TOP 5 TAKKAR NEWS OF THE DAY (26th JUNE 2023)

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1. THE ARTEMIS ACCORDS

TAG: GS 3: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

THE CONTEXT: India has signed the Artemis Accords. The Accords are non-binding guidelines that underpin the Artemis programme, an ambitious project to return humans to the Moon.

EXPLANATION:

• The Artemis Accords are a set of non-binding guidelines that underpin the Artemis programme, an ambitious U.S.-led project to return humans to the Moon, this time permanently.
• The project plan includes a base on the lunar surface, multiple spacecraft to ferry humans and cargo, a small orbiting space station called the ‘Lunar Gateway’, and a constellation of satellites to help with navigation and communication.
• Artemis mirrors a Chinese-Russian plan for an ‘International Lunar Research Station’ (ILRS).
• Proponents of lunar exploration often cite the primordial human urge to explore, the supposed commercial windfalls from celestial mining, and the need to inspire younger generations. Such exhortations often overlook the more immediate and more proximate motivations.
• The ten principles listed in the Artemis Accords support an America-friendly interpretation of space law. In return for signing on, states get to participate in the Artemis programme, which can, in theory at least, bring both prestige and technological benefits.

Laws and the Moon

• Modern space law is a tent erected on four international agreements, headlined by the Outer Space Treaty. These agreements cover critical issues like the peaceful use of space, registration, and liability, and were struck between 1967 and 1976, a period roughly coinciding with both the original Space Race and Cold War detente. The ten principles of the Artemis Accords are generally in consonance with these agreements.
• A fifth treaty, the Moon Agreement, was introduced in 1979 but found no takers among the major spacefaring states of that time, including the U.S. and the Soviet Union. India joined a handful of other countries in signing the Moon Agreement, though it did not ratify it.
• A key provision in the Artemis Accords allows for actors to extract and utilise space resources. Experts have often interpreted this as being at odds with the Moon Agreement – which asks for the gains from commercial exploitation of the Moon’s resources to be equitably distributed.
• Artemis signatories like Australia and France have also signed the Moon Agreement.

Indian and Artemis Accords:

• The Artemis Accords came into being in 2020, just as India was beginning the process of opening up its own space sector to private players. While India being a signatory to the Moon Agreement may have initially given its diplomats pause, the cases of Australia and France are undoubtedly reassuring.
• India was also likely concerned that the Artemis Accords were an informal set of guidelines or norms rather than a legally-binding instrument. India has historically preferred formal law over informal guidelines because it believes laws foster better compliance among adherents regardless of their relative power in the international system.
• India feared that norms set by great powers are designed to maximise their own freedom of action while constraining less powerful states like India. That India now accepts Artemis norms set by the U.S. suggests a subtle shift in its diplomatic practice.

2. CLIMATE SHIFT INDEX

TAG: PRELIMS PERSPECTIVE

THE CONTEXT: Climate change made the recent heatwave in Uttar Pradesh at least two times more likely, as per the Climate Shift Index, which quantifies the impact of climate change on local weather in real time

EXPLANATION:

Links between climate change and temperatures:

• Climate change caused by global warming due to increased carbon emissions in the atmosphere can cause extreme weather events. Heat waves are one of them.
• As per the India Meteorological Department (IMD), a heat wave “is a condition of air temperature which becomes fatal to [the] human body when exposed [to it]”. The IMD defines a heat wave as occurring if temperatures depart by 4.5°C to 6.4°C more than normal (above different temperature levels for hills and plains), and a severe heat wave when the temperature rises to more than 6.4°C.
• The duration of heatwaves in India increased by about 2.5 days between 1961 and 2021 due to global warming, as per a report released by the IMD.

Climate Shift Index:

• Researchers at Climate Central, a US-based climate research and communications group, found that the three-day extreme heat event over parts of UP from June 14 to June 16 was made at least two times more likely by climate change.
• Climate Shift Index (CSI), developed by Climate Central, that uses a categorical five-point scale to show how climate change makes daily average temperatures more or less likely around the world.
• Currently, the index includes more than 1,000 cities and the online real-time map can also reveal changes across regions around cities.
• CSI levels over 1 indicate a clear climate change signal, while levels between 2 and 5 mean that climate change made those temperatures between two and five times more likely. Per the team, the methodology used to calculate the CSI is based on peer-reviewed science.
• A CSI of 4 means that the day’s temperature was made at least four times more likely than it would have been without the influence of climate change

Lapses in heat plan implementation:

• Heat action plans are documents that list preparatory, adaptive and responsive measures for government departments to tackle the heat and its impacts. UP is one of the 18 states to have a state-level heat action plan, per a recent report that analysed 37 heat action plans at the city, district and state levels.
• The state developed its heat action plan in 2022. The 2023 Heat Action Plan is being updated with the institutional collaboration of IIPH-Gandhinagar and UNICEF, as per a report.
• UP’s standard operating procedure for heat waves identifies heatwave responses, including related preparedness and actions at the district level. It includes operating procedures to undertake these response actions. It also lists the lead and support agencies responsible for heatwave response actions.
• The combination of extreme heat and humidity during heat waves is particularly dangerous for humans, and even more so in urban contexts where the ‘heat island’ effect can further increase temperatures.

