GS Paper 3

Single Use Plastics & Plastic Waste Management Rules Amendment, 2021

Context: Over the past 10 months, the Delhi government has banned plastic products twice. While 19 Single Use Plastic (SUP) items, including spoons and cups, were prohibited on July 1, 2022, a ban on plastic bags thinner than 120 microns came into force in January this year. However, many of these prohibited items are still used openly across the Capital.

About Single-use plastics

They are goods that are made primarily from fossil fuel–based chemicals (petrochemicals) and are meant to be disposed of right after use—often, in mere minutes.
They are most used for packaging and service-ware, such as bottles, wrappers, straws, and bags.

Pollution due to single use plastic items has become an important environmental challenge confronting all countries.
India imposed a nationwide ban on plastic bags, cups and straws on Oct 2nd, 2019 in its most sweeping measure yet to stamp out single-use plastics from cities and villages that rank among the world's most polluted.

In this background let us understand various aspects of the single use plastics issue.

Consequences of using single use plastic

• Non-renewable: Only 1-13% of the plastic items are recyclable, the rest ends up either buried in the land or water bodies, eventually reaching the oceans, leading to polluting of water bodies and killing of marine life.

• Pollution: One of the biggest threats about plastic bags is that they threaten the environment. Plastic bags pollute the land and water, since they are lightweight, plastic materials can travel long distances by wind and water.

• Energy intensive: Production of plastic material are very energy intensive. They require a lot of water for their production. Thus, using plastic bags is not advisable.

• Threat to aquatic life: Being non-recyclable, plastic bags end up in the oceans. While they reach, they break up into tiny little pieces and are consumed by wildlife. Thereby leading to health issues or even death. Many animals also get entangled or trapped in plastic bags.

• Harmful to human health: Toxic chemicals from plastic bags can damage the blood and tissues. Frequent exposures can lead to cancers, birth defects, impaired immunity, hormone changes, endocrine disruption and other serious ailments.

Hence, with climate and environment becoming a rising global concern, plastic pollution and plastic waste management have become the point of worry.

Challenges to Phase out Single-use Plastic

• Effective waste collection: India lacks systems for effective waste separation, collection, and recycling.

• National Policy for recycling plastics: There is no policy in place for recycling plastics. There are also difficulties in establishing a recycling plant due to environmental concerns voiced by various state Pollution Control Boards.

• Attitudinal change: Changing one's behavior to avoid using single-use plastic is difficult.

Plastic Waste Management Rules Amendment, 2021

• Prohibition: The manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of following single-use plastic, including polystyrene and expanded polystyrene, commodities shall be prohibited with effect from the 1st of July 2022.

• Compostable plastic: The provisions will not apply to commodities made of compostable plastic.• Timeline: The government has given industry ten years from the date of notification to comply with any future bans on plastic commodities other than those included in this notification.

• Thickness of plastic bags: The allowable thickness of plastic bags will be increased from 50 mm to 75 microns on September 30, 2021, and to 120 microns on December 31, 2022.

• Monitoring agency: The Central Pollution Control Board, along with state pollution bodies, will monitor the ban, identify violations, and impose penalties already prescribed under the Environmental Protection Act, 1986.

• Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR): According to the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016, the plastic packaging waste that is not covered under the phase out of identified single-use plastic items must be collected and managed in an environmentally sustainable manner through the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) of the Producer, Importer, andBrand Owner (PIBO).

Government And Global Initiatives:

India has announced its commitment to eliminate single-use plastic by 2022 at Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII) Sustainability Summit in New Delhi.

India piloted a resolution on combating pollution caused by single-use plastic products at the fourth United Nations Environment Assembly in 2019.
India has received international praise for its “Beat Plastic Pollution” resolution, which was announced on World Environment Day last year and committed to eliminate single-use plastic by 2022.
Project REPLAN (stands for REducing PLastic in Nature) launched by Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) aims to reduce consumption of plastic bags by providing a more sustainable alternative.
The Group of 20 (G20) environment ministers, agreed to adopt a new implementation framework for actions to tackle the issue of marine plastic
waste on a global scale.
Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016 state that every local body has to be responsible for setting up infrastructure for segregation, collection, processing, and disposal of plastic waste.
Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules 2018 introduced the concept of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).

