Context: The Air Force has received the first indigenously designed and developed loitering munitions.
What is Loitering Munition
Named the ALS 50, the munition - also known as a suicide drone - has been developed by Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL).
The autonomous system is designed for Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) and has successfully demonstrated its capability to carry out precision strikes (less than 2 meters) during trials and tests.
These are capable of operating from all kinds of terrain and high-altitude areas and can take down targets at a range of over 50 km, without exposing any personnel to risk.
The weapon enables real-time targeting, either by the operator or autonomously and can be scaled up to increase firepower as well as targeting distance.
Significance
VTOL capability gives the system the ability to operate in areas where limited space is available, like narrow valleys, fortified mountain positions, small jungle clearings and the decks of warships.
Loitering munition can be used to destroy enemy targets that may be beyond line of sight, including high-value targets like command centres and missile launchers, that may be located at a distance.
Context: As perthe World Health Organization, COVID-19 no longer qualifies as a global health emergency.
What it means when a disease is an emergency
Announcing a disease as a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) is a significant decision that the World Health Organization (WHO) takes after thorough analysis of various factors. The following are some of the key points that WHO considers before declaring a disease as a PHEIC:
Potential to spread: The WHO assesses whether the disease has the potential to spread rapidly beyond the affected region or country, causing a global outbreak.
Severity: The WHO evaluates the severity of the disease, including its mortality rate and its impact on people's health.
International impact: The WHO considers the potential impact of the disease on the international community, including its impact on travel and trade.
Social and economic impact: The WHO also considers the social and economic impact of the disease, including its impact on daily life and the ability of countries to respond.
Urgency: The WHO assesses the urgency of the situation, including the need for immediate action to contain the disease and prevent its spread.
Expert recommendations: The WHO consults with its expert committees to gather advice and recommendations on whether to declare a PHEIC.
The WHO has analyzed all these factors, it may declare a disease as a PHEIC. This announcement is a critical step in mobilizing resources and coordinating a global response to the disease. The WHO will provide guidance and recommendations to countries on how to respond to the disease, including measures to contain its spread, protect public health, and provide medical care to those who need it. The declaration of a PHEIC may also lead to increased funding and resources for research and development of treatments and vaccines.
What is the status now
As mentioned, covid-19 is no longer an emergency. However, the officials said that even though the emergency phase was over, the pandemic has not ended. They pointed to the recent spikes in cases in Southeast Asia and West Asia to support their case.
SARS-CoV-2 Virus:
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly contagious viral illness caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
SARS-CoV-2 is a novel beta coronavirus belonging to the same subgenus as the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV).
It was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, and then caused a global pandemic leading to the disease COVID-19.
Coronaviruses (CoVs) are positive-stranded RNA viruses with a crown-like appearance due to the presence of spike glycoproteins on the envelope.
Like other RNA viruses, SARS-CoV-2, while adapting to their new human hosts, is prone to genetic evolution with the development of mutations over time, resulting in mutant variants that may have different characteristics than its ancestral strains.
Although the origin of SARS-CoV-2 is currently unknown, it is widely postulated to have originated from an animal, implicating a zoonotic transmission.
Transmission: Via exposure to respiratory droplets carrying the infectious virus from close contact or droplet transmission from presymptomatic, asymptomatic, or symptomatic individuals harbouring the virus.
Context:The Indian government is concerned about El Nino's impact on the upcoming monsoon and has imposed a virtual ban on sugar exports, allowing only up to 6.1 million tonnes.
Sugarcane industry in India
Sugarcane belongs to bamboo family of plants and is indigenous to India.
It is a long duration crop and requires 10-15 months to mature, depending upon the geographical conditions.
It requires hot and humid climate with average temperature of 21° - 27° Celsius.
It usually grows well in areas receiving rainfall varying from 100 to 150 cm.
It can grow on variety of soils including loams, clayey loams, black cotton soils, brown or reddish loams and even laterites.
India is the second largest exporter of sugarcane in the world.
It is a water guzzling crop and is often blamed for worsening water crisis in parched areas of India.
Distribution
The Sutlej – Ganga plain from Punjab to Bihar containing 51% of the total area and 60% of the country’s total production.
The Black soil belt from Maharashtra to Tamil Nadu along the eastern slopes of Western Ghats.
Coastal Andhra and Krishna Valley.
Sugar Industry
Sugar can be produced from sugarcane, sugar-beet or any other crop having sugar content. At present, it is the second largest Agro based industry of India after cotton textile industry.
Localization of Sugar Industry:
The establishment of the sugar industry in India is reliant on sugarcane as its primary raw material, which is heavy, low in value, and has a tendency to lose weight and perish quickly.
Due to the inevitable loss of sucrose content, sugarcane cannot be stored for extended periods of time, and transportation over long distances is not feasible as the transportation costs would increase the overall cost of production, and the sugarcane may dry up en route.
As a result, the sugar industry is typically located in regions where sugarcane cultivation is prevalent.
Distribution of Sugar industry:
Maharashtra dominates the sugar production in India and accounts for over 33% of the total sugar production in the country.
Uttar Pradesh is the second-largest sugar-producing state, with sugar factories concentrated in two regions, the Ganga-Yamuna doab and the terai region.
In Tamil Nadu, the sugar industry is mainly concentrated in Coimbatore and Vellore districts.
The sugar industry in Andhra Pradesh is mainly located in the coastal regions, such as East Godavari, West Godavari, and Vishakhapatnam districts.
Other states that contribute to the sugar production in India are Bihar, Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat.
Difference between the Sugar Industry of Northern and Peninsular India
Peninsular India has tropical climate which gives higher yield per unit area as compared to north India.
The sucrose content is also higher in tropical variety of sugarcane in the south.
The crushing season is also much longer in the south than in the north.
The cooperative sugar mills are better managed in south than in the north.
Most of the mills in south are new which are equipped with modern machinery.
Problems of Sugar Industry
Low yield of sugarcane: Although India has the largest area under sugarcane cultivation, the yield per hectare is extremely low as compared to major sugar producing countries.
Short crushing season: Manufacturing of sugar is a seasonal phenomenon with short crushing season varying normally from 4 to 7 months in a year.
Fluctuating Production: Due to fluctuation in production, sugarcane has to compete with several other food and cash crops like cotton, oil seeds, rice, etc.
