In News

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has recently stated that the concentration of ozone-depleting substances in the atmosphere has reduced to reach a significant milestone this year. 

About National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration :

• It is an American scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce.
• NOAA forecasts weather and monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditions.

Key Findings of the Study

• Tropical Ozone Hole
  • The ozone hole is situated across the tropics at altitudes of 10 to 25 km.
  • This hole is roughly seven times bigger than Antarctica.
  • In contrast to Antarctica where the ozone hole is only visible in the spring, the Tropical ozone hole is visible throughout all four seasons.
  • Since the 1980s, the hole's size has increased significantly.
  • According to the study, Cosmic rays are the new source responsible for Ozone Depletion.
• ODS (Ozone Depleting Substances) levels in 2022 are back to those observed in 1980 before ozone depletion was significant.
• However, the pace of reduction in ODSs over Antarctica, which experiences a large ozone hole in spring, has been slower. 

Understanding Ozone:

What is the Ozone layer?

• Ozone is a pale blue gas with a pungent (chlorine-like) smell.
• Ozone is a molecule made of three oxygen atoms that are extremely reactive and is mostly found in two regions of the atmosphere (the oxygen we breathe, O2, makes up 21% of the atmosphere).
• Ultraviolet (UV) energy from the Sun interacts with oxygen (O2) molecules to produce ozone molecules.

• The majority of ozone is created in the stratosphere, giving rise to what is known as the "ozone layer," because UV light is more powerful at higher altitudes where the air is thinner.
• The ozone layer, which makes up over 90% of all the ozone in the atmosphere, is located between 10 and 40 kilometres in altitude and reaches its height peak in the stratosphere at about 25 kilometres.
• For total ozone, the unit of measurement is the Dobson Unit (DU).

Significance of Ozone Layer

• Ozone protects the Earth from harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays from the Sun because it has the ability to block UV-B light, which has a wavelength of between 280 and 315 nanometers and is the most harmful type of UV radiation.
• Plants cannot live and grow in heavy ultraviolet radiation, nor can the planktons that serve as food for most of the ocean life.
• With a weakening of the Ozone Layer shield, humans would be more susceptible to skin cancer, cataracts and impaired immune systems.
• Ozone absorbs UV radiation in the stratosphere, which ends up heating the surrounding air to give rise to the process of Stratospheric Temperature Inversion.

Ozone Depletion

• Halons, carbon tetrachloride, and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are the compounds that contribute to ozone depletion.
• They are employed in a variety of processes, including aerosol spray can production, foam packaging, refrigeration, and air conditioning.
• Due to interactions in the ozone layer brought on by these substances and specific meteorological circumstances, ozone molecules are destroyed.
• The "ozone hole" refers to the area where ozone is being destroyed.

Global Initiatives

• The Montreal Protocol was established in 1987 to control the manufacture and use of chemicals that deplete the ozone layer (ODS).
• In accordance with the Montreal Protocol, India has phased out the use of chlorofluorocarbons, carbon tetrachloride, halons, methyl bromide, and methyl chloroform for restricted purposes.
• Since chlorofluorocarbons contribute to the breakdown of the ozone layer, which increases the risk of skin cancer, the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, which was signed in 1985, has established frameworks for international reductions in production.
• The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol was adopted in 2016 and reduces hydrofluorocarbon production and consumption (HFCs).

Content Source link:

• https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/climate-change/amp/good-news-recovery-of-ozone-layer-achieves-significant-milestone-84565,
• https://www.business-standard.com/about/what-is-ozone-layer, https://www.epa.gov/ozone-layer-protection/basic-ozone-layer-science#:~:text=The%20ozone%20layer%20protects%20the,important%20as%20ozone%20depletion%20worsens

Image Link:

• https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Diagram-represents-ozone-layer-Source-http-wwwnc-climatencsuedu-edu-k12-ozonelayer_fig3_286112304,

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In News:

As per a recent report, the number of new wind projects is expected to peak in India by 2024.