Way Forward

• Effective waste management: India lacks a well- organized system for managing plastic trash, resulting in widespread littering. To strengthen processing, there is a need to invest extensively in increasing waste source segregation and supporting end-to-end waste segregation.

• Sustainable products: The government should put money into fostering the formation of businesses that supply sustainable products as an alternative to non- recyclable ones.

• Need for a new international legally binding agreement that addresses the entire life cycle of plastics, from extraction of raw materials to legacy plastic pollution.

• Chemical recycling and upcycling of polymers: Hitherto management of plastic waste was focused on mechanical recycling of plastic waste.

However, strategies have been developed for chemical recycling of plastics into its constituent monomers and subsequently restructured into new polymers used for new plastic production. This will lead to circularity of the plastic ecosystem.

• Promoting use of waste plastics: Waste plastics are useful as a structural material and can be utilized as a binder for laying roads, making of blocks, table-tops etc. For example, Plastone is a structural material developed which is synthetic granite.

• Promoting biodegradable bioplastics: Bioplastics are a broad category of materials encompassing bio-based plastics that can be both biodegradable and non- biodegradable. They are manufactured from diverse sources such as crops and crop waste, wood pulp, fungi etc. with the help of algae or microbes. Examples of biodegradable bioplastics are polylactic acid (PLA) or polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs).

Indigenous suicide drones Nagastra-1

Context: Army has used its emergency powers to order more than 300 indigenous suicide drones ‘Nagastra 1’ from Nagpur-based Solar Industries. The procurement would enable shorter selection time and expedited deliveries of the drones within one year.

Major Highlights

Nagastra 1 is the first indigenous Loiter Munition (LM) which can strike targets within 15-30 km using GPS-enabled precision. It can loiter over a target for a maximum of 60 minutes and has an accuracy of less than 2 metres.
The fixed-wing electric-powered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) uses GPS for precision strikes and is capable of destroying various soft-skinned targets using its pre-fragmented high explosive warhead. The munition also carries a day-and-night camera for surveillance as well.
The Nagastra-1 in its 'Kamikaze' mode can search and destroy any target by crashing into it. If the target is not found or the mission is aborted, the munition can be called back and recovered using a parachute.
Developed by: Economic Explosives Limited

Significance

It is a cost-effective weapon against low-value targets. The drones can undertake shallow strikes with precision, without endangering the lives of soldiers.
It will enhance options for armed forces to strike terrorist camps and launch pads across the Line of Control in Pakistan.
The system has over 75% indigenous content, cutting down dependence on foreign sources, and is fully designed and developed in India.

It is also likely to have a strong export potential, given the growing demand for economical stand-off weapons that can deliver precision strikes.

India-made eye drops linked to outbreak of rare strain in US

Context: The EzriCare Artificial Tears, over-the-counter eye drops manufactured by Chennai-based Global Pharma Healthcare, is at the centre of a United States investigation into a multistate outbreak of an extensively drug-resistant bacterium strain associated with multiple types of infections including eye infections in the United States.

Major Highlights

The outbreak strain — VIM-GES-CRPA is a rare strain of the extensively drug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacterium which has never been reported before in the US —detected in 68 cases from 16 states.
The organism appears to have spread via a contaminated point source (eye drops) with possible secondary transmission among contacts in some healthcare settings.

About Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Pseudomonas is a bacteria that can be found in the environment, including in water and soil. There are multiple types of Pseudomonas – Pseudomonas aeruginosa causes the most infections in humans.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa can spread to people through contaminated surfaces, equipment, water and more. The bacteria can cause infections in the lungs, blood and other parts of the body. The bacteria could melt through the eye up to the cornea into the bloodstream pretty quickly.