Low rate of recovery: The average rate of recovery in India is less than 10% which is quite low as compared to other major sugar producing countries.
High cost of production: High cost of sugarcane, inefficient technology, uneconomic process of production and heavy excise duty result in high cost of manufacturing.
Obsolete machinery: Most of the machinery used in Indian sugar mills, particularly those of UP and Bihar is old and obsolete.
Regional imbalances in distribution: Over half of sugar mills are located in Maharashtra and UP and about 60% of the production comes from these states.
Context:Army formations at all levels — from the Commander on the ground to the Corps level will soon have a real-time, common operating picture, with information and data from various sensors and inputs fused into one comprehensive image for quick decision-making.
A new Battlefield Surveillance System (BSS) under Project Sanjay is in the process of being deployed, after extensive validation carried out in the plains, deserts, and mountains.
Under BSS, the aim is to have surveillance centres for all field formations by December 2025. It will integrate thousands of sensors which will enable provision of an integrated surveillance picture to commanders and staff at all levels, besides completing the sensor-shooter grid by integrating with the Artillery Combat Command and Control System (ACCCS)
This is among a series of automation projects being rolled out which are expected to cumulatively improve operational efficiency, enhance battlefield awareness for Commanders on the ground, and also provide functional efficiency for human resource management, logistics, inventory management, medical services and other administrative functions.
India’s Defence Modernisation Challenges:
The pace of modernisation of the Indian Armed Forces over the years has been rather slow and, technologically, they are not where they should have been. Indigenous development of modern defence hardware continues to remain a concern, and Indian policy aspiration for defence self-sufficiency remains largely elusive.
The Indian defence industry suffers from major policy, structural, and cultural challenges that beset a military-industrial complex that continues to struggle in terms of delivering modern defence hardware that could have added to the greater Indian defence indigenisation and production.
A Military Strategy to address National Security- National security is determined by the threats that a nation faces. Military strategy is the ability to identity and respond to a threat. In olden times armies fought in battlefield. Today there are terrorist, insurgency and cyber threats. The armed forces have to modernise to face such threats.
The lack of military inputs in decision-making is considered to be the most significant lacuna. It is also observed that the national security strategy of India suffers from flaws such as the absence of a National Security Doctrine and the absence of a long-term defence planning.
The decision making in India on national security and strategic matters have been however projected to be slow and complex because of the hierarchical structure of the decision-making process. Further observers have questioned the efficacy of the established process of decision-making in defence acquisition or during times of crises, which is managed by Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS)
Economy - The country's economy is determined by the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The bigger the GDP the faster is the economic growth. Faster the economic growth, quicker will be the modernisation of the armed forces.
It is to be noted that capability building of the Army is a continuing process, where budget, especially capital funds, are requested for annually, based on the projected needs for implementing a 15 year long term perspective plan. However, it has been the experience for many years now that adequate capital funds for modernisation are not allotted, and consequently, there are major shortfalls in acquiring new equipment and other war-fighting capability in a time bound manner.
Adequate Budget Allocation - Defence is allotted budget every year as part of the country's yearly budget. Modernisation requires a huge allocation since modern arms and ammunition are purchased from other countries. This allocation of budget depends upon the economic growth. India is now under 'Make in India' project and is hoping to reduce dependence on other countries and also save money.
The Standing Committee on Defence (2018) had recommended that the Ministry of Defence should be allocated a fixed budget of about 3% of GDP to ensure adequate preparedness of the armed forces. However, over the last decade, India’s spending on defence has consistently been lower than this recommended level. In 2023-24, allocation to the Ministry is estimated to be marginally lower than 2% of GDP
Challenge within forces: The Indian Army has continued to expand, in manpower terms, in its quest to build up capability to deal with potential threats and challenges. The problem was compounded by some faulty human resources (HR) policies of the Army in recent years, which had incentivised holding of more manpower by linking it to calculation of senior rank positions in the Army.
There is lack of expertise within the Army in the field of weapon designs and technology, resulting in lack of meaningful inputs for the indigenous defence industry.
The Army remains rooted to the outdated policies of employing ‘generalists’ rather than ‘specialists’ to man the weapon procurement functions at Army Headquarters. Unless serious efforts are made to create a cadre of specialists to man critical functions related to procurement of Army weapons and equipment, starting with the Apex level, the situation is not likely to improve
Research in Military Technology, Artificial Intelligence and Cyber Warfare - A portion of the defence budget is given to research and development. A good research and development will make the country self-sufficient in critical technology. For this we must modernise Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), and Defence Public Sector units such as, Ordnance Factory Board (OFB),
These organisations are marred with inefficiency and apparent lack of accountability which are responsible for indigenous design and manufacture of weapons, equipment and ammunition for the Army, namely the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) and Defence Public Sector Units (DPSUs)
Further the indigenous defence industry, mostly based on the public sector, is unable to provide items of desired quality in a timely manner. Most procurement through this route is affected by huge cost overruns.
Recent steps taken by the government
DRDO has established 05 DRDO Young Scientist Laboratories (DYSLs) to provide solutions in advanced technology areas viz artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, cognitive technologies, asymmetric technologies and smart materials to tackle emerging challenges in military warfare.
Announcement of 18 major defence platforms for industry led Design & Development in March 2022.
Notification of three ‘Positive Indigenisation lists’ of total 310 items of services and two Positive Indigenisation lists of total 2958 items of DPSUs for which there would be an embargo on the import beyond the timelines indicated against them.
Launch of innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) scheme involving start-ups & Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
Launch of an indigenisation portal namely SRIJAN to facilitate indigenisation by Indian industry including MSMEs.
Opening up of Defence Research & Development (R&D) for industry, start-ups and academia with 25% of defence R&D budget earmarked to promote development of defence technology in the country.
The defence ministry is seriously looking at implementing the ambitious Strategic Partnership model for defence production, it could not firm up any major deal under it. Under the policy, government had planned to rope in foreign defence majors to build key military platforms like submarines and fighter jets in India in partnership with Indian companies.
Context: Go first passenger airline has filed for bankruptcy protection recently.
Why Airlines are facing problems?
Ever-increasing number of failing engines supplied by Pratt & Whitney, which it claimed had resulted in half its Airbus fleet being grounded.