3. THE ASSISTED REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY REGULATIONS

TAG: GS 2: HEALTH ISSUES

THE CONTEXT: Earlier this year the Health Ministry notified the Assisted Reproductive Technology Regulations (ART), 2023, which are aimed at providing donors and patients with better medical care and security. But the new provisions have pushed up the already sky-high medical costs and are proving to be a challenge for treating doctors and couples wanting to have children through ART because of the restricted and limited resource availability in terms of donors, according to industry insiders.

EXPLANATION:

• The new ART provisions impose restrictions on the number of times a donor, male or female can donate (sperm/oocyte) in their lifetime, and specifies age limits for donors.
• The provision states that an oocyte donor should be an ever-married (persons who have been married at least once in their lives) woman having at least one living child of her own (minimum three years of age).
• She can donate oocyte only once in her lifetime and not more than seven oocytes can be retrieved. Also, an ART bank cannot supply gamete (reproductive cell) of a single donor to more than one commissioning couple (couple seeking services).
• Additionally, parties seeking ART services will be required to provide insurance coverage in the favour of the oocyte donor (for any loss, damage, or death of the donor). A clinic is prohibited from offering to provide a child of pre-determined sex. Also checking for genetic diseases before the embryo implantation is needed.
• Overall, the new ART laws restricting the number of donation attempts “have the potential to increase costs and create challenges for couples relying on assisted reproductive techniques.

THE ASSISTED REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY REGULATIONS:

• India’s convoluted and long tryst with assisted reproductive technology (ART) began in 1978 with the birth of India’s first test-tube baby in Kolkata.
• The industry grew exponentially, albeit without any congruent regulatory or legal framework to govern it.
• The legislative vacuum was attempted to be filled by the Indian Council of Medical research (ICMR) in 2005 with the issuance of the National Guidelines for Accreditation, Supervision and Regulation of ART Clinics in India – the first ever national guidelines for laying down standards of conduct for surrogacy in India.
• The Ministry of Home Affairs has also periodically issued guidelines for regulating surrogacy. In 2009, the Law Commission in its 228th report recommended the enactment of legislation to facilitate the correct use of ART and legalization of surrogacy.
• It is in this backdrop that Parliament on December 8, 2021 passed the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021. The Act aims at the regulation and supervision of ART clinics and assisted reproductive technology banks, prevention of misuse, and safe and ethical practice of ART services.
• Right alongside this Act comes the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021, which only recognises altruistic surrogacy as legal. While the Acts finally regulate the industry, they also bring in a number of concerns to the legal domain-including rights, scientific advances, cross-border surrogacies, obligations as well as ethical dilemmas.

Important highlights of the ART Act:

• Under the Act, every ART clinic and bank must be registered under the National Registry of Banks and Clinics of India. This Registry, comprising scientific and technical staff, will be a central database for all facilities providing ART services in India.
• State governments are required to appoint authorities to facilitate the registration process. No person/clinic/bank shall render ART procedures unless they are registered with the Registry.
• The Act also provides for setting up of a National Reproductive Technology and Surrogacy Board, which shall lay down a Code of Conduct to be observed by persons working at ART clinics and banks and also set minimum standards of physical infrastructure, laboratory and diagnostic equipment and expert manpower to be employed by clinics and banks. The Board shall also supervise the functioning of the Registry.
• Additionally, the Act also lays down the duties to be performed by ART banks and clinics, which include ensuring that the commissioning couple, woman and donor are eligible to avail ART services; requiring clinics to obtain donors’ gametes from banks which shall ensure that the donor has been tested for diseases; providing counselling services to commissioning couples and woman about the implications of ART; and rights of the child.
• A duty is imposed on the clinics and banks to keep the information of commissioning couples and women confidential and to maintain a grievance redressal cell. The Act also empowers the Central government to make rules to carry out the provisions of the Act as and when the need may arise.
• Further, the Act provides for stringent punishment in the event of contravention of its provisions. First-time offenders may be liable to pay a fine between ₹5 lakh and ₹10 lakh, and for subsequent contraventions, the offender may be sentenced to imprisonment of 8 to 12 years and may also be liable to pay a fine of ₹10 to 12 lakh. Operators of clinics or banks offering or advertising sex selective ART may face imprisonment of 5 to 10 years or would also be liable to pay a fine of ₹10 to 25 lakh, or both.

