1. E-GOVERNANCE DELIVERY REPORT RELEASED
TAG: GS 2: GOVERNANCE
THE CONTEXT: Recently, the fifth edition of ‘National e-Governance Service Delivery Assessment (NeSDA) – Way Forward Monthly Report for States/UTs’ on status of e-service delivery across States/UTs has been released.
EXPLANATION:
Findings of the report:
- National e-Governance Service Delivery Assessment (NeSDA) initiative has been undertaken by Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (DAPRG), Govt. of India.
- It aims to boost the e-government endeavors at all levels of governance and embark on the journey for Digital Government excellence.
- The report showed that e-services saturation had reached 69 per cent with the maximum e-services reported in the Local governance and Utility services sector.
- State Wise assessment showed, 21 out 36 States/UTs have achieved saturation of mandatory e-services in the Tourism sector while 17 states have achieved saturation in the Environment sector.
National e-Governance Service Delivery Assessment (NeSDA) framework:
- It was launched in August 2018, was conceptualized with an overall objective to measure the depth and effectiveness of existing e-Governance service delivery mechanisms.
- This framework, based on the Online Service Index (OSI) of UNDESA eGovernment Survey, has been customized for the Indian federal structure and the e-Governance landscape of the States and UTs.
- The first edition of the biennial study – National e-Governance Service Delivery Assessment 2019 was released during February 2020.
NeSDA Framework
Categorisation of states
- To account for the variations in the size and diversity of the States, they have been categorized into three groups:
- North East States and Hill States (11)
- Union Territories (7), and
- Remaining States (18)
Sectors covered
- 2019 – The framework covers six sectors, viz. Finance, Labour & Employment, Education, Local Government & Utilities, Social Welfare (including Agriculture & Health) and Environment (including Fire) sectors.
- 2021 – In NeSDA 2021, Additional services added such as Public Procurement, Home Department, and Tourism in alignment to the UN eGovernment Survey online services coverage and country’s priority sectors.
- 2023 – In NeSDA 2023, Transport and Public Grievance sectors are added.
Parameters covered
- The State / UT / Ministry Portals – seven parameters, namely, Accessibility, Content Availability, Ease of Use, Information Security & Privacy, Open Government Data (OGD), E-Participation and Leveraging Emerging Technologies.
- The Services Portals – eight parameters, viz. Accessibility, Content Availability, Ease of Use, Information Security & Privacy, End-service Delivery, Integrated Service Delivery, Status & Request Tracking and Leveraging Emerging Technologies
- The City Portals – seven parameters, namely, Accessibility, Content Availability, Ease of Use, Information Security & Privacy, Open Government Data (OGD), E-Participation and Leveraging Emerging Technologies.
2. BHARAT NEW CAR ASSESSMENT PROGRAM (BHARAT NCAP)
TAG: GS 3: ECONOMY
THE CONTEXT: India’s Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has announced the implementation of new safety rating system for passenger cars from October 1, 2023.
EXPLANATION:
- With the launch of the Bharat New Car Assessment Programme (NCAP), India is set to get its own crash safety assessment system.
- With NCAP, the Centre is aiming to increase demand for safer cars and encourage manufacturers to comply with customer needs.
- High safety standards could help Indian cars compete better in the global market and increase the export potential of Indian car manufacturers.
What is Bharat NCAP?
- The Bharat NCAP is a safety assessment initiative introduced by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).
- It aims to evaluate the safety performance of passenger vehicles in India that weigh less than 3.5 tonnes and can accommodate up to eight passengers.
- The programme aims to provide a tool to the car customers to make a comparative assessment of crash safety of motor vehicles available in the market.
- It is designed to align India’s safety standards with countries like the USA, Australia, Japan and the UK.
- The vehicles will be given star ratings based on crash tests and point-based evaluations.
How will the rating be given?
