Context: Recently, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the Tribes Advisory Council Meeting, announced Rs 50 thousand for the needy ST-SC students to pursue degree courses.

About Tribal advisory councils (TACs) 

• Genesis: They are constitutional bodies formed under the Fifth Schedule to deal with welfare and advancement of scheduled tribes in states. 
  • According to the provisions of Paragraph 4, under Article 244(1) of Fifth Schedule of the Constitution of India, TAC shall be established in each State having Scheduled Areas therein and, if the President so directs, also in any State having Scheduled Tribes but not Scheduled Areas therein.
• Membership: It shall consist of not more than 20 members of whom, as nearly as may be, three-fourths shall be representatives of Scheduled Tribes in State Legislative Assembly provided that if number of representatives of STs in State Assembly is less than number of seats in TAC to be filled by such representatives, remaining seats shall be filled by other members of those tribes.
• Current Status: Tribes Advisory Council (TAC) have been constituted in 10(Ten) states having Scheduled Areas therein namely Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Rajasthan.

News Source: HT

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Context:

Recently a meeting was organized to review the progress of Phase-III of the Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region (MOVCDNER).

Image Source: Government of India

About Mission Organic Value Chain Development for the North Eastern Region:

• Aim:  To develop end to end organic value chains in North Eastern States.
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare for implementation
• It is a Central Sector Scheme, a sub-mission under National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA).
• Beneficiary States:
  • Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura
• Implementation: 
  • National Level: The Mission structure at Government of India level will comprise of National Advisory Committee (NAC), Executive Committee (EC), Mission Monitoring Committee (MMC).
  • State Level: It will be implemented by the State Level Executive Committee (SLEC) and executed through a designated state Lead Agency in the form of state “Organic Commodity Board” or “Organic Mission”. 
• Significance:
  • MOVCDNER has helped in bringing 1.73 lakh ha area under organic farming benefiting 1.89 lakh farmers.

News Source: PIB

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Context:

• War-torn Sudan’s capital has experienced a communications blackout for several hours as the army and paramilitary forces waged intense battles across Khartoum.

More about the news:

• Power tussle: The city was engulfed in intense battles between the army and paramilitary forces, exacerbating the ongoing humanitarian crises.
• Communication breakdown: Vital internet and mobile phone connections which have been critical to sourcing information and supplies during nearly three months of war were out of service as “violent clashes” raged in several parts of the city.

Location of  Sudan:

• Sudan is a country in Northeast Africa with the capital city Khartoum.Khartoum, is located roughly in the center of the country, at the junction of the Blue Nile and White Nile rivers
• Bordering countries: It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Egypt to the north, Eritrea to the northeast, Ethiopia to the southeast, Libya to the northwest, South Sudan to the south, and the Red Sea. 

Darfur Region:

• The Darfur region is a western region of Sudan,  It is bordered by Libya to the northwest, Chad to the west, the Central African Republic to the southwest, South Sudan to the south, and the Nile River to the east.

Darfur Conflict:

• Ethnic and power struggle: The ongoing conflict that has taken place in the Darfur region of Sudan since the early 2000s is often described as an ethnic and political struggle between various armed groups, the Sudanese government, and government-backed militias.
• Competition for resources: Environmental degradation and competition over resources has resulted in communal conflict and rebellions in Darfur. The rebel groups have accused the government of neglecting and marginalizing the Darfur region and its population.

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Context:

• India’s wholesale prices remained in deflationary state for the third successive month in June, with the rate of price contraction increasing to -4.12% from -3.48% in May.
• This represents the sharpest contraction in wholesale prices in approximately eight years.

Reasons for Deflationary Trends:

• Base Effect: The trend is mainly driven by the base effects from the previous year and the decline in commodity prices.
• Decline in Commodity Prices: The decline in the inflation rate is attributed to decreases in prices of mineral oils, food products, basic metals, crude petroleum and natural gas, and textiles. 
• Global Uncertainties: A surge in vegetable prices, along with disruptions in the supply of cereals and pulses due to excessive rainfall, delayed sowing of major crops, and the onset of El Nino conditions, adds uncertainty to the outlook for food inflation.

Wholesale Price Index:

• Definition: It is an indicator that determines the average changes in the price of goods that are sold in bulk in a wholesale market. This index is useful in calculating the change in commodity prices at different stages before it reaches the retailer. The WPI is calculated only for goods.
•  WPI Data: The WPI is published by the Office of Economic Adviser, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
• Base Year: 2011-12

Items Included in Wholesale Price Index:

• There are 697 items included in the index. These items are further divided into three categories and shown with their relative weights in calculation of WPi:
  • Primary articles: 22.62%
  • Fuel and Power: 13.15%
  • Manufactured Goods: 64.23%

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Context: Recently, the Indian External Affairs Minister attended the 13th East Asia Summit (EAS)  Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia.