Successful Trial of BMD Interceptor from Naval Platform

Context: Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Navy successfully conducted a maiden flight trial of sea-based endo-atmospheric interceptor missile off the coast of Odisha in the Bay of Bengal on April 21, 2023.

Major Highlights

DRDO and the Indian Navy were successful in test-firing an endo-atmospheric interceptor missile, capable of taking down incoming ballistic missiles from sea.
- Endo-atmospheric interception means the missile fired by Indian testing agencies had destroyed the incoming enemy ballistic missile within the Earth’s atmosphere.
- Exo-atmospheric interception, on the other hand, is for destroying incoming enemy ballistic missiles outside of the Earth’s atmosphere at a higher altitude.
The purpose of the trial was to engage and neutralize a hostile ballistic missile threat thereby elevating India into the elite club of Nations having Naval BMD (Ballistic Missile Defence) capability.

India’s Ballistic Missile Defence capability

The BMDs are capable of intercepting incoming long-range nuclear missiles and hostile aircraft including AWACS (airborne warning and control systems).
Prior to this BMD test from a warship, India successfully demonstrated the land-based BMD system with the capability to neutralize ballistic missile threats emerging from adversaries.

In November 2022, India’s DRDO successfully conducted the maiden flight test of Phase-II of the BMD interceptor, code-named AD-1 missile, with a large kill altitude bracket.

AD-1 is a long-range interceptor missile designed for both low exo-atmospheric and endo-atmospheric interception of long-range ballistic missiles and aircraft.
It is propelled by a two-stage solid motor and equipped with an indigenously developed advanced control system, navigation, and guidance algorithm to precisely guide the vehicle to the target.
The successful trial of AD-1 from both land-based and sea-based platforms would provide great operational flexibility to the Indian armed forces.

Origins of the BMD Program

India launched the BMD program after the war with Pakistan in the Kargil sector in 1999 to counter the enemy nation’s widening spectrum of ballistic missiles that usually delivered both conventional and nuclear warheads.
The two-tiered BMD program involved Prithvi missile-based Air Defense that can intercept enemy missiles at altitudes of 50 km to 180 km in the first layer. The Pradyumna interceptor has replaced the Prithvi Air Defense BMD already.
- The Prithvi Air Defense system was first tested in 2006, then making India only the fourth nation globally to have such capabilities, after the United States, Russia, and Israel.
The second layer under the program is the Advanced Air Defense system for low-altitude interceptions. The Advanced Air Defense system is designed to destroy hostile missiles at 15 km to 40 km altitudes.
- The Advanced Air Defense system got tested for the first time in 2007. Since then, both systems have gone through successive and multiple rounds of tests and are now in the process of deployment with the Indian armed forces.

India’s Other Missile Capabilities

India conducted the first successful Anti-Satellite Test under its Mission Shakti project in March 2019, taking India to a league of nations such as the United States, Russia, and China possessing such a capability.

While the India-made Akash missile is part of the air defence systems possessed by the Indian armed forces, it is now in the process of inducting the Russian-origin S-400 Truimf, even though the Ukraine war has delayed the delivery of these air defence missiles to India.

In 2021, the Indian Navy inducted INS Dhruv, a nuclear missile tracking warship, to join an elite club of nations such as the US, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, and France to have such a platform. The 17,000-tonne INS Dhruv was developed by the DRDO in collaboration with the National Technical Research Organization (NTRO), and built by Hindustan Shipyard Limited. It can be used to provide early warning of attacks by ballistic missiles launched from Pakistan and China.

LockBit ransomware

Context: Cybercriminals have developed new ransomware LockBit designed to target macOS devices, making this the first major ransomware operation to specifically target Apple computers (both older Macs and newer ones running on Apple Silicon).

