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Israeli forces stormed southern Gaza's main city in what they called the most intense day of combat in five weeks of ground operations against Hamas militants, and hospitals struggled to cope with scores of Palestinian dead and wounded.
In what appeared to be the biggest ground assault in Gaza since a truce with Hamas unravelled last week, Israel said its forces - which were backed by warplanes - had reached the heart of Khan Younis.
Govt & Politics
India announces $250mn line of credit to Kenya in agri sector (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
India Tuesday announced a $250 million line of credit to Kenya for modernisation of its agricultural sector as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting Kenyan President William Samoei Ruto agreed to strengthen bilateral ties in the field of defence, trade, energy, digital public infrastructure and healthcare.
After Modi-Ruto talks, the two sides signed five pacts providing for cooperation in a range of areas including sports, education and digital solution, and unveiled a joint vision document to scale up maritime engagement in the Indian Ocean region.
India also raised the issue of two Indian nationals who went missing in the east African country in July last year. The missing Indians were identified as Zulfiqar Ahmad Khan and Zaid Sami Kidwai.
There were reports that they were abducted. Reports in October last year had cited a close aide of the Kenyan president claiming that the two missing Indians were killed by the disbanded Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) unit.
22 nations pledge to triple nuclear installed capacity by 2050, India not a part of pact (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
In a bid to attain a net-zero emissions status, more than 20 countries have pledged to triple the global nuclear installed capacity by 2050, at the COP28 climate meeting.
Just as in the case of the pledge tripling renewable energy, India is not a part of the nuclear energy commitment as well, in keeping with its position not to join alliances outside the COP process.
Led by the United States, 22 countries including France, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, South Korea and Ukraine, pledged last week to “work together” to advance a “global aspirational goal” of tripling nuclear energy capacity from 2020 to 2050, recognising the key role that nuclear energy can play in keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial times, and in ensuring net-zero transitions.
Nuclear energy is a clean but non-renewable source of energy. As of now, about 370 GW of operational nuclear power capacity is installed in 31 countries, providing about 10 per cent of the world’s total electricity, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). A tripling would see this go up to at least 1,000 GW by the middle of the century.
Nuclear power plants do not emit greenhouse gases and are an essential part of almost every pathway that takes the world to a net-zero emissions state by 2050.
India’s CO2 emission may register biggest rise for 2nd yr : Study (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
For the second successive year, India is likely to register the largest growth in carbon dioxide emissions among the major economies, the annual study of Global Carbon Project has revealed.
The study, one of the several that are released at the annual climate change conference, says there was a 50 per cent chance that in the next seven years, the world would start to breach the 1.5 degrees Celsius on a consistent basis if the current emission trends continued.
Daily or weekly breaches are already happening, and at least one annual breach is almost certain in the next five years.
Carbon dioxide is the most important and extensive but only one of the six greenhouse gases whose rising concentrations in the atmosphere is leading to global warming.
The 8.2 per cent rise in India’s annual CO2 emissions for 2023 would be more than double the expected increase in China, which is set to see a 4 per cent growth this year. Last year, India’s emissions had grown by 6 per cent while China had seen a decline of one per cent.
Editorial
Vows for the planet (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
India is in the middle of several extraordinary transitions, the impact of which will benefit both India and the world. One of those transitions is in energy, with India aiming to be the first major economy to power its rise to developed country status with increasingly clean energy.
This extraordinary ambition is the backdrop in India to negotiations at the climate summit in Dubai on the future of our one, shared planet.
This year’s COP28 builds on work done by its predecessors, including the UK Presidency’s COP26 at Glasgow which secured six gigatonnes of emissions reductions through updated national climate pledges.
There has been progress on climate in recent years; rapid growth in renewable energy and greater long-term clarity through many countries’ ambitious net zero commitments.
But there’s a long way to go. Countries around the world are still losing lives, biodiversity, and crores in building back from climate disasters.
The risks to all countries from climate change are huge. According to the IPCC, India is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change — with projected drops in crop production, water scarcity, increased sea-level rises, and extreme heat stress.
The policy choices India makes and the targets it sets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are also crucial to the world achieving its collective 1.5 degrees Celsius goal agreed at the Paris COP21.
Ideas Page
India and geopolitics of AI (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
All current discussions on the geopolitics of Artificial Intelligence inevitably hark back to the nuclear experience.
As the world recalls the lessons from the nuclear age to cope with the problems and opportunities presented by AI, India too could benefit from a reflection on its complex nuclear history.
Although nuclear and AI are very different, there are similarities too. The nuclear revolution was revealed to the world by the use of atomic bombs against Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.
The enormous destructive power and its horrendous consequences compelled statesmen and scientists to consider ways to limit the threats to the survival of humanity in the nuclear age.
The AI revolution threatens an even bigger catastrophe — machines taking over from humanity and enslaving them.
The broader impact of the AI revolution is likely to be far more sweeping; while nuclear technology never lived up to its economic promise of “delivering electricity too cheap to meter”, AI promises to transform the economy, society and polity in fundamental ways.
Express Network
IISER Bhopal researchers conduct first genome sequencing of jamun (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
Not just Ayurveda but multiple clinical studies have shown the health benefits of jamun as an excellent source of antioxidants, iron, and vitamin C. Now, researchers at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER Bhopal) have completed the first-ever genome sequencing of the jamun tree (Syzygium cumini), popular in India for its medicinal properties, fruit and ornamental value.
This is the first time the plant has been examined and decoded so closely. Dr Vineet K Sharma, professor, department of biological sciences told that this research aimed to gain new functional and evolutionary insights from the jamun genome, which could be responsible for the wide range of pharmacological properties of this species “conferred by the bioactive compounds that act as nutraceutical agents in modern medicine”.
A team, led by Dr Sharma, has published its findings in the journal Frontiers in Plant Science. Syzygium cumini, more commonly known as jamun, is a Myrtaceae plant family tropical tree.
Economy
Indian Economy to be third largest by 2030: S&P Global (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
India is set to become the third-largest economy by 2030 and is expected to be the fastest growing major economy in the next three years, S&P Global Ratings said in its report ‘Global Credit Outlook 2024: New Risks, New Playbook’ released.
India’s growth path to become the third largest economy will depend on the “paramount test” of whether it can become the next global manufacturing hub moving away from being a services-led economy.
“India is set to become the third-largest economy by 2030, and we expect it will be the fastest growing major economy in the next three years.
A paramount test will be whether India can become the next big global manufacturing hub, an immense opportunity.
Developing a strong logistics framework will be key in transforming India from a services-dominated economy into a manufacturing-dominant one.