About the News:

• The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) and MEC Intelligence (MEC+) have recently released a report titled “Renewing wind growth to power the energy transition: India Wind Energy Market Outlook 2026”.
• As per the report, the annual installation of new wind power projects in India will peak by 2024 and likely decline thereafter.
• The outlook also suggests that the country can add another 23.7 GW of capacity within the next five years provided necessary enabling policies, facilitative instruments, and the right institutional interventions are put in place.
• Previously, India has committed to sourcing half of its electricity in 2030 from non-fossil fuel sources and installing 60 gigawatts (GW, or 1000 MW) of wind power by 2022 as part of its transition away from fossil fuels policy.
• However, so far only 40 GW of wind power capacity has been established despite India having the potential to accommodate 302 GW of the technical onshore wind resource at 100-meter height and 695 GW of the technical onshore wind resource at 120 meters.
• The global wind industry had its second-best year in 2021, with almost 94 GW of capacity added globally of which 21.1 GW was offshore with China making up almost 80% of it.
• Total global wind power capacity is now up to 837 GW, helping the world avoid over 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2 annually – equivalent to the annual carbon emissions of South America.

Major highlights of the report:

• Slowing pace: Wind industry installations have been slowing down in India since 2017 with only 45 GW of wind projects being installed in 2021 with many delayed due to the second wave of COVID-19 and supply chain-related disruptions.

• Government steps: The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has granted a blanket timeline extension after the scheduled commissioning date (SCD) for projects with power purchase agreements (PPAs) signed before June 2021 to compensate for the slowdown.
• Non-uniform distribution: The wind energy market has concentrated wind projects around a few substations of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, thus creating bottlenecks and slowing down project activity and making it costlier than solar power.
• Energy targets: India is expected to add 3.2 GW in 2022, 4.1 GW in 2023 peaking at 4.6 GW in 2024, thereafter declining to 4 GW and 3.5 GW in the next two years, respectively, according to the report.
• Current capacity: India currently has 4 GW of prospective projects in wind energy, which are expected to drive installations until 2024 in the market.
• Hybrid models: After 2024, fresh projects are likely to be wind-solar hybrid projects (where both systems are installed on a piece of land to generate power throughout the day).
• Uncertain market: India’s track record has indicated that the wind installation market is a lumpy market with inordinate delays in project executions.

• Delayed payments: The issue of delays in payments has adversely impacted the pace of renewable energy in India.
• Impact of COVID-19: Due to the pandemic and supply chain constraints, the overall dues of electricity distribution companies (DISCOM) have ballooned with the outstanding payments to RE generators increased by 73% to ₹19,400 crores ($2.62 billion) in 2021, as compared to ₹11,200 crores ($1.5 billion) in the same period in 202

Source:

• https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/pace-of-new-wind-power-projects-to-slow-down-after-2024-says-report/article65806163.ece/amp/
• https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FapZ8jbUsAAM2Sm?format=jpg&name=large

Original report:

• https://gwec.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/India-Outlook-2026.pdf

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In news

The Director General of the National Mission for Clean Ganga had recently spoken about the 'Arth Ganga model' in his keynote address to the Stockholm World Water Week 2022.

About Arth Ganga

• The Arth Ganga model focuses on the sustainable development of the Ganga and its surrounding areas, by focusing on economic activities related to the river.
• The concept was first introduced during the 'first National Ganga Council meeting' in 2019, where the urge for a shift from Namami Gange to the model of Arth Ganga was emphasised.
• At its core, the Arth Ganga model seeks to use economics to bridge people with the river, which would strive to contribute at least 3% of the GDP from the Ganga Basin itself.
• Also, the project’s interventions are in accordance with India’s commitments towards the UN sustainable development goals.
• Under Arth Ganga, the government is working on six verticals.
  1. Zero Budget Natural Farming, which involves chemical-free farming on 10 km on either side of the river, and the promotion of cow dung as fertiliser through the GOBARdhan scheme.
  2. The Monetization and Reuse of Sludge & Wastewater seeks to reuse treated water for irrigation, industries and revenue generation for Urban Local Bodies (ULBs).
  3. Livelihood Generation Opportunities, by creating haats where people can sell local products, medicinal plants and Ayurveda.
  4. Increase public participation by increasing synergies between the stakeholders involved with the river.
  5. Promotion of the cultural heritage and tourism of Ganga and its surroundings, through boat tourism, adventure sports and conducting yoga activities.
  6. Promotion of institutional building by empowering local administration for improved water governance.
• The recent initiatives launched under Project Arth-Ganga include:
  1. Launch of Jalaj initiative at 26 locations on Ganga basin main stem states.
  2. MoU with Sahakar Bharati to achieve the vision of sustainable and viable economic development by public participation and a tourism-related portal ImAvatar to promote livelihood opportunities along the Ganga basin by promoting Arth Ganga initiative through tourism.