- The rating will be given based on a series of crash tests. A frontal crash test is conducted at a speed of 64 kilometres per hour (kmph). Side and pole-side tests occur at 50 kmph and 20 kmph, respectively.
- Ratings are assigned based on two criteria: Adult safety for front passengers and child safety at the rear. For adult safety, a car needs to score a minimum of 27 out of a maximum of 32 points to achieve a 5-star rating
- A 5-star rating for child safety is granted to vehicles scoring at least 41 out of 49 points.
How can automakers get a BNAP rating for their cars?
- Under the BNCAP, manufacturers or importers of motor vehicles will have to apply for FORM 70-A to the agency designated by the central government.
- Under this programme, car manufacturers can voluntarily offer their cars to be tested as per the Automotive Industry Standard (AIS) 197.
- Based on the performance of the car in the tests, car will be awarded star ratings for Adult Occupants (AOP) and Child Occupant (COP).
- The vehicle’s star rating shall be uploaded on the designated portal by the designated agency.
3. INDIA, ASEAN AGREE TO REVIEW FTA BY 2025
TAG: GS 2: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS; GS 3: ECONOMY
THE CONTEXT: Recently, India and the ASEAN countries reached an agreement to review their free trade pact for goods and set a 2025 goalpost for concluding the review aimed at addressing the “asymmetry” in bilateral trade.
EXPLANATION:
- India and the ASEAN have agreed to fast track negotiations for the review of the existing free trade agreement in goods between the two regions and conclude the talks in 2025.
- The issue was discussed during the 20th ASEAN Economic Ministers-India Consultation meeting, held at Semarang, Indonesia.
- The commerce ministry said that the main agenda of this year’s meeting was the timely review of ASEAN -India Trade in Goods Agreement which was signed in 2009 and implemented in January 2010.
- The economic ministers’ meeting was preceded by AITIGA Joint Committee meeting, which deliberated the roadmap for the review and finalised the term of reference and the work plan of the review negotiations.
- The review of AITIGA is expected to enhance and diversify trade while addressing the current asymmetry in bilateral trade.
- Trade experts said the review demand is there because India’s exports to ASEAN have been affected due to non-reciprocity in FTA concessions, non-tariff barriers, import regulations and quotas.
Associated concerns:
- Concerns have been raised about routing of goods from third countries in India through ASEAN members by taking the duty advantages of the agreement.
- ASEAN also has a much deeper economic engagement with China through the ASEAN China Trade and Goods Agreement.
- The trade deficit has widened to $43.57 billion in the last fiscal from $25.76 billion in 2021-22. It was just $5 billion in 2010-11.
ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA)
- It aims to enhance the free flow of goods in the region to lessen trade barriers and deeper economic linkages among Member States to translate into lower business costs, increased trade, and a larger market and economies of scale for businesses.
- It goes beyond tariff reductions and contains specific provisions on rules of origin (ROO), non-tariff measures (NTMs), trade facilitation, and sanitary and phyto-sanitary (SPS) measures.
- Through ATIGA, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand have eliminated intra-ASEAN import duties on 99.65 percent of their tariff lines.
- Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Viet Nam have reduced their import duties to 0-5 percent on 98.86 percent of their tariff lines.
Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN)
- The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration).
- Its founding members included Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.
- It is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia i.e Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
ASEAN’s primary objectives are:
- to accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region; and
- to promote regional peace and stability through abiding respect for justice and the rule of law in the relationship among countries in the region and adherence to the principles of the United Nations Charter.
SOURCE: https://www.thehindu.com/business/india-asean-agree-to-review-fta-by-2025/article67220771.ece
4. METHYLOTUVIMICROBIUM BURYATENSE 5GB1C BACTERIA
TAG: GS 3: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
THE CONTEXT: According to a study published in the journal “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences”, 240 million tonnes of methane could be prevented from reaching the atmosphere by using Methylotuvimicrobium buryatense 5GB1C bacteria extensively by 2050.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE STUDY:
- Methylotuvimicrobium buryatense 5GB1C is a bacterial strain that consumes methane and can help mitigate global warming.