About East Asia Summit (EAS) 

• It is the Indo-Pacific’s premier forum for strategic dialogue. 
• Comprehensive mechanism: It is the only leader-led forum at which all key Indo-Pacific partners meet to discuss political, security and economic challenges facing the region, and has an important role to play in advancing closer regional cooperation.
• Member Countries: Ten ASEAN countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) along with Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Russia and the United States. 
• ASEAN leads the forum, and the chair position rotates between ASEAN Member States annually.
• SIgnificance: In 2022, EAS members represented 52.8 percent of the world’s population and accounted for 60.4 percent of global GDP.
• Major Outcome of Meeting: Participating counties expressed concerns over the situation in the South China Sea, mentioned the importance of the freedom of navigation and overflight, of the peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with international law, and of the peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and expressed concerns over the increasing tensions.

About Taiwan Strait:

• The Taiwan Strait, also known as the Formosa Strait, is a 180 km wide strait separating Taiwan and mainland China.
• The strait currently links to the East China Sea to the north and is a portion of the South China Sea. 
• Asia’s continental shelf encompasses the entire strait.
• In the past, both Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) supported the One-China Policy, which viewed the Taiwan Strait as a portion of one “China”‘s exclusive economic zone.

Image Credit: The Economist

News Source: the HIndu

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Context:

Recently, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) conducted the G20 Conference on ‘Crime and Security in the Age of NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) AI and Metaverse’  in Gurugram, Haryana.

About Non-Fungible Tokens:

• Non-fungible tokens, often referred to as NFTs, are blockchain-based tokens that each represent a unique asset like a piece of art, digital content, or media.

Image Credits: Medium

• An NFT can be thought of as an irrevocable digital certificate of ownership and authenticity for a given asset, whether digital or physical. For example, Amitabh Bachchan NFT’s were on sale, Bachchan’s NFT collectable series included his father’s famous poem “Madhushala”, autographed vintage posters of himself, along with his other works.
• NFTs are created through a process called minting, in which the information of the NFT is recorded on a blockchain. 
• They have become a popular way to buy and sell digital artwork. 
  • For Example: In 2020, the market capital of NFT bloomed, climbing 338 million from 41 million (2018)

How is an NFT different from Cryptocurrency?

Characteristics of a non-fungible tokens:

• Uniqueness: Each NFT is unique and distinguishable from other tokens. It has its own specific characteristics, metadata, and ownership history.
• Indivisibility: NFTs cannot be divided or broken down into smaller units. They are treated as whole assets and cannot be exchanged on a like-for-like basis.
• Ownership and Authenticity: NFTs serve as proof of ownership and authenticity for a specific digital asset or item. They provide a verifiable record of the asset’s origin, ownership history, and attributes.
• Scarcity: NFTs can represent assets with limited availability or scarcity, adding to their value and collectibility. The scarcity may be predefined or determined by the creator or platform issuing the NFT.

What types of assets can non-fungible tokens be used for?

• Non-fungible tokens can be created to represent virtually any asset, whether physical, digital or metaphysical.
• However, the most common NFT assets are digital art, digital collectible items, pieces of content like video or audio, and event tickets.

Benefits:

• Disincentivize Plagiarism: They enable artists to create and sell unique and scarce digital works, without the risk of duplication or plagiarism. 
• New Artistic Forms: They create a new form of artistic expression and innovation, where digital art can be interactive, dynamic, or collaborative, and where new genres and styles can emerge.
• Verifiability: The ownership of an NFT is recorded on a blockchain, which makes it easy to verify. 
• Transferability: NFTs can be bought, sold, and traded on NFT marketplaces. This means that they can be used as a form of currency or investment.
• Authenticity: NFTs can be used to prove the authenticity of digital goods. This is because the ownership of an NFT is recorded on a blockchain, which makes it difficult to forge. 

Challenges Associated with Non-Fungible Tokens:

• Complexity: The technology and tooling behind non-fungible tokens and the decentralized applications  that underpin them are still nascent.
• Legal and Regulatory Challenges: NFT has no recognized legal definition anywhere in the world. Different nations are forging forward with various classification schemes for NFT.
• High Consumption of Energy: They have a significant environmental impact, as they consume a lot of energy and generate a lot of emissions.  
• Prone to Speculation: They are subject to market volatility and speculation, as the prices and demand of NFTs can fluctuate rapidly and unpredictably.
• Counterfeit and Fraudulent NFTs: There have been instances of fraudulent NFTs, which undermines trust in the NFT ecosystem and raises concerns about counterfeit NFTs circulating in the market.