Shortcomings of the ART Act:

• While the Act is a decisive and considerable step towards curbing the menace of illegal and unregulated ART clinics and towards safeguarding donors and women undergoing ART from the health implications faced due to unsafe and illegal procedures, it falls short of addressing some serious concerns.
• First and foremost, the Act excludes unmarried men, divorced men, widowed men, unmarried yet cohabiting heterosexual couples, trans persons and homosexual couples (whether married or cohabiting) from availing ART services. This exclusion is relevant as the Surrogacy Act also excludes above said persons from taking recourse to surrogacy as a method of reproduction.
• The Act is also limited to those commissioning couples who are infertile – those who have been unable to conceive after one year of unprotected coitus. Thus, it is limited in its application and significantly reduces the reproductive choices of those excluded. Third, the prices of the services are not regulated; this can certainly be remedied with simple directives.

4. PARIS FINANCE MEET

TAG: GS 3: ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

THE CONTEXT: Recently, Summit for a New Global Financing Pact concluded in Paris. The first of its kind, the conference was spearheaded by President of France, and had several leaders from the developing world, as well as European heads of state in attendance. The Summit took on the monumental task of addressing the lack of money flowing to poor and vulnerable countries as they battle “a cocktail of interconnected crises” as Prime Minister of Ethiopia framed it poverty, debt, inflation triggered due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and increasing climate impacts.

EXPLANATION:

• To begin with, countries of the South are in a debt crisis and are facing pressure to decarbonise their economies without adequate climate finance flowing in.
• “African countries are facing an unprecedented funding squeeze. Public and private debt has reached new heights. Inflation in almost all commodities has risen sharply, and today daily meals are the biggest issue for many Africans.

Clear demands:

• Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) have been at the center of the discussion on financial systems reform, and Indian Finance Minister pointed out that they are “being asked by non-borrowing shareholders to address transboundary challenges alongside their core development mandate”.
• Thus, the pressure on MDBs’ resources will increase manifold, and the G20 Capital Adequacy Framework recommendations, while welcomed, are still not enough due to the scale and scope of development challenges.
• This reveals the politics at the core of the MDB reform discussion, where developed countries want to squeeze more out of existing MDB resources while simultaneously adding on climate as a part of their mandate.
• More concessional and grant financing is needed, while there is a call for reduction of debt levels in developing countries particularly debt cancellations for least developed countries.
• It also emphasised that while private sector money can be unlocked, it cannot replace long-term development money. The latter is needed to help middle-income countries access concessional finance as well.
• South African President laid out his views on Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETP)  a deal that his country is currently struggling to implement.
• Such plans must consider each country’s circumstances, the needs of workers and communities, and developmental goals to address poverty and unemployment.

What was announced?

• This was not a ‘pledging’ conference, but some announcements were unveiled, perhaps in an effort to address the thorny trust erosion issue.

1. MDBs: A contentious MDB Vision Statement document did not get full consensus at the Summit, and the Summit’s synthesis document mentions that “30 countries, in the presence of 8 Multilateral Development Banks” endorsed it.

It was however announced that an additional lending capacity of $200 billion would be unlocked for emerging economies. The World Bank announced disaster clauses for debt deals, that would suspend debt payment in the case of extreme weather events.

New World Bank head also unveiled a ‘Private Sector Investment Lab’ with the aim to “develop and rapidly scale solutions that address the barriers that are preventing the private sector from investing  at scale  in emerging markets and developing countries, with a specific focus on renewable energy and energy infrastructure”.