About LockBit ransomware

It was first reported in September 2019 and dubbed the “abcd” virus, due to the file extension used when encrypting victims’ files.
The LockBit ransomware is designed to infiltrate victims’ systems and encrypt important files.
The virus is categorised as a “crypto virus” due to its requests for payment in cryptocurrency to decrypt the files on the victim’s device.
LockBit gang operates on the ransomware-as-a-service (Raas) model and comes from a line of extortion cyberattacks.
- In this model, willing parties put down a deposit for use in a custom attack and make profits through the ransom payment.
- The ransom is divided between the LockBit developer team and attacking affiliates.
The gang behind the LockBit ransomware reportedly maintains a dark web portal to recruit members and release data of victims who refuse to meet their demands, as part of their business model.

How does LockBit ransomware work?

It works as a self-spreading malware, not requiring additional instructions once it has successfully infiltrated a single device with access to an organisational intranet.
It is also known to hide executable encryption files by disguising them in the .PNG format, thereby avoiding detection by system defences.
Attackers use phishing tactics and other social engineering methods to impersonate trusted personnel or authorities to lure victims into sharing credentials.
The ransomware places an encryption lock on all system files, which can only be unlocked via a custom key created by the LockBit gang. The process leaves behind a ransom note, with instructions to restore the system, and has reportedly also included threatening blackmail messages.

Incidents of attacks

Earlier in January 2023, the LockBit gang was reportedly behind a cyber-attack on the U.K. postal services, causing international shipping to grind to a halt.
In the past, LockBit ransomware has been used to target enterprises and organisations in the U.S., China, India, Ukraine, and Indonesia. Attacks have also been recorded throughout Europe, including in France, Germany, and the U.K.

The EU’s new crypto legislation

Context: The Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation has been passed by the European Parliament, marking a significant step in bringing the largely unregulated cryptocurrency markets under government regulation.

More on news:

The MiCA will be the world's first comprehensive set of rules for crypto assets and will apply to the 27-country block European Union. After receiving formal approval by member states, the regulation will come into effect, marking a crucial development in the evolution of cryptocurrency markets.

Coverage under MiCA

The MiCA legislation has a broad definition of "cryptoassets," encompassing digital representations of value or rights that use cryptography for security and can be transferred and stored electronically via distributed ledger technology or similar tech.
This definition includes both traditional cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum and newer ones such as stablecoins.
However, MiCA will not regulate cryptoassets that are classified as transferable securities, function like shares or their equivalent, or are already considered financial instruments under existing regulations. Additionally, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) will largely be excluded from MiCA's scope.
The legislation will also not regulate central bank digital currencies issued by the European Central Bank or digital assets issued by national central banks of EU member countries acting in their capacity as monetary authorities, nor will it regulate cryptoassets-related services offered by them.

Abatement Cost

Context: 'Abatement cost' has emerged as a key tool to steer the decarbonisation of the economy, to reduce its cost and to assess the efficiency of a technology, an investment or a public policy.

Abatement Cost

Abatement cost is simply the cost of an intervention that will reduce greenhouse gases emissions by one tonne. Abatement costs will be negative for energy efficient (cost savings) technologies.
Example: A plant can reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by replacing a gas boiler with a heat pump. But they will have to pay for installation of heat pump and will have to pay for the electricity needed to run it and will save money by no longer purchasing gas. Abatement cost per tonne of carbon not emitted can be arrived at dividing the total additional cost by the avoided emissions.

Significance of Abatement Cost

Abatement costs can be considered as a tool to select priority climate actions.
Negative abatement costs correspond to opportunities to reduce emissions with a net economic gain. Lowest abatement costs indicate opportunities to avoid emissions at low cost.
Thus, if we have limited budget for transition, then choosing the lowest abatement costs will maximise emissions reductions.

Limitations of using Abatement Cost

Abatement cost focuses on marginal emissions: Abatement cost is designed to reduce marginal emissions. Thus, if the goal was to reduce emissions slightly - for ex. by 10%, they abatement cost will be perfect tool. But the world is aiming for 'Net-zero emissions', wherein we cannot ignore hard-to-abate emissions.
Costs of technologies keep evolving: In a deep transition, technologies and their costs are not fixed and they evolve with our investments. For ex. In 2007, solar photovoltaics and wind power were expensive per tonne avoided. However, with increasing investments the cost of solar and wind power has come down.