Given the high capital and operational costs, the commercial air transport industry operates with wafer thin margins. This has impacted the overall profits of the company.
Since last one-and-half decade, rival airliners have adopted an aggressive pricing strategies to gain market share that stretched balance sheets and made companies more vulnerable to shocks.
External shocks such as COVID crisis and long drawn lockdowns had impacted the operations of many airlines. Similarly, last year’s Ukraine-Russia was has shocked the global prices of oil.
Prolonged rupee’s depreciation against the dollar has sent aviation turbine fuel (ATF) costs soaring for domestic carriers.
Challenges faced by Aviation sector in India
Aviation Industry scenario
Industry trend
Airport Authority of India to spend $ 3 bn on non-metro projects over 2016-2020
$ 3 bn investments in green-field airports – Navi Mumbai and Goa
Authority of India (AAI) has taken up a development programme to spend around INR 25,000 crore in next five years for expansion and modification. Furthermore, Three Public Private Partnership (PPP) airports at Delhi, Hyderabad and Bengaluru have undertaken major expansion plan to the tune of INR 30,000 Crores by 2025. Additionally, INR 36,000 Crores have been planned for investment in the development of new Greenfield airports across the country under PPP mode.
The civil aviation industry in India has emerged as one of the fastest growing industries in the country during the last three years and can be broadly classified into scheduled air transport service which includes domestic and international airlines, non-scheduled air transport service which consists of charter operators and air taxi operators, air cargo service, which includes air transportation of cargo and mail.
In 2010, 79 Mn people travelled to/from/or within India. By 2017 that doubled to 158 mn, and this number is expected to treble to 520 mn by 2037. The nation’s airplane fleet is projected to quadruple in size to approximately 2500 airplanes by 2038.
Currently, the country has 131 operational airports including 29 international, 92 domestic, and 10 custom airports. To meet the growing demand for air travel in India, it has become imperative to increase the capacity of airport infrastructure.
To augment the airport infrastructure the government aims to develop 100 airports by 2024 (under the UDAN Scheme) and expects to invest $1.83 bn in the development of airport infrastructure by 2026.Till date 74 airports have been developed. More than 2.15 lakh UDAN flights have operated and over 1.1 crore passengers have availed the benefits in UDAN flights so far.
The projected upsurge in air travel in India would require more aircraft usage, further igniting the demand for Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul (MRO) services. The Indian Civil Aviation MRO market, at present, stands at around $900 mn and is anticipated to grow to $4.33 bn by 2025 increasing at a CAGR of about 14-15%. Unmanned aerial vehicles, also known as drones have been welcomed across industries. Indian drone industry is expected to have a total turnover of up to US$ 1.8 billion by 2026.
Up to 100% FDI is permitted in Non-scheduled air transport services, Helicopter services and seaplanes under the automatic route.
Up to 100% FDI is permitted in MRO for maintenance and repair organizations; flying training institutes; and technical training institutes under the automatic route.
Government Initiatives
Through the National Civil Aviation Policy 2016 (NCAP) the government plans to take flying to the masses by enhancing affordability and connectivity. It promotes ease of doing business, deregulation, simplified procedures, and e-governance.
In April 2020, the Goods and Services Tax for MRO services rendered locally was reduced from 18% to 5%. The ‘place of supply’ for B2B MRO services was changed to the ‘location of recipient’, enabling Indian MRO facilities to claim zero-rating (i.e., export status) under GST laws on MRO services rendered to prime contractor/OEM located outside India. This has been an extremely crucial policy amendment as it will encourage global participation in the Indian aviation sector by allowing foreign MRO operators to subcontract MRO work to Indian entities without any extra tax liability.
The Regional Connectivity Scheme or UDAN (‘Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik’) is a vital component of NCAP 2016. The scheme plans to enhance connectivity to India's unserved and under-served airports and envisages to make air travel affordable and widespread. More than 2.15 lakh UDAN flights have operated and over 1.1 Cr passengers have availed the benefits in UDAN flights as on 30th November 2022. The Government has set a target to operationalize 1,000 UDAN routes and to revive/develop 100 unserved & underserved airports/heliports/water aerodromes (including 68 aerodromes) by 2024.
The aircraft leasing and financing businesses are operated from the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) and GIFT City provides the off-shore status for financial services.
Ministry of Civil Aviation released Krishi UDAN 2.0. The Scheme lays out the vision of improving value realization through better integration and optimization of Agri-harvesting and air transportation and contributing to Agri-value chain sustainability and resilience under different and dynamic conditions. After a 6-month successful pilot of Krishi Udan 2.0 it was decided to add 5 new airports namely Belagavi, Jharsuguda, Jabalpur, Darbhanga and Bhopal to the existing list of 53 airports, taking the number of airports actively participating in Krishi Udan to 58.
Monetising Assets: AAI has formed joint ventures in seven airports. Recently, it awarded six airports — Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram, Mangaluru — for operations, management and development under PPP for a period of 50 years. As per National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP), 25 AAI airports have been earmarked for asset monetisation between 2022 and 2025.
NASP 2022 lays out the vision of making India as one of the top sports nations by 2030, by providing a safe, affordable, accessible, enjoyable, and sustainable air sports ecosystem in India. Air sports, as the names suggests, encompasses various sports activities involving the medium of air. These include sports like air-racing, aerobatics, aero modelling, hang gliding, paragliding, para motoring and skydiving etc.
The Central Government has approved the Production Linked Incentive scheme for drones and drone components. The PLI scheme comes as a follow-through of the liberalized Drone Rules, 2021 released by the Central Government on 25 August 2021. The PLI scheme and new drone rules are intended to catalyze super-normal growth in the upcoming drone sector. The total incentive of INR 120 crores and the total PLI per manufacturer is capped at INR 30 crores.
NABH (NextGen Airports for Bharat): Nirman is a government initiative to expand airport capacity more than five times to handle bn trips a year, in the next 10-15 years.
AAI Startup Policy: Delivering a framework & mechanism for the interaction of AAI with internal and external stakeholders that catalyze innovation at airports and leveraging technology for addressing challenges and enhancing the delivery of services to passengers.
Way forward
Here are some proposals that the government could look at closely to achieve our long-term vision of becoming the biggest aviation market in the world.