News Source: The Hindu

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Context: 

• As demand for arhar (pigeon peas) in India continues to outpace domestic production, farmers in Australia and Brazil plan to grow the popular yellow lentil for Indian consumers.

About Pulses:

• Pulses are annual leguminous crops or seeds of variable size, shape and colour used for both food and feed. 
  • The term “pulses” only applies to crops that are grown for their dry grain. This means that green crops grown for food, which are called vegetable crops, as well as crops grown mostly for oil extraction and leguminous crops grown only for sowing, are not included.

Status in India: 

• India’s Ranking: India is the largest producer (25% of global production), consumer (27% of world consumption) and importer (14%) of pulses in the world. 
• Area: Pulses account for around 20 percent of the area under food grains and contribute around 7-10 per cent of the total foodgrains production in the country. Productivity of pulses is 764 kg/ha.
• Growing season: Though pulses are grown in both Kharif and Rabi seasons, Rabi pulses contribute more than 60 per cent of the total production.
• Dominant pulse: Gram is the most dominant pulse having a share of around 40 per cent in the total production followed by Tur/Arhar at 15 to 20 per cent and Urad/Black Matpe and Moong at around 8-10 per cent each. 
• States Ranking: Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka are the top five pulses producing States.
• Major Export Destinations (2022-23) : Bangladesh, China, UAE, U.S.A and Nepal.

Major pulses grown and consumed in India:

• Bengal Gram (Desi Chick Pea / Desi Chana)
• Pigeon Peas (Arhar / Toor / Red Gram)
• Green Beans (Moong Beans)
• Chick Peas (Kabuli Chana)
• Black Matpe (Urad / Mah / Black Gram)
• Red Kidney Beans (Rajma)
• Black Eyed Peas (Lobiya)
• Lentils (Masoor)
• White Peas (Matar) 

Tur and Urad statistics: 

• Tur: Tur occupies 33 per cent of pulses area and contributes to 48 per cent of total kharif pulses production. Of this, the top 3 States — Maharashtra, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh — contribute 64 per cent to area and production.
• Urad: Urad has 28 per cent share in area and 23 per cent in kharif pulse production. The top three states —Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh — contribute about 73 per cent to area and 69 per cent to production of urad

Unique role of pulses:

• Environmentally sustainable: Pulses grow on a wide range of soil and climatic conditions. They are better suited in different farming systems, such as crop rotation, mixed and inter-cropping systems. 

• Nitrogen Fixation: Legumes help to fix atmospheric nitrogen into the soil and release soil-bound phosphorus. They add organic matter into the soil in the form of leaf mold. Some pulses are suitable as green-manure crops. 
• Checking soil erosion: They help check the soil-erosion,contributing to maintaining soil fertility level. 
• Raw material for industries: Pulses as industrial crops provide raw material to industries, such as dal industry, roasted grain industry, papad industry, etc.
• Nutritious Cattle feed: They serve as a rich source of nutritious fodder for cattle.
• Low carbon footprint: Pulses have low carbon emission and water needs which make them ideally suited in India’s farming system. As per recent estimates, water needs for the production of one kg meat are five times higher than that of pulses. 

Challenges with pulse production in India: 

• Per capita availability: Per capita net availability of pulses in India, has reduced from 51.1 gm/day (1971) to 41.9 gm/day (2013) as against WHO recommendation of 80gm/day. This raises questions about the nutritional aspect as pulses are considered to be ‘poor man’s protein’. 
• Ineffectiveness of MSP: NAFED and SFAC are responsible to procure pulses under MSP but they have been procuring an insignificant quantity of pulse. Thus, pulse-growers are often receiving prices much below MSP 
• Open import policy: Pulses are imported at prices lower than the domestic ones, leading to poor price discovery for domestic farmers.
• Inefficient marketing arrangement: The absence of efficient marketing arrangement and production constraints created a huge gap between demand and supply resorting to imports. There is a deficit of about 17 lakh tonnes in Indian demand and supply 
• Lack of assured irrigation: Between 1966-67 and 2012-13, the area under irrigation increased from 38% to 59% for rice and 48% to 93% for wheat as against 9 %to 16% for pulses. Around 84% area under pulses is rain-fed with soils relatively of low fertility
• Climate change: Climate drought and heat stress influence 50% reduction in seed yields particularly in arid and semi-arid regions of the country.
• Soil salinity and alkalinity: Soils growing pulses have a high level of salinity and alkalinity in semi-arid tropics and Indo-Gangetic plains
• Poor Drainage system: poor drainage leading to waterlogging during the rainy season in States of UP, Bihar, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, MP and Jharkhand causes substantial yield losses in pigeon-pea in particular
• Green revolution:  Farmers conventionally used their own saved seeds and practically used no phosphatic fertilizers. The green revolution pushed pulses cultivation in marginal and sub-marginal lands resulting in declining productivity
• Pests and diseases: Pulses being rich in nitrogen and phosphorus content are easy victims of insects, pests and diseases which severely reduce the productivity of chickpea, pigeon pea and lentil.
• Institutional credit: Inability of small, marginal and tenant farmers to access institutional credit discourage them to purchase and use seeds of high-yielding varieties, phosphatic fertilizers and adopt improved technology. 

