHT CORE INDEX (ICI)

• The monthly Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) measures the collective and individual performance of production in selected eight core industries like Coal, Crude Oil, Natural Gas, Refinery Products, Fertilizers, Steel, Cement, and Electricity. This is an index of the eight most fundamental industrial sectors of the Indian economy and comprises 40.27 percent of the weight in IIP.
• The growth rate of the ICI index during the period of April-November 2021-22 was 13.7 percent as compared to (-)11.1 percent in the corresponding period of the last financial year. This acceleration in ICI is mainly driven by improved performance in steel, cement, natural gas, coal, and electricity. Fertilizers and crude oil registered a negative growth of 0.6 percent and 2.7 percent respectively.

GROSS FIXED CAPITAL FORMATION

• Gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) is the gross addition to fixed assets like machinery and equipment, intangible assets and indicates the state of investments in the economy. During 2019-20, the share of the industrial sector in total GFCF in the economy (at current prices) was recorded at 30.1 percent, which is slightly lower than 31 percent in the previous financial year.
• Within the industrial sector, the share of manufacturing in GFCF was 51 percent, followed by electricity at 23 percent, construction at 21 percent, and mining with 5 percent. While aggregate GFCF (at constant prices) grew by 9.9 percent and industrial GFCF grew by 12.4 percent in 2018-19, it grew by 5.4 percent and 3.7 percent respectively in 2019-20.
• During 2019-20, GFCF in the mining and electricity sectors registered a negative growth of 12.9 percent and 6 percent respectively, but the GFCF grew by 10.2 and 4.4 percent in the manufacturing and construction sectors respectively on a yo-y basis.

CREDIT IN INDUSTRY

• Gross bank credit to the industrial sector, recorded a growth of 4.1 percent in October 2021 (Y-o-Y basis) compared to a negative growth of 0.7 growth in October 2020.
• The share of industry in non-food credit stood at 26 percent in October 2021. Certain industries such as mining, textiles, petroleum, coal products and nuclear fuels, rubber, plastic, and infrastructure have shown consistent improvement in credit growth.

FDI IN INDUSTRIES

• India registered its highest-ever annual FDI inflow of US$ 81.97 billion (provisional) in 2020-21 reflecting a growth of 10 percent as compared to the previous year.
• The increase has been on the back of growth of 20 percent in 2019-20. In the year 2021-22, FDI inflow grew by 4 percent in the first six months to reach US$ 42.86 billion as compared to US$ 41.37 billion for the same period of last year.
• Over the last seven financial years (2014-21), India received FDI inflow worth US$ 440.27 billion which is nearly 58 percent of the FDI received by the country in the last 21 years(US$ 763.83 billion).

PERFORMANCE OF CENTRAL PUBLIC SECTOR ENTERPRISES

• CPSEs are an important constituent of the Indian industry. As of 31.03.2020, 256 CPSEs were operational. The overall net profit of operating CPSEs during 2019-20 stood at Rs. 93,295 crore Contribution of all CPSEs to the central exchequer by way of excise duty, GST, corporate tax, dividend, etc. stood at Rs. 3,76,425 crore.
• The CPSEs across sectors employed 14,73,810 persons, of which 9,21,876 were regular employees.
• By Union Budget 2021-22 announcement, the government has approved a policy of strategic disinvestment of public sector enterprises that will provide a clear roadmap for disinvestment in all non-strategic and strategic sectors.
• The non-strategic CPSEs will be privatized or otherwise shall be closed. Thus, the policy on public sector enterprises provides a clear path for disinvestment in all nonstrategic and strategic sectors and strengthens the idea of Minimum Government – Maximum Governance.

CORPORATE PERFORMANCE

• With economic recovery, concomitant improvement in demand and improved business sentiments have had a positive effect on the performance of the corporate sector.
• In response to the favorable base effect, sales of 1,687 listed manufacturing companies recorded steady and broad-based growth of 34.0 percent in Q2: FY22 as compared to (-)4.3 percent growth in Q2: FY21, on an annual (y-o-y) basis.

SECTOR-WISE PERFORMANCE AND ISSUES IN THE INDUSTRY

Steel: The performance of the steel industry is pivotal for the growth of the economy. Despite being hit by COVID-19, the steel industry has bounced back with cumulative production of crude and finished steel in 2021-22(April-October) at 66.91 MT and 62.37 MT, an increase of 25.0 percent and 28.9 percent respectively.