1. Tightening the PPP (Public Private Partnership) procurement and concession framework With more private airport concessions on the anvil, there are three things that the government should look at prioritising as part of its reform agenda to enhance competition, attract more foreign investments and deliver better commercial and economic outcomes.
(i) Implement the recommendations of the Kelkar Committee report on revitalizing PPPs (2015), of which two key elements stand out (a) defining triggers and commercial principles for renegotiation of contracts – a necessity in long-tenure concessions with volatile and uncertain market variables (b) disallowing public-sector entities from participating in PPP projects – a good and effective approach to not vitiate the fundamental rationale of private sector procurement
(ii) Providing tariff certainty – an essential tenet in any private sector contract to give comfort to both investors and users.
(iii) Ensure tight procurement timelines – process from tender invitation to award of contracts not exceeding 9 months.
In addition, making airport connectivity or other mobility solutions an integral part of the concession and project agreements. They also need to be co-terminus with airport commencement timelines, with clearly defined obligations and penalty provisions for delays or defaults by contracting parties – the economic costs of non-compliance can be significantly minimized or avoided if properly structured.
2. Redefining our regulatory philosophy With tariff setting and commercial renegotiation mechanisms internalised in PPP contracts, regulators can focus more on monitoring and enforcing the efficient preferred outcomes on service quality, including security, safety and sustainability KPIs that are essential elements of the airport and aviation businesses.
3. Making Air Cargo Infrastructure a national priority Building capacity at Tier-2 and newer airports is now important as well. The UDAN and Krishi UDAN schemes offer great opportunity to build a logistics backbone linking nodal production and distribution centres in the country to serve both domestic and export markets seamlessly and lucratively. The scope for use of unmanned aerial systems (drones) and new mobility solutions (use of urban rail transit for last mile distribution and hyperloop) adds a completely new dimension to the planning, design, implementation and economics of cargo logistics with far reaching implications on utility, safety, security, reliability and viability of services.
4. Rationalizing taxes across the board Below are a few examples of discrepancies and value eroders in our industry that may need a fix:
Withholding taxes (WHT) on aircraft lease rentals –Foreign lessors pass on domestic taxes, including WHT on aircraft lease payments to the Indian carriers, increasing the cost burden. WHT can range from 0-11% of lease rentals subject to availability of double-tax avoidance treaties. Waiver of WHT on lease payments with a sunset clause, would leave more cash in the pockets of carriers and help expedite recovery in a situation where the government is unable to provide direct financial relief.
Rationalising GST on Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) – ATF in India costs 30-35% more than neighbouring markets killing airline margins. VAT on ATF varies from 0% to 29% across states in India. This is over and above excise duties, marketing and logistics costs on production and distribution of fuel. Carriers would benefit immensely if ATF is brought under GST with a flat rate of say 5% or lower.
Relief for MRO (Maintenance, Repair, Overhaul) services - Indian carriers spend an estimated USD 1.2 billion every year for MRO services performed abroad because of high tax rates on such services in India. Government recently reduced the GST on aircraft MRO services from 18% to 5% , allowing full input tax credit. But this may not be enough to make Indian carriers change their preferences. Service centres should be stationed in India itself. Other solutions could be: (i) A full waiver of royalty payments for the next five years (NCAP, 2016) (ii) Rationalization of lease rentals charged by airport operators. (iii) A tax incentive for Indian and foreign carriers to procure services in India.
5. Roll-out GAGAN with firm timelines The advantages of GAGAN are many. For example, it would obviate the need to have instrument landing systems (ILS) at smaller airports with limited air-traffic movement, avoid flight diversions, save fuel for airlines and bring down air navigation charges by allowing ground infrastructure and manpower to be optimized. The biggest beneficiaries of this initiative will be general aviation and helicopter operators who depend on visual flight rules (VFR) and are constrained to perform safe and effective night operations.
6. Unlocking value from Open Skies and Liberalized ASAs
Current bilateral air service agreements with some of these countries continue to be restrictive to protect Indian carriers, but it is time for us to take a more pragmatic view of the economic losses associated with this artificial stifling of demand, that is costing us investments, jobs and other multiplier benefits of traffic growth to Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities and towns, especially on routes where domestic carriers may be constrained to deploy reciprocal capacity.
7. Revamping the UDAN scheme The challenge is not demand but the operational and financial sustainability of the program. The solution lies in revamping the scheme to allow newer operators and carriers to come into the system and provide the fleet and flexibility required to deepen regional air travel markets.
1) providing adequate long-term low-cost capital to support new ventures;
2) creating a strong local leasing market;
3) incentivizing use of the NSOP (non-scheduled operators) fleet through code shares; and
4) opening up the industry for air transport aggregators that can significantly multiply the number and frequency of users, much like the ride-hailing market in the urban transport ecosystem, which has transformed intra city travel globally.
8. Making India an aviation manufacturing hub Our challenge has been in moving up and across the manufacturing value chain in the civil aviation industry. For example, the helicopter and small-aircraft market in India is still nascent and can grow exponentially in the next ten years triggered by demands for regional connectivity, medical and emergency services, disaster management and pilot training requirements. The increasing adoption of unmanned aerial systems for commercial and defence purposes presents another unprecedented opportunity for localizing production and globalizing the value chain.
9. Revitalizing India as a global tourist destination
We need to revamp our tourism infrastructure and global marketing initiatives with razor-sharp focus and urgency, especially in a post-COVID world which is likely to trigger a distinct preference for leisure travel and medical tourism. India has plenty to offer on both fronts.
We can triple our foreign tourist arrivals if we get our act together on three strategic elements that have proven to be critical success factors for other tourism economies
(i) High-quality tourism destinations with consistent best in-class infrastructure and state-of-the art mobility solutions (ii) Unrestrained and reliable connectivity options by air and surface transport. (iv) Business friendly fiscal and regulatory environment including friendly visa and immigration policies.
Context: As per the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the value of the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) or E-rupee in circulation has increased 334% to ₹1016 crore in FY25, from ₹234 crore in FY24. CBDC is a tokenised digital version of the Indian rupee launched by RBI in 2022.
Relevance of the Topic: Prelims: Key facts about Central Bank Digital Currency.
Use cases of CBDC:
Ongoing use cases of CBDC:
Funds settlement of secondary market transactions in Government Securities
Settlement of inter-bank lending and borrowing in the call money market.