Conclusion

Thus, marginal abatement costs may not be useful in developing a decarbonisation strategy. However, to minimize costs to net-zero emissions, we need to implement integrated strategies – in all sectors simultaneously – an economic, technological and social transition towards carbon neutrality.

Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS)

Context: Overseas remittances by Indian residents under the Reserve Bank of India’s Liberalised Remittance Scheme declined by 29%, falling to $1964 million in February 2025, compared to January 2025. Remittances for travel and studies abroad declined in the wake of the sharp fall in students going abroad.

Relevance of the Topic:Prelims: Key facts about the Liberalised Remittance Scheme.

About Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS)

As per the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA), persons resident in India are free to buy or sell foreign exchange for any current account transaction except for those transactions for which drawal of foreign exchange has been prohibited by the Central Government.
Under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme, all resident individuals, including minors, are allowed to freely remit up to USD 2,50,000 per financial year (April – March) for any permissible current or capital account transaction or a combination of both. There are no restrictions on the number of transactions but the cumulative amount should not exceed USD 2,50,000.
The Scheme was introduced on February 4, 2004, with a limit of USD 25,000. The LRS limit has been revised in stages consistent with prevailing macro and micro economic conditions.
Remittances under the LRS facility can be consolidated (clubbed together) in respect of close family members subject to the individual family members complying with the terms and conditions of the Scheme.
The remittances can be made in any freely convertible foreign currency (apart from dollars).
Only certain capital account transactions are allowed under LRS rules such as opening a bank account abroad i.e. a Foreign Currency Account, purchasing real estate property overseas, for making investments overseas which includes investing in shares, mutual funds, and debt instruments amongst others.
The Scheme is not available to corporates, partnership firms, HUF, Trusts etc.

Who is Covered Under this Scheme?

Individuals can avail of foreign exchange facility for the following purposes within the LRS limit of USD 2,50,000 on financial year basis:

Private visits to any country (except Nepal and Bhutan)
Gift or donation
Going abroad for employment
Emigration
Maintenance of close relatives abroad
Travel for business, or attending a conference or specialised training or for meeting expenses for meeting medical expenses, or check-up abroad, or for accompanying as attendant to a patient going abroad for medical treatment/ check-up
Expenses in connection with medical treatment abroad
Studies abroad
Any other current account transaction which is not covered under the definition of current account in FEMA 1999.

Changes to LRS

The investor who has remitted funds under LRS can retain and reinvest the income earned from his investment made under the scheme. However, the received/unused foreign exchange, unless reinvested, shall be repatriated and surrendered to an authorised person within a period of 180 days from the date of such realisation.
This new rule restrains the residents from keeping money beyond six months in offshore bank accounts. The rule requires them to 'Reinvest' the unused income earned from investments made under LRS from India in foreign securities, mutual funds, properties and other permitted assets.
Union government has decided to cancel its plan to impose a 20% tax on overseas credit card spending, exempting individuals from the levy for payments up to ₹7 lakh per year.
The Finance Ministry stated that it aims to address concerns raised about the applicability of Tax Collection at Source (TCS) to small transactions under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS).

What is Tax Collection at Source?

It an extra amount collected as tax by seller of specified goods from the buyer at the time of sale over and above the sale amount and is remitted to the government account.

Issues with the new rule:

Typically, a foreign bank will have a requirement of maintenance of minimum balance but the new LRS framework does not provide flexibility to retain excess funds in the bank account beyond a period of 180 days.
Until now, the unutilised funds would mostly be parked in a bank account, which offer minimal risk of capital loss, but now the same money which needs to be invested in securities incurs a potential risk.

Need for changes:

Along with change in LRS rules, Finance minister increased tax collection at source for foreign remittances to 20%. These measures were aimed to curb remittances outflows:

LRS remittances by Indians saw a sharp uptick in the last few years, thanks to booming stock markets and other lucrative investment opportunities including cryptocurrencies.
In 2021-22, Indians sent $20 billion overseas via LRS, up from $13 billion in FY21, RBI data showed. In the period between October to December 2022, residents sent $6 billion via LRS.
Such outward remittances add pressure to the forex reserves of the country, especially when there is FPI sell-off in Indian markets due to fed-tapering or when global oil prices are already high.

