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A reference to coal phase-out and suggestion to end fresh investments in coal prevented India from endorsing a renewable energy pledge at the COP28 climate meeting, and a mention of health sector emissions is expected to keep it away from a declaration on health as well.
The pledge was mainly about tripling global renewable energy installed capacity by 2030, something that India had already backed as part of the G20 grouping.
But the pledge, taken by more than 100 countries Saturday, included references to coal phase-out and an end to fresh investments in that sector, something that India could not sign on to.
India has repeatedly made it clear that it would continue to use coal for electricity generation in the near future even as it ramps up the capacity of renewable energy sources.
Just ahead of the COP28 meeting, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kawatra had reiterated the same line in a press conference in New Delhi, saying India’s economic and developmental imperatives did not allow for a sudden abandonment of coal, as is often demanded.
India agrees to pull out soldiers from Maldives, says Muizzu (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu said that the Indian government has agreed to withdraw its soldiers from the island nation.
Hours later, sources in New Delhi said the issue was briefly discussed in Dubai where he met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussions on how to keep the Indian helicopters and operational aircraft were “ongoing” and “the core group that both sides have agreed to set up will look at details of how to take this forward”.
In the discussions we had, the Indian government has agreed to remove Indian soldiers,” Muizzu told reporters in Male.
We also agreed to set up a high-level committee to solve issues related to development projects.” Muizzu made the remarks following engagements on the sidelines of the COP28 climate summit.
The island nation has two helicopters and an aircraft provided by India to the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) for emergency medical evacuations and disaster relief operations. There are 77 Indian military personnel in Maldives to operate these platforms.
Explained
Grandmaster (Page no. 17)
(Miscellaneous)
Indian chess player Vaishali Rameshbabu became a Grandmaster by crossing 2,500 International Chess Federation (FIDE) ranking points at the IV El Llobregat Open in Spain. She is only the third Indian woman player to achieve the title, besides Koneru Humpy and Harika Dronavalli.
With this development, Vaishali and her younger brother, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, have become the first-ever Grandmaster brother-sister duo in history.
Grandmaster is the highest title or ranking that a chess player can achieve. The Grandmaster title — and other chess titles — is awarded by the International Chess Federation, FIDE (acronym for its French name Fédération Internationale des Échecs), the Lausanne-Switzerland-based governing body of the international game.
The title is the badge of the game’s super-elite, a recognition of the greatest chess talent on the planet, which has been tested and proven against a peer group of other similarly talented players in the world’s toughest competitions.
Besides Grandmaster, the Qualification Commission of FIDE recognises and awards seven other titles: International Master (IM), FIDE Master (FM), Candidate Master (CM), Woman Grandmaster (WGM), Woman International Master (WIM), Woman FIDE Master (WFM), and Woman Candidate Master (WCM).
What is All India Judicial Service, why it has failed to become reality (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)
During her inaugural address at the Supreme Court’s Constitution Day celebration on Sunday (November 26), President Droupadi Murmu called for an “all-India judicial service” to recruit judges, saying this will help make the judiciary diverse by increasing representation from marginalised social groups.
There can be an all-India judicial service which can select brilliant youngsters and nurture and promote their talents from lower levels to higher levels.
Those who aspire to serve the Bench can be selected from across the country to create a larger pool of talent. Such a system can offer opportunities to the less-represented social groups too,” Murmu said.
Article 312 of the Constitution provides for the establishment of an All-India Judicial Service (AIJS), along the lines of the central civil services.
If the Rajya Sabha declares through a resolution, supported by at least two-thirds of its present and voting members, that it is necessary or expedient to create a service in “national interest,” the Parliament “may by law provide for the creation of one or more all India services (including an All India Judicial Service) common to the Union and the States” and regulate the recruitment and service conditions of persons appointed to any such service.
Economy
Why is MPC likely to leave the repo rate unchanged? (Page no. 19)
(GS Paper 3, Geography)
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank may keep the repo rate — its key lending rate — unchanged at 6.5 per cent in its upcoming monetary policy review scheduled from December 6-8.
This may be because of rising inflationary risks, stemming from the recent spike in vegetable prices. The central bank is also expected to retain the stance of the monetary policy as ‘withdrawal of accommodation’.
With better-than-expected second-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) print at 7.6 per cent, the RBI may revise upwards its FY ’24 growth estimate.
Economists said that the six-member rate-setting panel of the RBI is unlikely to tinker with the repo rate — the rate at which RBI lends money to banks to meet their short-term funding needs — in the upcoming policy.
There will be no change (in the RBI policy). The reason is that the inflation will start inching up because food inflation is going to increase.
We have seen onion and tomato prices going up again. So, there is no case for even thinking of lowering the repo rate.
At the same time, core inflation is around 4 per cent, and therefore, there is no reason for the RBI to increase the rate.
Consumer price-based inflation (CPI) eased to 4.87 per cent in October from 5.02 per cent in September. The retail inflation, however, remains above the 4 per cent target of the RBI.