Direct benefit transfers to farmers against generation of carbon credits and loans to tenant farmers under Kisan Credit Card.
What is a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)?
Digital currency backed by the central bank of a country. Just like currency notes issued by the Central Bank, the CDBC is a legal tender and accepted for the payment of various transactions within a country.
It is akin to sovereign paper currency but takes a different form, exchangeable at par with the existing currency and shall be accepted as a medium of payment, legal tender and a safe store of value. CBDCs would appear as liability on a central bank’s balance sheet. That is, a central bank liability, denominated in an existing unit of account, which serves both as a medium of exchange and a store of value.
It is substantially not different from banknotes, but being digital it is likely to be easier, faster and cheaper. It also has all the transactional benefits of other forms of digital money.
CBDC, being a sovereign currency, holds unique advantages of central bank money viz. trust, safety, liquidity, settlement finality and integrity.
Features of CBDC
CBDC is sovereign currency issued by Central Banks in alignment with their monetary policy
It appears as a liability on the central bank’s balance sheet
Must be accepted as a medium of payment, legal tender, and a safe store of value by all citizens, enterprises, and government agencies.
Freely convertible against commercial bank money and cash
Fungible legal tender for which holders need not have a bank account
Expected to lower the cost of issuance of money and transactions
Fiat Currency
CBDC
Crypto currency
Stable Coin
Issuer
Central Bank
Central Bank
Private Entity
Private Entity
Value
Derives its value from the guarantee provided by Central Bank
Derives its value from the guarantee provided by Central Bank
None
Value pegged to other currency such as Diem, TruelNR (Refer to Budget Video for more details)
Legal Tender
Yes
Yes
May be given status of Legal Tender Example: El Salvador
May be given status of Legal Tender
Medium of Payment
Yes
Yes
May be allowed
May be allowed.
Examples
Physical Currency Notes
eDINAR, Sistema, Petro, e-krona etc.
Bitcoin, Ethereum, dogecoin etc.
Diem, TruelNR, Tether etc.
Types of CBDC
Retail CBDC: CBDC that can be used for people for day-to-day transactions.
Wholesale CBDC: CBDC that can be used only by financial institutions such as Banks, NBFCs etc.
Legal Framework For Issuance of CBDC
Finance Act 2022 has amended the RBI Act, enabling it to introduce Central Bank Digital Currency. The definition of bank note was amended wherein RBI was allowed to issue both physical and digital currency by amending Section 2 of RBI Act, 1934.
Possible Designs of CBDC
Direct Model: In case of Direct model, the Central Bank issues CBDC and enables customers to directly open accounts with itself. So, in this case, the Central Bank engages with the public for opening accounts, facilitating payments through CBDC etc.
Indirect/Two-tiered model: In this case, the Central Bank issues CBDC and customers would maintain with the Central Bank. But it would not directly engage with the customers. It would outsource activities such as opening accounts, facilitating payments etc. to other Banks.
Benefits of CBDC
Subhash Chandra Garg Committee (2019) has recommended a ban on private cryptocurrencies on account of concerns such as volatility, instability, security risk and risk of funding illegal activities. However, the committee has highlighted that an official digital currency can have number of advantages such as:
Promote cashless economy by reducing Cash-to-GDP ratio.
Increase in Financial Inclusion
Stability and Resilience of payment system since CBDC would promote competition in the payment system and ensures that no single company dominates the payment ecosystem
Counter the Stable coins such as Diem which could be used for making payments.
Increase in effectiveness of Monetary Policy
Push to development of Fintech sector
Provide a real time picture of economic activity and hence better GDP estimates and efficient monetary policy formulation.
Traceability of transactions would crack down on corruption and money laundering.
As it being a sovereign currency, ensures settlement finality and thus reduces settlement risk in the financial system.
CBDCs could also potentially enable a more real-time, cost-effective seamless integration of cross border payment systems.
The e₹ system will bolster India’s digital economy, cashless economy, enhance financial inclusion, and make the monetary and payment systems more efficient.
Could ease current frictions in cross-border payments.
Counter the monopoly of private sector issued cryptocurrencies.
Challenges and Concerns
Potential Disintermediation of Banks as people may shift from depositing money in the bank to CBDC. This will lower the deposits with the banks which will force them to increase their deposit rates to attract customers. It may lead to an increase in the rate of interest on loans in the economy.
Accelerate Bank runs: By providing depositors a safe and liquid alternative to bank deposits, CBDCs may accelerate bank runs during a period of financial stress.
Security risks and financial system abuses: CBDC may be susceptible to cyber-attacks and other security breaches. Such attacks or breaches may be committed to misuse the CBDC for illicit activities.
Competition to private payment service providers: Introduction of CBDC could lead to direct competition with private payment providers (such as Paytm, Google pay etc). This may reduce their incentives to invest in innovation.
Higher Burden on the RBI: If the RBI adopts "Direct Model", it will have to directly engage with the public for opening accounts and hence overall burden on the RBI could increase. This may in turn lead to neglect of its core activities.
Data privacy issues: Traceability feature of CBDC would have impact on Right to Privacy of the Individuals. Hence, the need for strong data regulation law in India.
Context: Largescale violence broke out on May 3 triggered by the Manipur High Court’s direction to the State to pursue a 10-year-old recommendation to grant Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the nontribal Meitei community.
What’s the issue?
Violent clashes erupted in Manipur during a Tribal Solidarity March organized by All-Tribal Students’ Union. The march aimed to oppose the inclusion of Meitei community in the state's Scheduled Tribes list.
The Army and Assam Rifles conducted flag marches in the affected areas, following an order by the Manipur High Court in favor of the Meitei community. Both the demand and the order, passed by a single judge of the High Court, have been strongly opposed by groups representing the state’s tribal communities.
The court’s order, released on April 14, asking the government to consider the demand, has brought the historical tensions between the valley-dwelling Meitei community and the state’s hill tribes to a boil.
Scheduled Tribe:
The Constitution of India in Article 366 (25) prescribe that the Scheduled Tribes means such tribes or tribal communities as are deemed under Article 342 of the Constitution to be Scheduled Tribes.