 Way Forward:

• Effective MSP: India’s dependence on imported pulses is likely to continue in the near future too but to ensure domestic farmers do not lose, governments need to ensure that the landed cost of imported pulses does not fall below MSPs.
• Revision of MSP formula: The MSP formula should be revised and the purchase of each crop in the entire country should be ensured at that declared price.
• Efficient forecasting: Significantly improving India’s capacity to forecast nearer to correct estimates of area under pulses and output of pulses through better use of technology and methods in the 21st century.
• Timely availability of inputs: Putting all-out efforts to transfer the proven and demonstrated technologies at farmers’ fields accompanied by an efficient system of linking institutional credit with on-time availability of quality inputs and marketing services that can guarantee expected yield.
• Buffer stock: Building a need-based buffer stock with accountability for proper management incurring no wastage.
• Enforcement of ECA: A better system of easy availability of pulses in the open market throughout the year through efficient and rigorous enforcement of essential commodities Act(ECA) and need-based/warranted distribution through PDS if necessary or direct benefit transfer scheme.
• Harnessing market potential: The potential of markets should be harnessed through value chain approach right from the production at farm level and encompassing post-harvest, processing, packaging, transportation] to marketing for small and marginal farmers to reduce losses/wastages and increase income.
• Reducing import dependency: The dependence on import of pulses needs to be reduced gradually over time by stepping up the domestic production of pulses supported with appropriate long-term strategies.

News Source: Business Standard

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Context:  Recently, the Ministry of coal has set a target to gasify 100 million tonnes of coal by FY 2030 in line with its energy transition plans.

Highlight

• Aim: To meet the future energy needs of the country while stimulating other sectors.
• The ministry is considering a comprehensive scheme, with an outlay of ₹6,000 crore, to promote coal and lignite gasification projects for both public sector undertakings (PSUs) and the private sector.
• PPP model for Gasification:  Selection of PSUs and private sector companies for budgetary support for gasification projects will be done through a tariff-based bidding process.

Need for Coal Gasification: Abundant indigenous Coal Source

• Transition: India has huge reserves of coal, it would be beneficial for India if it finds a sustainable way of using these reserves as the world including India is gradually transitioning away from coal toward cleaner fuels in the wake of climate change.
• Energy Security: The use of domestic coal reserves becomes even more important, especially when India does not have other sources of fuel – crude oil and natural gas, 82% and 45% of the requirement of those fuels is met through imports. This exposes India to the vagaries of price volatility and supply insecurity. 
• Sustainable usage of coal: India will continue to depend on coal for its future energy needs at least till 2050 as per several reports. Since coal has to be used for coming 2 to 3 decades, there is an urgent need to make use of coal as green as possible.

About Coal Gasification:

• Process: Coal gasification is a thermo-chemical procedure wherein the pressure and heat of the gasifier disintegrate coal into its chemical components. 
• Constituents: The resulting “syngas” is mostly carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen, with some other gaseous substances such Hydrogen Sulphide and Carbon dioxide.
• Cleaner Alternative: Coal gasification is said to be more efficient than traditional coal burning since it can use the gases two times: 
  • Primary use: Coal Gases are first purified of contaminants before being fired inside a turbine to produce energy. 
  • Secondary use: The gas turbine exhaust heat can be then collected and used to produce steam for a steam turbine-generator.
  • Efficiency: Coal gasification processing facility using this dual method can possibly attain an efficiency of 50% or higher, compared to the customary coal power plant, which is typically just above 30%.