Coal: Coal is the most important and abundant fossil fuel in India and accounts for 55 percent of the country’s energy needs. Coal production increased by 12.24 percent in April-October 2021 as compared to (-) 3.91 percent in April-October 2020. Overall production of raw coal in India during the year 2020-21 was 716.08 million tonnes (provisional) as compared to 730.87 million tonnes achieved in the previous year 2019-20.

Micro Small Medium Enterprise: Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises(MSMEs) contribute significantly to the economic and social development of the country by fostering entrepreneurship and by generating employment opportunities. The relative importance of MSMEs can be gauged from the fact that the share of MSME GVA in total GVA (current prices) for 2019-20 was 33.08 percent. The CHAMPIONS portal is an ICT-based technology system for making the smaller units big by helping and hand-holding them.

The key features of the portal include:

• Information dissemination: Regular updates on recent development in the MSME sector.
• To resolve the grievances in a fast track manner, all Nationalised Banks, a good number of Private/Regional Rural Banks, State Financial Corporations, Central Government Ministries/ Departments, State Governments, and CPSEs have been boarded on the portal.
• Scheme/Programme-wise mapping of officials of the Ministry for fast-track responses to grievances.
• Integration with various portals such as MSME Samadhaan, Udyam Registration, CPGRAM, etc.

Textiles: Textile industry is the second-largest employment generator in the country, next only to agriculture. In the last decade, close to Rs. 203,000 crores have been invested in this industry with direct and indirect employment of about 105 million people, a major part of which is women. Despite the industry being deeply affected by the lockdown, it has shown a remarkable recovery with a positive contribution to growth, as reflected by IIP, of 3.6 percent from April-October 2020.

Electronics Industry: Government accords high priority to electronics hardware manufacturing. The government has therefore notified the National Policy on Electronics 2019 (NPE 2019) on 25.02.2019 to position India as a global hub for Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) by encouraging and driving capabilities in the country for developing core components, including chipsets. Additionally, NPE 2019 attempts to catalyze the growth of the Indian electronics ecosystem through the

• Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Schemes for Large Scale Electronics Manufacturing
• PLI Scheme for IT Hardware
• Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of electronic components and Semiconductors (SPECS)
• Modified Electronics Manufacturing Clusters 2.0 (EMC 2.0).

Recently, the government has approved an outlay of Rs. 76,000 Crore (>US$ 10 Bn) for the development of the Semiconductors and Display Manufacturing Ecosystem. The government’s intervention to boost this industry has come at a time when the global economy is facing an acute shortage of semiconductors due to severe disruptions in supply chains.

Pharmaceuticals: Indian Pharmaceutical industry ranks third in the world in pharmaceutical production by volume. During 2020-21, total pharma export US$ 24.4 Bn against the total pharma import of US$7.0 Bn. The initiatives taken by the government to address the requirement of the pharmaceutical and medical devices industry are as follows:

• Bulk Drug Parks that envisages the creation of world-class infrastructure facilities.
• Bulk drugs have been approved for the promotion of domestic manufacturing of 53 critical APIs.
• Production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for Pharmaceuticals.
• Promoting Domestic Manufacturing of Medical Devices was approved on 20th March 2020.

INFRASTRUCTURE

NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE PIPELINE (NIP)

• To achieve a GDP of $5 trillion by 2024-25, India needs to spend about $1.4 trillion over these years on infrastructure. During FYs 2008-17, India invested about US$1.1 trillion in infrastructure. However, the challenge is to step up infrastructure investment substantially.
• Keeping this objective in view, National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) was launched with a projected infrastructure investment of around Rs. 111 lakh crore (US$ 1.5 trillion) during FY 2020-2025 to provide world-class infrastructure across the country and improve the quality of life for all citizens.
• It also envisages improving project preparation and attracting investment, both domestic and foreign in infrastructure.

NATIONAL MONETISATION PIPELINE (NMP)

• A robust asset pipeline has been prepared to provide a comprehensive view to investors and developers of the investment avenues in infrastructure. The pipeline includes a selection of de-risked and brownfield assets with a stable revenue generation profile (or long rights) which will make for an attractive investment option.
• Total indicative value of NMP for core assets of the Central Government has been estimated at Rs 6.0 lakh crore over 4 years (5.4 percent of total infrastructure investment envisaged under NIP).