The provisions under Article 342 read as follows:
(1) The President may with respect to any State or Union Territory, and where it is a State, after consultation with the Governor thereof, by a public notification, specify the tribes or tribal communities or part of or groups within tribes or tribal communities as Scheduled Tribe in relation to that State or Union Territory as the case may be.
(2)Parliament may be law include in orexclude from the list of Scheduled Tribes specified in a notification issued under clause (1) any tribe or tribal community or part of or group within any tribe or tribal community but save as aforesaid a notification issued under the said clause shall not be varied by any subsequent notification.
Criteria for inclusion into the list of Scheduled Tribe:
The criteria presently followed for specification of a community as a Scheduled Tribe are:
indications of primitive traits
distinctive culture
geographical isolation
shyness of contact with the community at large
backwardness
Present status of Scheduled Tribes in India:
There are over 700 tribes (with overlapping communities in more than one State) which have been notified under Article 342 of the Constitution of India, spread over different States and Union Territories of the country.
The largest number of main tribal communities (62) has been specified in relation to the State of Orissa.
The Scheduled Tribes have been specified in relation to all the States and Union Territories except Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh, Delhi, and Pondicherry.
Ethnic composition of Manipur State:
In Manipur, the Meiteis are the largest community, with approximately 64.6% of the population residing in the central valley.
The valley encompasses only 10% of the state's landmass and is also home to the Meitei Pangals.
The remaining 90% of the state comprises hills surrounding the valley, where about 35.4% of the population, consisting of 34 recognized tribes, live. These tribes are categorized into "Any Kuki Tribes" and "Any Naga Tribes."
Demand of Meitei community:
Since 2012, the Scheduled Tribes Demand Committee of Manipur (STDCM) has been leading an organized effort to push for the inclusion of the Meitei community in the list of Scheduled Tribes in the Indian Constitution.
Recently, the Meitei Tribe Union approached the Manipur High Court, seeking a direction to the state government to submit a recommendation to the Union Ministry for Tribal Affairs for the inclusion of the Meitei community as a "tribe among tribes in Manipur".
The petitioners argued that the Meitei community had been recognized as a tribe before the merger of the princely state of Manipur with the Union of India in 1949 but lost its identity as a tribe after the merger.
The demand for ST status is driven by the need to “preserve” the community, its ancestral land, tradition, culture, and language, as they have been victimized without any constitutional safeguards.
The STDCM has made several pleas to the state and central governments, highlighting that the Meiteis have been gradually marginalized in their ancestral land, and their population has reduced from 59% in 1951 to 44% as per 2011 Census data.
Why other tribal groups are opposing the demand of Meitei Community?
The tribal groups are concerned that granting ST status to the Meiteis, who have a dominant population and political representation in the valley region, could result in the loss of job opportunities and affirmative actions for the existing ST communities.
Some also argue that the Meiteis do not need ST status to protect their culture and identity, as they are already a dominant group with the state's support in safeguarding their cultural, political, and economic rights.
The government must take a proactive role in promoting peace and reconciliation, and work towards creating a more inclusive and harmonious society that values and respects the diversity of its people.
Context: The World Bank confirmed Ajay Banga was selected as its next president on Wednesday, taking charge at a pivotal time for the development lender as it looks to better address climate change. The Bank’s board voted to approve his leadership for a five-year term. He will take over the role from David Malpas in June.
About world bank
World Bank came into existence in the year of 1944 along with IMF at the meeting of the UN Monetary and financial conference, commonly known as the Bretton woods conference.
Now it has 189 members
India is one of the foundational members of the world bank
World bank Organization
The World Bank is like a cooperative, made up of 189 member countries.
These member countries, or shareholders, are represented by a Board of Governors, who are the ultimate policymakers at the World Bank.
Generally, the governors are member countries' ministers of finance or ministers of development.
They meet once a year at the Annual Meetings of the Boards of Governors of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund.
World Bank is not a single entity rather it is a group of five institutions
IBRD
Created in 1944 to help Europe rebuild after World War II.
IBRD joins with IDA, our fund for the poorest countries, to form the World Bank.
They work closely with all institutions of the World Bank Group and the public and private sectors in developing countries to reduce poverty and build shared prosperity
The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) is a global development cooperative owned by 189 member countries.
As the largest development bank in the world, it supports the World Bank Group’s mission by providing loans, guarantees, risk management products, and advisory services to middle-income and creditworthy low-income countries, as well as by coordinating responses to regional and global challenges.
IDA
The International Development Association (IDA) is part of the World Bank that helps the world’s poorest countries.
Established in 1960 and headquartered in Washington DC, IDA aims to reduce poverty by providing zero to low-interest loans (called “credits”) and grants for programs that boost economic growth, reduce inequalities, and improve people’s living conditions.
IFC
Established in the year 1956
Headquarters at Washington DC
It makes investments in productive private enterprises in association with private investors.
It concentrates on areas where sufficient private capital is not forthcoming on reasonable terms and conditions.
It acts as a clearing house for bringing together investment opportunities, private capital and experienced management.
It stimulates the international flow of capital.
It assists the development of capital markets in less-developed countries.
It encourages private sector activity in developing countries through three types of activities.
MIGA
MIGA is the World Bank Group’s most recent agency (1988), created in Washington DC with the aim of attracting private capital to unfavourable environments, usually countries with a lower level of income and in contexts that are unappealing for investments.
This agency works as a complement to the IFC, providing guarantees to foreign investors against so-called “political risks”, which are risks related to the country where the investment will be applied, such as:
Losses related to currency convertibility (difficulties in converting local currency into dollars or euros) and transfer restrictions of the same nature;
Countries in violent contexts (wars, etc.);
Contractual violations by local governments which place the investment at risk;
Seizure of private investors’ assets or properties and failure to meet financial obligations on the part of the Host State
ICSID
It was established in 1966 by the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States (the ICSID Convention).
The ICSID Convention is a multilateral treaty formulated by the Executive Directors of the World Bank to further the Bank’s objective of promoting international investment.
ICSID is an independent, depoliticized and effective dispute-settlement institution.
Its availability to investors and States helps to promote international investment by providing confidence in the dispute resolution process.
It is also available for state-state disputes under investment treaties and free trade agreements and as an administrative registry.
ICSID provides for the settlement of disputes by conciliation, mediation, arbitration or fact-finding.