Image Source: White Paper on Coal Gasification

Methods  of Coal Gasification

• In-situ method: Here oxygen is infused into the seam together with water and ignited at high temperatures, causing coal to partly oxidize into hydrogen, CO, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and hydrogen sulfide (H2S).
• Ex-situ reactors: They are designed to simulate the gasification process above the ground’s surface. 
  • Sulphur in coal is transformed to H2S and trace volumes of carbonyl sulphide((COS) during the gasification process .

Types of Gasifiers

• Fixed Bed Gasifiers: Ithas a solids stream that is independent of the gas flow, needs little pretreatment of the feed coal, and has a high thermal efficiency.
• Fluidized Bed Gasifiers: It has uniform particulate blending, uniform thermal gradients, a high char recycling percentage, and a low capital cost.
• Entrained Flow Gasifiers: It can handle almost any feed, and the syngas it produces is free of oils and tars.

Advantages of Coal Gasification:

• Industrial Application of Coal Gas
  • Raw Source of Energy: Syngas can be used to generate power, in energy-efficient fuel cell technology, or as chemical “building components” for industrial applications. 
  • Source of Hydrogen economy: The hydrogen can also be extracted and used to power a hydrogen economy. 
  • Automobile Fuel: Coal gas can also be transformed into a transportation fuel to be used in automobiles as a replacement for gasoline.
  • Steel Industry: Syngas (CO and H2) are essential reducing agents for steel production and are regarded as an environmentally friendly technique of steel production because they reduce the import of furnace oil.
  • Generating Electricity: The synthesis gas can be used in an Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) system to generate electricity in an  efficient and  environmentally friendly manner.        
  • Miscellaneous Product: It could be used to generate a range of products using clean coal innovations such as hydrogen, methanol, and fertilisers via coal gasification. Carbon fibres and plastic composites made from coal power plant ash/residue.
• AtmaNirbhar Bharat: The syngas produced by coal gasification can be used to generate urea and a variety of products such as methanol, Dimethyl ether (DME), and olefins, allowing India to minimize imports and become self-sufficient.
• Pharmaceutical Industry: India has ambitious plans to produce active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) domestically rather than importing them from China. 
  • There is a high potential of Syngas in making APIs, as well as methanol as a solvent.
• Cleaner and Environmental Friendly: There is no scrubber sludge produced by coal gasification plants.
  • The majority of the wash water is reprocessed, and residual waste waters from gasification plants can be treated effectively.
  • As a result, coal gasification is regarded as a cleaner coal technology when compared to coal combustion.
• Achieving Paris Commitment: India announced environmental targets as its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement in 2016 and revised targets in COP 26 at Glasgow. 
  • Coal gasification aids in the decrease of emission levels and the advancement of non-fossil fuel-based energy resources.

Challenges in Coal Gasification:

• Quality of Coal: High ash content of Indian coal is a crucial barrier in the development of suitable technology. 
• Induced Subsidence: The void created by deep mining during coal gasification process may cause significant deformation both in the remaining coal and surrounding rocks. Heating, quenching, water flux and potential roof and wall collapse may seriously compromise the integrity of the cavity leading to a subsidence.
• Occupational hazard: Coal Gasification process cannot be controlled to the same extent as surface gasifiers which poses the risk on account of high temperature and pressure in the cavity which furthers the risk for the workers. 
• Environmental Factors: According to some studies, coal gasification actually generates more CO2 than a conventional coal power station.
• Groundwater Contamination: While the nation already faces a water scarcity, coal gasification is one of the more water-intensive energy generation methods. 
• Economy of Project: It is an inherently ‘unsteady’ state process and both the flow rate and the heating value of the product gas will vary over time.  
  • Changes in the quantity and quality of gas produced will have a significant impact on the economics of the project.
• Technological Concern: Lack of availability of proven gasification technology suitable for Indian poor-quality Coal

Way Forward:

• ‘Dedicated, closed Coal Mines’ to be earmarked for Coal Gasification Projects (to be awarded through Auction Linkage) for better Coal Quality consistency , sustained Supply & closer Mining & Transportation Cost control. 
• Viability gap funding, Infrastructure status: Financial Incentives from Govt to support very high Capex of Gasification Projects needed to improve Viability of ‘Energy Security’ (Clean) Projects. 
• Level playing field: Exemption from currently applicable Cess / Duties on Coal Feedstock prices to be provided for Environment – friendly Coal Gasification Projects due to its Clean Technology adaptation. 
• ‘National Policy on Coal Gasification & Liquefaction’ should be urgently formulated and promulgated for faster and smooth implementation of Coal Gasification based Projects. 
• Schemes for ‘Blending Methanol, DME with Gasoline & LPG’ respectively to be implemented at the earliest, also requiring policy framework for all by products of coal gasification.

News Source: Livemint

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