2. Special Drawing Rights: IMF Head announced that 100 billion in SDRs for vulnerable countries has been met. Some experts were quick to point out that 20 billion worth of SDRs are yet to pass through the US Congress. The US being the biggest quota holder of SDRs. The ‘recycling’ of SDRs from rich countries whose central banks do not need the cushioning, to poor countries who need them or MDBs who can channel them, has been proposed by many as means to expand the amount of concessional finance to developing countries
3. A new JETP: A new 2.5 billion Euro JETP deal was announced for Senegal, with a consortium of countries comprising of Germany, France, Canada, the European Union, the United Kingdom, with the goal of increasing the share of renewable energy in installed capacity to 40 per cent of Senegal’s electricity mix by 2030.
4. Debt: It was announced that Zambia reached a $6.3 billion debt restructuring deal in debt owed to other governments including China. Colombian and Kenya President also proposed a Global Expert Review on Debt, Nature and Climate to “assess the impact of debt on low- and medium-income countries capacity to preserve nature, adapt to climate change and decarbonise their economies”.
5. Climate finance goal: It was suggested that the long overdue $100 billion climate finance goal will be delivered this year, something that was also alluded to at the Petersberg Climate Dialogue. The Paris Summit’s synthesis document mentions that this “should be further supported by confirmed figures provided by contributors and reported by the OECD”.
6. Carbon markets: The EU unveiled a call to action on ‘Paris Aligned Carbon Markets’ with the goal of covering at least 60 per cent of global emissions with carbon pricing mechanisms (compared to four per cent today) and allocating a proportion of the revenues to climate finance.
7. Polluter taxes: Momentum on polluter taxes accelerated at the Summit, with many groups supporting a tax on shipping emissions. More traction is expected on this issue at the International Maritime Organisation meeting.

5. MQ-9B DRONES

TAG: PRELIMS PERSPECTIVE

THE CONTEXT: U.S President and Prime Minister welcomed India’s plans to procure General Atomics MQ-9B High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) Unmanned Aerial vehicles (UAV. This sets the stage for the acquisition of 31 of these armed UAVs, 15 Sea Guardians for the Indian Navy and 16 Sky Guardians  eight each for the Indian Army and Air Force.

EXPLANATION:

• MQ-9Bs, which will be assembled in India, will enhance the Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities of India’s armed forces across domains.
• As part of this plan, General Atomics will also establish a Comprehensive Global Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility in India in support of India’s long-term goals to boost indigenous defence capabilities.
• The procurement process has commenced with the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) chaired by Defence Minister according the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN).
• India is negotiating to increase the indigenous content under the deal. “The current indigenous content proposed is 8-9% while India is hoping it can be increased upto 15-20%. Discussions are underway.

What do the UAV’s bring in terms of capability?

• The MQ-9B has two variants the SkyGuardian and the SeaGuardian, its maritime variant.
• The MQ-9B is designed to fly over the horizon via satellite for up to 40 hours, depending on configuration, in all types of weather and safely integrate into civil airspace, according to its manufacturer.
• For instance, the SeaGuardian configuration can include a 360-degree surface-search maritime radar, automatic identification system, sonobuoy monitoring system, and sonobuoy dispensers for persistent anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare missions.
• According to General Atomics, the MQ-9B can provide roughly 80% of the capability of a large human-flown maritime patrol aircraft at about 20% of its cost per hour.
• For the Army and Air Force, the MQ-9Bs can provide round-the-clock surveillance looking far beyond the borders. It also seamlessly integrates with other U.S.-origin platforms that India operates, the P-8Is, AH-64 Apache attack helicopters, MH-60R multi-role helicopters among others expanding MQ-9B’s multi-domain mission set.

What UAVs are already in service?

• The Indian Navy has leased two MQ-9As from General Atomics with the maiden flight taking place on November 21, 2020. In their two years of operation till November 2022, they had completed 10,000 flight hours, and “helped the Indian Navy to cover over 14 million square miles of operating area”, General Atomics has announced.
• At Aero India in Bengaluru in February 2023, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and General Atomics announced that the turbo-propeller engines which power the MQ-9B will be supported by HAL’s engine division for the Indian market. “The companies are looking to formulate a comprehensive engine MRO programme for upcoming HALE Remotely Piloted Aircraft projects,” a joint statement said.
• The MQ-9 is a significant technological leap from the original RQ-1/MQ-1Predator that heralded the arrival of long endurance armed drones at the end of the twentieth century. Armed with AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, the Predator became a symbol of the U.S. war on terror after the 9/11 attacks, with their extensive employment in Afghanistan and the tribal areas of Pakistan in the early 2000s. The RQ-1 Predator, which was first flown by the U.S. Air Force (USAF) in 1995, was retired in 2018 and replaced by the MQ-9 Reaper.
• According to the USAF, the Reaper is employed primarily as an intelligence-collection asset and secondarily against dynamic execution targets. “Given its significant loiter time, wide-range sensors, multi-mode communications suite, and precision weapons, it provides a unique capability to perform strike, coordination, and reconnaissance against high-value, fleeting, and time-sensitive targets.”
• According to the USAF, the Reaper is employed primarily as an intelligence-collection asset and secondarily against dynamic execution targets.