Context: Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi called upon the countrymen to come forward for the noble cause of organ donation for saving the lives of fellow human beings in the 99th episode of the “Man Ki Baat” Programme. This has given a fresh impetus to organ donation in the country. The number of total organ transplants in the country has substantially increased from less than 5000 in the year 2013 to more than 15000 in the year 2022.
Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues (THOT) Rules, 2014.
The Transplantation of Human Organs Act (THOA) was enacted by the Government of India in 1994.
This act was amended in 2011 and the same was notified as Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues (THOT) Rules 2014.
It provides guidelines regarding the removal, storage and transplantation of human organs for therapeutic purposes and prevents the commercial dealings of human organs.
According to THOT, the concept of transplantation is the grafting of human organs from a living or dead person to a living person for a therapeutic process.
Further, the deceased person is a person who does not have any symptoms of life such cases that is of brain stem death or cardio-pulmonary sense after live birth.
Brain-stem death is a stage at which all the functions of the brain-stem have permanently and irreversibly ceased.
Authority for removal of human organs or tissues
As per the current medical practice of the land, a living person can be an organ donor and can permit the removal of any is/her organs or tissue during his or her lifetime for therapeutic purposes by the provisions of Section 3 of the THOT Act 2014.
The organ also can be removed from the human body after the declaration of brain stem death subject to the consent and authorization of the near and dear ones and permission of competent authority as per the THOT Act 2014.
The brain stem death of a person is declared by a panel of experts. The panel of experts shall be framed by provisions in the said act and they should be fully operational at all levels of the need.
The authorization authority for organ removal and transplantation is available at three tier stages, State level, District Level and Institutional Level.
The Institution refers to the authorized hospitals or health care centres for organ removal, storage and transplantation.
Procedure for Organ Donation & Transplant.
According to NOTTO (National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation) about THOT Rules 2014.
Living donors
It refers to any living person who is ready to donate his/her organ.
It can be related donors (parents, siblings etc.), spousal donors, or other related donors.
There should be valid documentary evidence of the relationship in the case of related donors by provisions of 8the THOT Act.
Spousal donor
Here the proposed transplant is between a married couple, documents such as marriage certificate and marriage photograph are kept for records along with the information on the number and age of children and a family photograph depicting the entire family and birth certificate of children containing the particulars of parents.
Swap donation
Swap donation is the transplantation of organs within the family between persons who are related but whose blood group is incompatible.
Swap transplant should be carried out simultaneously, so there is no donor reneging.
Donor reneging means that one of the donors backs out from the donation.
Furthermore, the donor and recipient pair in a family should be near related.
Other than near-related donors
It is a controversial category of organ donation as the possibility of illegal, forceful and monetary-based transplantations are involved in it.
If the donor–recipient pair is non-related then permission is granted by the authorization committee.
The THOT Act 2014 has made several provisions to avoid organ trade.
1.Donor or recipient from another state: When the living donor is unrelated and if the donor or recipient belongs to a state, other than the state where the transplantation is to be undertaken, verification of residential status by Tehsildar, or any other authorized officer for the purpose with a copy marked to the appropriate authority of the state of domicile of donor or recipient is 8required.
2.Foreign donors: In the case of foreign donors donating to their relatives in India, transplantation is permitted only in near-related donors. Indian living donors wanting to donate to a foreigner other than a near relative shall not be considered. In the case of foreigners coming for transplantation in India, the transplant is permitted in India with permission from a senior embassy official of the country of origin who certifies the relationship 8between the donor and the recipient.
3. A deceased (cadaver) donor/transplant is another source of organs: The deceased donation can be either after brain stem death or after cardiac death. People can pledge their organs during their lifetime if they want their organs to be used after death. After certification of the brain stem death of the person, it’s now mandatory for the medical practitioner to ask him near relative or person for lawful possession of the body of a person admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) regarding the plan of organ donation. Even if the donor has pledged his organs before death, the consent of a near relative or person in lawful possession of the body is also required. In case of Medico-Legal Case is involved in the organ donor then the Medical Practitioner after obtaining necessary permissions and consent may intimate the proceeding to a nearby Station Officer or Superintendent of Police in the limit for the retrieval of organs or tissue from the donor and a copy of such a request should also be sent to the designated post mortem doctor of area simultaneously. Commercialization of Organ Transplantation.
Context: Central bank digital currency (CBDC) or e-rupee, if designed keeping in mind the environment, social and governance (ESG) objectives, can be more environment friendly compared to alternative cashless methods, according to the RBI report.
CBDC and environment
CBDCs are significantly more energy efficient than current credit card processing centres, in part because the latter involve energy-inefficient legacy systems.
CBDC helps curb emissions by nullifying operations such as printing, storage, transportation, and replacement of physical currency.
Results of a climate stress-test revealed that public sector banks (PSBs) may be more vulnerable than private sector banks (PVBs) in India.
Climate-stress tests are scenario based exercises that assess the loss to the financial systems/entities due to climate related risks by adopting the methodology of traditional stress tests to climate related exigencies.
All about Central Bank Digital Currency
Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) is a digital form of currency notes issued by a central bank. The e₹ will provide an additional option to the currently available forms of money.
It is akin to sovereign paper currency but takes a different form, exchangeable at par with the existing currency and shall be accepted as a medium of payment, legal tender and a safe store of value. CBDCs would appear as liability on a central bank’s balance sheet. That is, a central bank liability, denominated in an existing unit of account, which serves both as a medium of exchange and a store of value.
It is substantially not different from banknotes, but being digital it is likely to be easier, faster and cheaper. It also has all the transactional benefits of other forms of digital money.
CBDC, being a sovereign currency, holds unique advantages of central bank money viz. trust, safety, liquidity, settlement finality and integrity.
The features of CBDC include
CBDC is sovereign currency issued by Central Banks in alignment with their monetary policy
It appears as a liability on the central bank’s balance sheet
Must be accepted as a medium of payment, legal tender, and a safe store of value by all citizens, enterprises, and government agencies.
Freely convertible against commercial bank money and cash
Fungible legal tender for which holders need not have a bank account
Expected to lower the cost of issuance of money and transactions
Type of CBDC to be issued
CBDC can be classified into two broad types viz. general purpose or retail (CBDC-R) and wholesale (CBDC-W). Retail CBDC would be potentially available for use by all viz. private sector, non-financial consumers and businesses while wholesale CBDC is designed for restricted access to select financial institutions. While Wholesale CBDC is intended for the settlement of interbank transfers and related wholesale transactions, Retail CBDC is an electronic version of cash primarily meant for retail transactions.