ROAD TRANSPORT

• The road network of the country consists of National Highways(NH), State-Highways (SH), District Roads, Rural Roads, Urban Roads, and Project Roads of over 63.71(Provisional) lakh km of roads as of 31 March 2019, which is the second-largest in the world, after the United States with 66.45 lakh km of roads.
• There has been a consistent increase in the construction of National Highways/roads since 2013-14 with 13,327 km of roads constructed in 2020-21 as compared to 10,237 km in 2019-20, indicating an increase of 30.2 percent over the previous year.

RAILWAYS

• Being the third-largest network in the world under single management and with over 68,102 route km IR strives to provide a safe, efficient, competitive, and world-class transport system.
• An average of 1835 track km per year of new track length has been added through new-line and multi-tracking projects during 2014-2021 as compared to the average of 720 track km per day during 2009-14.
• To strengthen the agriculture sector, as of 31st December 2021, IR has operated 1,841 Kisan Rail services, transporting approximately 6.0 lakh tonnes of perishables including fruits and vegetables.
• To provide better amenities IR has embarked on providing Wi-Fi internet services at all stations (excluding halt stations). As of 5th December 2021, a total of 6,087 Railway Stations has been equipped with a Wi-Fi facility.

CIVIL AVIATION

• India has emerged as one of the fastest-growing aviation markets in the world. The domestic traffic in India has more than doubled from around 61 million in 2013-14 to around 137 million in 2019-20, registering a growth of over 14 percent per annum.
• Till the launching of UDAN in 2016, India had 74 airports have scheduled operations. But, within 4 years under UDAN, four rounds of bidding under RCS-UDAN have taken place and 153 RCS airports including 12 water aerodromes & 36 Helipads have been identified for the operation of RCS flights.

PORTS

• Port performance in an economy is crucial for the trade competitiveness of that economy. Expansion of port capacity has been accorded the highest priority by the Government through the implementation of well-conceived infrastructure development projects. The capacity of 13 major ports which was 871.52 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) at the end of March 2014, has increased by 79 percent to 1,560.61 MTPA by the end of March 2021.
• Many initiatives have been taken by the government to improve port governance, augment capacity utilization, enhance port efficiency and connectivity. The measures include the following among others:
• Sagarmala is a National Programme aimed at accelerating economic development in the country by harnessing the potential of India’s 7,500 km long coastline and 14,500 km of potentially navigable waterways.
• The Major Port Authorities Act 2021 was notified on 18.2.2021. This act provides for inter alia regulation, operation, and planning of major ports in India and vests the administration, control, and management of such ports upon the Boards of Major Port Authorities.
• A new Captive Policy for Port Dependent Industries has been prepared to address the challenges of renewal of the concession period, the scope of expansion, and the dynamic business environment.

INLAND WATERWAYS

• Regulatory amendment through the Inland Vessels Act, 2021, replaced the over 100 years old Inland Vessels Act, 1917 (1 of 1917) and ushered in a new era in the inland water transport sector.
• Augmentation in navigation capacity of National Waterway-1 (NW-1) is being implemented since 2018 through the Jal Marg Vikas Project from Varanasi to Haldia stretch of the Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly River System to enable large barge movements.
• Construction of multi-modal terminals at Varanasi and Sahib Ganj has been completed and that of the multimodal terminal at Haldia and the Navigational Lock at Farakka has achieved substantial progress. The other projects such as the comprehensive development of NW-2 and NW-16 &Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) route are proposed to be undertaken for 5 years for Rs. 461 crores and Rs.145.29 crores respectively, from 2020-21 to 2024-25.

TELECOM

• The relevance of the telecom sector has increased immensely. This can be gauged from the fact that the total telephone subscriber base in India has increased from 933.02 million in March 2014 to 1200.88 million in March 2021. In March 2021, 45 percent of subscribers were based in rural India and 55 percent in urban areas.
• Internet penetration in the country is increasing steadily with internet subscribers increasing from 302.33 million in march 2015 to 833.71 million in June 2021. While 67.2 percent of internet subscribers had narrowband connections and 32.8 percent had broadband connections in 2015, the composition had reversed by June 2021 with only 4 percent of subscribers having a narrow band and 96 percent with broadband connections.
• The number of mobile towers has also increased substantially reaching 6.93 lakhs towers in December 2021, reflecting that the telecom operators have well realized the potential in the sector and seized the opportunity to build up an infrastructure that will be fundamental in boosting the Government’s Digital India campaign.