Source:

• One word a day – Arth-Ganga

Image source:

• https://transformingindia.mygov.in/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/1-7.jpeg

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• Context: One of the sea’s most peaceful creatures-Dugong sea cow, has been declared essentially extinct in China.
• Nicknamed “sea cows”, dugongs (Dugong dugon) are theonly existing species of herbivorous mammals most often found across Pacific-Asian waters. 
• They are animportant part of the marine ecosystem as their depletion will affect the entire food chain.

• According to WWF, they are “plump” in appearance and they get around using their striking dolphin-like tails, living off seagrass grown from shallow ocean beds.
• They are found in over 30 countries including India where they are seen in the Gulf of Mannar, Gulf of Kutch, Palk Bay, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
• They are categorized as Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List, Schedule I and Appendix I of the Wildlife Protection Act and CITES.
• Loss of seagrass bedsdue to ocean floor trawling is one of the most important factors causing threat to dugong populations.
• The other factors include human activitiessuch as destruction and modification of habitat, pollution, rampant illegal fishing activities, vessel strikes, unsustainable hunting or poaching and unplanned tourism.
• India’s first dugong conservation reserve will be located in biodiversity-rich waters in Palk Bay, on the southeast coast of Tamil Nadu.

Source:

• https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/26/science/china-dugong-sea-cow-extinct.html

Image source:

• https://twitter.com/hashtag/dugongsforever?src=hash

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• Context: Justice U.U. Lalit has been recently appointed as the 49th Chief Justice of India.
• Justice Lalit will assume the charge in August. He will have a brief tenure as he will demit office on November 8 after holding the charge as the CJI for a little under three months.
• Justice Lalit will be the second CJI who was directly elevated to the apex court Bench from the Bar.

• The Chief Justice of India and the Judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President under clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution.
• Apart from being an Indian citizen, a person can become Chief Justice of India must
  1. have been for at least five years a Judge of a High Court or of two or more such Courts in succession or
  2. have been for at least ten years an advocate of a High Court or of two or more such Courts in succession, or
  3. be, in the opinion of the President, a distinguished jurist
• Appointment to the office of the Chief Justice of India should be of the senior most Judge of the Supreme Court considered fit to hold the office.
• The Union Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs, seek the recommendation of the outgoing Chief Justice of India for the appointment of the next Chief Justice of India.
• The Supreme Court’s maximum strength can be 31 judges (one Chief Justice and 30 other judges).
• While Supreme Court judges retire on attaining the age of 65, judges of the 25 High Courts superannuate at the age of 62.

Source:

• https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/justice-uu-lalit-appointed-49th-cji/article65753938.ece#:~:text=Justice%20Uday%20Umesh%20Lalit%20was,demits%20office%20as%20the%20CJI.

Image source:

• https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/photos/india/justice-uu-lalit-all-you-need-to-know-about-the-next-chief-justice-of-india-8977321.html

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• Context: In a continuous pursuit of self-reliance in defence manufacturing and to minimise imports by Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) under ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’, Defence Minister has approved the third Positive Indigenisation List (PIL) of 780 strategically important Line Replacement Units (LRUs).
• These LRUs are currently being imported from abroad. Indigenisation of these items will be taken up under the ‘Make’ category of the procurement procedure.
• The ‘Make’ Category aims to achieve self-reliance by involving greater participation in the Indian industry.

• Projects involving the design and development of equipment, systems, major platforms or upgrades thereof by the industry can be taken up under this category.
• The indigenisation list helps to bolster the economy and reduce the import dependence of DPSUs, harness the design capabilities of the domestic defence industry and position India as a design leader in these technologies.
• Some of the steps taken for Defense Indigenisation include:
  1. Mission Raksha Gyan Shakti to boost Intellectual Property (IP) culture and promote IP creation in the defence production sector.
  2. Establishment of Defence Industrial Corridors (DICs).
  3. SRIJAN Portal provides development support to MSMEs/Startups for import substitution.
  4. Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) to foster innovation and technology development in Defence.