- Researchers explained that the global average temperature rise can be reduced 0.21-0.22 degree Celsius by removing 0.3-1 petagrams of methane by 2050.
- Bacteria that consume methane (methanotrophs) can be a desirable choice. However, they thrive in environments with methane concentrations of between 5,000 and 10,000 parts per million (ppm).
- But methane levels in key emission sites are around 500 ppm.
- To identify methanotrophs that consume such low methane (500 ppm) at much higher rates, researchers screened a range of existing methanotrophs.
- At 500 ppm, they discovered that Methylotuvimicrobium buryatense 5GB1C performed at its best. Additional research revealed that this strain continued to grow effectively at 200 ppm.
- It can grow at low methane concentrations ranging from 200-1,000 ppm.
- These features make this strain a promising candidate for methane removal technology.
What are the constraints?
- Scaling up the technology is challenging.
- To control temperature is tricky. As the optimal temperature range is 25-30oC, both too-low and too-high temperatures become problematic for bacterial growth.
- Controlling temperature will be expensive and will have an impact both economic feasibility and energy balance.
- When comparing temperate temperatures to tropical climates and polar climates, the issue is cost and energy utilisation.
- To test the feasibility of the technology in implementation, researchers called for additional field experiments.
Methane:
- It is flammable and is used as a fuel worldwide.
- It has a shorter lifespan in the atmosphere compared to carbon dioxide.
- Oil and natural gas networks, agricultural practises, coal mining, and garbage are some of the common sources of methane.
- Methane is 85 times more potent than carbon dioxide (CO2) on a 20-year timescale.
- Methane is responsible for around 30% of the rise in global temperatures since the Industrial Revolution.
What are the other initiatives to tackle methane emissions?
- India shifted from Bharat Stage-IV (BS-IV) to Bharat Stage-VI (BS-VI) emission norms.
- National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) was launched in 2008, aimed to create awareness among the representatives of the public, industries, communities etc on the threat posed by climate change and the steps to counter it.
- India Greenhouse Gas Program is an industry-led voluntary framework to measure and manage greenhouse gas emissions.
- Global Methane Initiative (GMI) is an international public-private partnership focused on reducing barriers to the recovery and use of methane as a clean energy source.
- Global Methane Pledge at the Glasgow climate conference (UNFCCC COP 26) in 2021 to cut methane emissions by at least 30% by 2030 from the 2020 levels. India is not a part of Global Methane Pledge.
5. JAXA’ s XRISM and SLIM spacecraft
TAG: GS 3: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
THE CONTEXT: Japan’s Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is ready to launch X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) spacecraft along with Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) on 26 August.
X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM):
- It aims to study the universe’s hottest regions, largest structures, and objects with the strongest gravity.
- It is a joint initiative of NASA and JAXA.
- The spacecraft would be able to detect X-ray light from gas released from galaxy clusters and help astronomers to measure the total mass of these systems.
- It will reveal information about the formation and evolution of the Universe, according to European Space Agency.
- XRISM’s observations of galaxy clusters will also provide insight into how the chemical elements were produced and distributed by the Universe.
Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM):
- JAXA’s SLIM set to land on Moon from Tanegashima Space Center in Japan.
- It aims to demonstrate accurate landing techniques by a small explorer.
- This will give an impetus to Moon and planet study through lighter exploration systems.
- It is scheduled to launch as a “ride-share” payload with XRISM.
- It will ride a Mitsubishi H-IIA launch vehicle.
- It has clocked up over 30 successful missions in a row since 2005.
- Successful landing will lead to a qualitative shift towards being able to land where we want and not just where it is easy to land.
- It also has high-resolution cameras and an image processing algorithm. The smart lander would be able to calculate and finalising an optimal spot for landing based on information of craters and their position.