Melting of glaciers and its impact

Context: The United Nations has reported that the world's glaciers melted at an alarming rate last year, and saving them from further destruction is virtually impossible due to climate change.

More on news

The last eight years have been the warmest on record, with greenhouse gas concentrations hitting new peaks, and sea levels rising at an unprecedented rate. Antarctic sea ice reached a new low, and some European glaciers melted at an alarming rate. The oceans also experienced record high temperatures due to greenhouse gases. Despite the Paris Agreement's pledge to limit global warming, the outlook for glaciers and the environment is grim.

Impact of melting of Glaciers

Increase in sea level: As glaciers melt, the water they release adds to the global sea level, which can lead to flooding and erosion of coastal areas.
Changes in weather patterns: The melting glaciers are causing a significant concern as they are adding a considerable amount of freshwater into the ocean. This increase in freshwater has the potential to disturb the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), which is a crucial system of ocean currents responsible for shaping the Earth's climate and weather patterns.
Scarcity of freshwater: The fresh water available for human consumption is limited to only 2% of the total water on Earth, with over 70% of it locked in the form of glaciers and snow. Although glaciers are a primary source of fresh water in many regions of the world, the ever-growing population and the decreasing mass of glaciers pose a severe threat of water scarcity in the future.
Impact on Biodiversity: Melting glaciers can affect the habitats and migration patterns of many animal species, which can have cascading effects on entire ecosystems. E.g., In the Arctic, as sea ice melts, wildlife like walrus are losing their home and polar bears are spending more time on land, causing higher rates of conflict between people and bears.
Increased risk of natural disasters: The retreat of glaciers can increase the risk of natural disasters such as landslides, rockfalls, and glacial lake outburst floods.
Loss of cultural heritage: Glaciers are often important cultural sites and have significant spiritual and symbolic value to indigenous communities, and their loss can result in the loss of cultural heritage.
Economic impacts: The melting of glaciers can have significant economic impacts, particularly in regions where tourism and recreation are dependent on glacier-fed rivers and lakes. E.g., Himalayan region.
Increasing global warming: Due to the shrinking of high-albedo glaciers and sea ice, more solar radiation is being absorbed by the Earth, which creates a dangerous feedback loop, leading to a more rapid cycle of warming and melting.

State’s fiscal space

Off-budget borrowings

Off-budget borrowings or off-budget financing generally refer to use of those financial resources by the Government for meeting expenditure requirements, which are not reflected in the budget for seeking grant/appropriation, hence remaining outside legislative control. These are financed through Government owned public sector enterprises, which raise the resources through market borrowings on behalf of the Government.

However, the Government is to repay the debt or service the debt from its budget. Therefore, off-budget borrowings involve

Payment of interest on recurrent basis and
Repayment of the borrowings from budget as and when it is due.

Reasons for rise in Off-budget borrowings:

Constrained revenue growth due to the pandemic-induced slowdown and increasing revenue expenditure have led to widening of states' fiscal deficits. This has reduced the wherewithal of states to directly fund the entities they own.
Even if states wanted to borrow more, they couldn’t without the explicit approval of, and beyond the limits set by, the central government.

Borrowing by the States:
Article 293(3): A State cannot raise any loan without the consent of the Government of India if there is still outstanding any part of a loan which has been made to the State by the Government of India, or in respect of which a guarantee has been given by the Government of India. A consent under this clause may be granted by the centre subject to some conditions.The Centre has allowed States to borrow up to 3.5% of their respective state GDP and an additional 0.5% if they implement mandated power sector reforms.

Centre’s norms on Off-budget borrowings:

The off-budget debt was subjected to strict oversight after the Centre noticed many states were taking loans through their institutions, which was resulting in an incorrect assessment of their finances.