Source:

• https://theprint.in/india/rajnath-singh-approves-3rd-positive-indigenisation-list-to-minimise-imports-by-dpsus/1105032/?amp

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• Context: The Prime Minister has recently inaugurated the 300-metre long 'Atal Bridge' for pedestrians and cyclists across the Sabarmati River in Ahmedabad.
• The pedestrians-and-cyclists-only bridge is 300 metres long and 14 metres wide in the middle. The bridge is designed in such a way that people can approach it from both lower and upper walkways or promenades of the riverfront.

• The bridge will allow cyclists to cross the Sabarmati River and will also allow people to view the riverfront from the middle of the water body.

Source:

• https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/pm-modi-to-launch-atal-bridge-all-about-foot-overbridge-on-sabarmati-river-101661562758804.html

Image source:

• https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/riverfront-to-be-extended-by-5km/articleshow/78880238.cms

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Essence – The editorial discusses the prospect of the James Webb telescope in the exploration of the cosmos. It highlights the eternal curiosity of mankind to know what lies beyond the sky, which also was the driving force for many inventions and discoveries in the past. It describes the James Webb telescope as one of these inventions. Along with describing its whole journey from conception till date, it also boasts about its capability to gaze in the Infrared spectrum and spectral analysis.

Towards the end, the article talks about dark matter and dark energy which in future may get demystified with the help of James Webb.

Why should you read this editorial?

• To know about the James Webb telescope.
• To know about the history of cosmology alongside human history

Source:

• https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/james-webb-telescope-light-on-dark-matter-8117557/

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Essence – The article talks about the recently concluded International conference to review the Nuclear Non-proliferation treaty at the United Nations which concluded without any consensus document. The development clearly is underlined by the ongoing international power struggle.

Although India is not a signatory to the NPT, New Delhi seems not to be so concerned as the topic did not elicit the kind of response that it used to in past. The article asks India to play an active role in defining its nuclear stance and clearing the terms of the policy it follows.

The article highlights the reasons that are of concern for the NPT. These include the widening divide between the US and Russia, absence of dialogues between nuclear powers to control the arms race, invasion of non-nuclear states by Nuclear states, China’s resistance to the AUKUS framework under which plans to help Australia acquire nuclear-powered attack submarines, and renewed interest in nuclear power as an alternative to fossil fuels.

Why should you read this article?

• The article is a good read to understand the present state of armament and nuclear proliferation.
• The article highlights the key areas that India should keep in mind being a nuclear state itself.

Source:

• https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/c-raja-mohan-writes-return-of-nuclear-weapons-on-global-platform-8119566/

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Background: 

The 32-storey Supertech twin towers in Noida came crashing recently, which is the result of the dogged pursuit of justice by a group of majorly senior citizens.

About the pursuit by senior citizens

• This battle began in 2009 when four residents raised an alarm against Supertech’s violation of building bye-laws by building the twin towers.
• After moving in, the residents felt cheated as they weren’t given what they were promised by the builders, like the lack of material quality, lack of amenities, etc.
• When this group of residents did not get any satisfactory responses from police & builders, they approached the Allahabad High Court in December 2012 and filed a PIL.

• Two years later, the high court ruled in favour of the association and ordered the towers to be razed. The court also asked the builder to refund the buyers and slammed the Noida Authority.
• However, the woes of the residents weren’t over, as the builder and Noida Authority appealed against the HC order in the Supreme Court.
• The legal battle involved over 30 hearings over a period of seven years in the Supreme Court.
• Eventually, it was in August 2021 that the Supreme Court upheld the High Court’s 2014 order. Further, the Supreme Court directed the entire amount of home buyers to be refunded with 12 per cent interest.
• Their 9-year legal battle finally came to an end, when the twin towers were demolished.
• Thus, the residents fought a head-on challenge, with persistence and collective effort.

Quote: Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent” - Calvin Coolidge.

Source:

• Noida’s Twin Towers: How A Group of Senior Citizens Led to India’s Biggest Demolition

Image source:

• Noida’s Twin Towers: How A Group of Senior Citizens Led to India’s Biggest Demolition

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