It is believed that Retail CBDC can provide access to safe money for payment and settlement as it is a direct liability of the Central Bank. Wholesale CBDC has the potential to transform the settlement systems for financial transactions and make them more efficient and secure. Going by the potential offered by each of them, there may be merit in introducing both CBDC-W and CBDC-R.
Model for issuance and management of CBDC
There are two models for issuance and management of CBDCs viz. Direct model (Single Tier model) and Indirect model (Two-Tier model). A Direct model would be the one where the central bank is responsible for managing all aspects of the CBDC system viz. issuance, account-keeping and transaction verification.
In an Indirect model, central bank and other intermediaries (banks and any other service providers), each play their respective role. In this model central bank issues CBDC to consumers indirectly through intermediaries and any claim by consumers is managed by the intermediary as the central bank only handles wholesale payments to intermediaries.
The Indirect model is akin to the current physical currency management system wherein banks manage activities like distribution of notes to public, account-keeping, adherence of requirement related to know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering and countering the terrorism of financing (AML/CFT) checks, transaction verification etc.
Forms of CBDC
CBDC can be structured as ‘token-based’ or ‘account-based’.
A token-based CBDC is a bearer-instrument like banknotes, meaning whosoever holds the tokens at a given point in time would be presumed to own them.
In contrast, an account-based system would require maintenance of record of balances and transactions of all holders of the CBDC and indicate the ownership of the monetary balances.
Also, in a token-based CBDC, the person receiving a token will verify that his ownership of the token is genuine, whereas in an account-based CBDC, an intermediary verifies the identity of an account holder.
Considering the features offered by both the forms of CBDCs, a token-based CBDC is viewed as a preferred mode for CBDC-R as it would be closer to physical cash, while account-based CBDC may be considered for CBDC-W.
Advantages of CBDC over other digital payments systems
As it being a sovereign currency, ensures settlement finality and thus reduces settlement risk in the financial system.
CBDCs could also potentially enable a more real-time, cost-effective seamless integration of cross border payment systems.
The payment systems are available 24X7, 365 days a year to both retail and wholesale customers.
They are largely real-time, the cost of transaction is perhaps the lowest in the world, users have a wide array of options for doing transactions and digital payments have grown at an impressive CAGR of 55% over the last five years.
The e₹ system will bolster India’s digital economy, cashless economy, enhance financial inclusion, and make the monetary and payment systems more efficient.
CBDCs could ease current frictions in cross-border payments.
Traceability of transactions would crack down on corruption and money laundering.
Counter the monopoly of private sector issued cryptocurrencies.
Context: Debate between old and new pension can be resolved with a new innovative product known as Contributory Guaranteed Pension Scheme.
Lifelong pension is not a good idea
Firstly, since the State has to bear full burden of pensions, it will become fiscally unsustainable in the medium to long run.
Second, such an unsustainable rise in pension allocation would reduce the welfare expenditures allocated to the poor and marginalised sections.
Under Old Pension Scheme, therefore is a case of elite workers gaining at the cost of their brethren lower on the income ladder.
There is an inherent biasness between private sector employees and public sector employees.
Solution lies in the Contributory Guaranteed Pension Scheme (CGPS)
Under this employees continue contributing 10% of their basic pay monthly as they do now under the NPS but the State promises to pay a pension of 50% of the last drawn salary which is adjusted for inflation, exactly as the OPS would have. The critical difference between the OPS and the CGPS is that a large part of the latter will be funded by the employees themselves as against no contribution in the former. And the State pays an additional balance of the difference between the 50% guaranteed pension and the market determined pension amount.
The upside is that if the market return happens to be higher than this, the State gets to pocket that. It may well be that on balance (with State gaining when returns are higher as against it paying the difference when they are lower), the additional burden on the CGPS (compared to the NPS) may be marginal.
Context: The first two days of May have been unusually wet. Except the north eastern states, Jharkhand, and West Bengal, the entire country has received plenty of rain, with some areas in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh getting as much as 10 to 15 times the expected rainfall. This exceptional spell of rainfall was the result of a number of relatively local weather phenomena over different parts of the country coming together at the same time.
Several reports, including carbon brief, have confirmed that globally, the month of March this year was the second warmest March ever since the beginning of records in the mid-1800s. The year 2023 was shaping up to become one of the top four warmest years on record, citing the rapid development of the El Nino event, which has an overall warming impact on the planet.
How Global warming and Climate change are affecting India?
Temperature and rainfall, both are getting impacted and have regional variations:
Changes in Temperatures:
According to the Ministry of Earth Sciences average annual mean temperatures in India had risen by about 0.7 degree Celsius from 1900 which is significantly less than the global rise in temperatures, which has exceeded 1 degree Celsius for several years now.
India is likely to warm in the range of 2.4 to 4.4 degree Celsius from the current levels by the end of the scenario.
Tropical Indian oceans: Sea surface temperatures have risen by almost 1 degree Celsius between 1950 and 2015.
The warming over India is not uniform across regions:
Himachal, Goa and Kerala : Temperatures have increased at the rate of more than 1 degree Celsius.
North Eastern states: Temperatures have climbed at the rate of more than 0.7 degree Celsius.
Eastern states of Bihar, Jharkhand, and Odisha: have experienced the least warming.
Goa has seen the maximum increasing trend in annual rainfall. Its rainfall has increased at the rate of 21 mm over a 100 year period.
Sikkim: The year 2022 was the warmest year.
Karnataka and Telangana: were cooler than normal in 2022, though only marginally.
Changes in rainfall:
Monsoon rainfall in India has been surplus by around 7% this year though with extreme inequity.
Central and southern India saw a sharp surge in rainfall. Rains in Central India were surplus by 20% and in southern India by 25%, with the last month seeing several instances of flooding in Kerala, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh.
On the other hand, large parts of U. P., Bihar, Odisha have seen large deficits.
The east and northeast of India have reported a 17% shortfall.
Note: These data can be used by the students while analysing the impact of climate change over India. Analysis must be quantitative as well as qualitative. Here quantitative aspects have been provided.