The Centra had noticed in FY22 that such off-budget borrowings would be considered as borrowings made by the state itself for the purpose of the Centre issuing its consent under Article 293(3) of the Constitution of India.
The Centre has also cleaned up its own off-budget borrowings by repaying loans such as those taken by the Food Corporation of India.

However, following the protests from several states, the Centre allowed four years till March 2026 to adjust their accumulated off-budget borrowings.

Interest free Long-term loans for Capex:

Union budget 2023-24 has proposed to continue with the 50-year interest-free loan to state governments that aid infrastructure investment. Most of it would be at the discretion of states, while parts of the expenditure will also be linked to conditions like

Scrapping old government vehicles
Urban planning reforms
Financing reforms in urban local bodies to make them creditworthy for municipal bonds
Constructing unity malls would focus on the sale of handicrafts, ‘one district, one product’ items, and GI products.

Besides, a part has to be directed at creating libraries as well as digital infrastructure, among others.

New space policy sets out roles of private and govt entities

Context: Indian Space Policy - 2023, which was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security on April 6, was made public recently.

About New India Space Policy 2023

(a) Role of Government entities:

Indian Space Research Organisation shall transition out from manufacturing operational space systems and focus its energies on research and development in new space technologies and applications and on expanding the human understanding of outer space.
Department of Space has been asked to implement the policy, interpret and clarify any ambiguities and establish a framework for safe and sustainable space operations and ensure that the different stakeholders are suitably empowered to discharge their respective functions without overlapping into the others' domains.
Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) shall function as an autonomous government organization, mandated to promote, hand-hold, guide and authorise space activities in the country.
NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), as the public sector undertaking under the Department of Space, shall be responsible for commercialising space technologies and platforms created through public expenditure. The policy:
- Mandated NSIL to manufacture, lease or procure space components, technologies, platforms and other assets from the private or the public sector on sound commercial principles.
- Tasked NSIL to service the space-based needs of users, whether government entities or non-government entities, on sound commercial principles.

(b) Role of Private companies:

Private companies, referred to as non-governmental entities in the policy, will be allowed to undertake end-to-end space activity — launching and operating satellites, developing rockets, creating ground stations, building spaceports and mobile launch platforms, and providing services like communication, remote sensing and navigation, nationally and internationally.
Private entities have also been encouraged to develop space situational awareness capabilities — a mechanism to track objects in space and avoid collision of satellites and space stations with each other or space debris.
Private players can engage in the “commercial recovery” of asteroids or space resources. The companies will be entitled to “possess, own, transport, use, and sell” such resources in accordance with the law.

(c) Empower Indian Consumers:Indian consumers of space technology or services -- such as communication, remote sensing, data services and launch services - whether from the public or the private sector, shall be free to directly procure them from any source.

PSLV Orbital Experimental Module

Context: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is scheduled to launch the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle C55 (PSLV-C55) mission on April 22 with Singapore’s TeLEOS-2 as the primary satellite and Lumelite-4 as a co-passenger satellite.

PSLV-C55 mission has the PSLV Orbital Experimental Module (POEM), where the spent PS4 (fourth and final stage of the PSLV launch vehicle) would be utilised as an orbital platform to carry out scientific experiments through non-separating payloads.

PSLV Orbital Experimental Module (POEM)

PSLV Orbital Experimental Module is a platform that will help perform in-orbit experiments using the final, and otherwise discarded, stage of ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).
The PSLV is a four-stage rocket where the first three spent stages fall back into the ocean, and the final stage (PS4) — after launching the satellite into orbit — ends up as space junk. However, in the PSLV-C55 mission, the spent final stage will be utilised as a “stabilised platform” to perform experiments.
POEM has a dedicated Navigation Guidance and Control (NGC) system for attitude stabilisation, which stands for controlling the orientation of any aerospace vehicle within permitted limits. The NGC will act as the platform’s brain to stabilize it with specified accuracy.
POEM will derive its power from solar panels mounted around the PS4 tank, and a Li-Ion battery. It will navigate using “four sun sensors, a magnetometer, gyros & NavIC”.