PETROLEUM, CRUDE, AND NATURAL GAS

• Crude oil and condensate production during the year 2020-21 was 30.49 million metric tonnes (MMT), lower than the production level of 32.17 MMT in 2019-20 and 94.3 percent of the target of 32.32 MMT for 2020-21. India depends on imports to meet more than 80 percent of its requirements.
• Natural Gas production during the year 2020-21 was 28.67 billion cubic meters (BCM) as against the production of 31.18 BCM in 2019-20 and 85.4 percent against the target of 33.57 BCM for 2020-21.
• The production of petroleum products was 233.51 MMT in 2020-21 as against 258.18 MMT in 2019-20, showing achievement of 90.2 percent of the target of 259.02 MMT for 2020- 21.

ELECTRICITY

• India has witnessed a significant transformation from being an acute power deficit country to a situation of demand being fully met.
• India has also made remarkable strides to ensure universal access to electricity for every household.
• The total installed power capacity and captive power plant was 459.15 GW on 31.03.2021 as compared to 446.35 GW on 31.03.2020 registering a growth of 2.87 percent. Installed capacity in utilities was 382.15 GW on 31.03.2021 as compared to 370.11 GW on 31.03.2020 – increasing by 3.25 percent.
• Thermal sources of energy make the largest – 61.42 percent share of total installed capacity in utilities followed by renewable energy resource (RES) with 24.7 percent and hydro with 12.09 percent.
• The total electricity generated including that from captive plants during the year 2020-21 was 15.73 lakh GWh as compared to 16.23 lakh GWh during the year 2019-20, of which 13.73 lakh GWh was generated by utilities and 2 lakh GWh in captive plants.

Renewable energy – Solar, Wind, Biomass, and small hydro energy

• India has witnessed the fastest rate of growth in renewable energy capacity addition among all large economies, during the last 7.5 years with renewable energy capacity growing by 2.9 times and solar energy expanding by over 18 times.
• To facilitate renewable power evacuation and reshape the grid for future requirements, the Green Energy Corridor (GEC) projects have been initiated. The GEC Project aims at synchronizing electricity produced from renewable sources, such as solar and wind, with conventional power stations in the grid.

THE CONCLUSION: The Government has charted out a comprehensive program for industrial transformation. With an emphasis on supply-side measures, the reforms address long known bottlenecks of insufficient infrastructure, tardy business processes, and labour market reforms. The introduction of the production-linked incentive schemes intends to encourage the scaling up of industries that are strategic in nature or are technology-intensive. The objective is to create the capacity to integrate with the global value chains. Several measures have been taken to reduce transaction costs, especially for the small and medium enterprises as well as facilitate the inflow of capital, technology, and international best practices into the industries. The new CPSE policy provides a road map for disinvestment, opening up avenues for further growth and improvement in efficiency while enabling the government to focus its resources on the developmental needs of the country. The recovery of the industrial sector, positive business expectations propelled by extensive reforms, and improved consumer demand, suggest that further improvements in industrial performance can be expected.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Index of Industrial Production (IIP) grew at 17.4 percent (YoY) during April-November 2021 as compared to (-)15.3 percent in April-November 2020.
• Capital expenditure for the Indian railways has increased to Rs. 155,181 crores in 2020-21 from an average annual of Rs. 45,980 crores during 2009-14 and it has been budgeted to further increase to Rs. 215,058 crores in 2021-22 – a five times increase in comparison to the 2014 level.
• Extent of road construction per day increased substantially in 2020-21 to 36.5 Km per day from 28 Km per day in 2019-20 – a rise of 30.4 percent.
• Net profit to sales ratio of large corporates reached an all-time high of 10.6 percent in the July-September quarter of 2021-22 despite the pandemic (RBI Study).
• Introduction of Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, the major boost provided to infrastructure-both physical as well as digital, along with measures to reduce transaction costs and improve ease of doing business, would support the pace of recovery.