Meeting India’s ‘Carbon Sink’ target
Meeting India’s ‘Carbon Sink’ target
India’s commitment to reduce its carbon emissions and increase its carbon sink as part of the Paris Climate Agreement. The Agreement is a legally binding international treaty signed by 196 parties, including India, to limit global warming to well below 2°C.
What is a carbon sink?
- A carbon sink is a natural or artificial reservoir that absorbs and stores carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere.
- It can be a natural ecosystem such as forests, oceans, or soil, or it can be an artificial system like carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology.
- Carbon sinks help to reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere and mitigate the negative effects of climate change.
Methods of Carbon Sinks
There are two types of carbon sinks:
(A) Natural Carbon Sinks: These are ecosystems that naturally absorb and store carbon from the atmosphere. The most common natural carbon sinks are:
- Forests: Trees absorb CO2 through photosynthesis and store it in their trunks, branches, and roots.
- Oceans: The Ocean absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere, where it dissolves and forms carbonic acid.
- Soil: Carbon can be stored in soil in the form of organic matter, such as dead plant and animal material, which is broken down by microorganisms.
(B) Artificial Carbon Sinks: These are human-made technologies that capture and store carbon from the atmosphere. The most common artificial carbon sinks are:
- Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS): CCS technology captures CO2 emissions from industrial processes, such as power plants, and stores it underground.
- Direct Air Capture (DAC): DAC technology captures CO2 directly from the air and stores it underground or repurposes it for other uses.
India’s carbon sink target
- India has pledged to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent by 2030.
- This will be achieved through afforestation, reforestation, and other land-use changes.
India’s progress towards its carbon sink target
- India has already achieved 24.6% of its carbon sink target as of 2017.
- This was primarily due to afforestation and tree plantation programs, such as the Green India Mission and the National Afforestation Programme.
Challenges in meeting India’s carbon sink target
- Unavailability of accurate data: There is a lack of accurate data on the extent and health of India’s forests, which makes it difficult to measure the effectiveness of afforestation and reforestation programs.
- Conversion of natural forests: The conversion of natural forests to monoculture plantations that have lower carbon sequestration potential can reduce the effectiveness of carbon sinks.
- Pressure on land: The pressure on land for agriculture and other forms of development can lead to deforestation and the loss of carbon sinks.
- Lack of funding: Afforestation and reforestation programs require significant funding, which can be a challenge for India.
- Lack of awareness: Lack of awareness among the public and policymakers about the importance of carbon sinks and the need for their conservation and restoration can hinder efforts to meet India’s carbon sink targets.
Conclusion
- India’s commitment to increasing its carbon sink is crucial in mitigating the impacts of climate change.
- More efforts are needed to ensure the success of afforestation and reforestation programs and to address the challenges facing India’s forests.
Money Laundering laws will now cover Cryptocurrency Trade
The government has imposed the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002 on cryptocurrencies or virtual assets as it looks to tighten oversight of digital assets.
Central idea: The Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002, now covers various financial activities related to virtual digital assets, including exchanges between fiat currencies and digital assets, transfer and storage of digital assets, and provision of financial services related to the sale of digital assets by an issuer.
What are Cryptocurrencies?
- Cryptocurrencies are digital or virtual currencies that use encryption techniques to secure and verify transactions and control the creation of new units.
- They operate independently of central banks and financial institutions and use a decentralized ledger technology called blockchain to record transactions.
- They can be used to make purchases, transfer funds, or as a store of value, and some are designed to facilitate specific use cases, such as smart contracts.
- Bitcoin is the first and most well-known cryptocurrency, but there are thousands of others, including Ethereum, Ripple, and Litecoin.
- Cryptocurrencies can be purchased on cryptocurrency exchanges or obtained through mining, a process in which computers solve complex mathematical problems to validate transactions and earn new cryptocurrency units as a reward.
Why regulate cryptocurrencies?
- Consumer protection: Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile and can be subject to fraud, scams, and other forms of financial crime.
- Preventing money laundering and terrorist financing: Cryptocurrencies can be used to anonymously transfer funds, making them potentially attractive to criminals and terrorists.
- Systemic risk: Cryptocurrencies are not currently part of the traditional financial system, but they could potentially have an impact on it if they were to become more widely adopted.
- Taxation: Cryptocurrencies can be used to evade taxes or hide assets. Regulation can help ensure that cryptocurrency transactions are properly taxed and that tax evasion is prevented.
- Market stability: being highly volatile, regulation can help promote market stability and prevent excessive speculation or manipulation of cryptocurrency markets.
What is the recent move?
- Indian crypto exchanges will have to report suspicious activity to the Financial Intelligence Unit India (FIU-IND).
- The move is in line with the global trend of requiring digital-asset platforms to follow anti-money laundering standards similar to those followed by other regulated entities like banks or stock brokers.
Recent regulatory moves
- In the Budget for 2022-23, finance ministry had brought a 30% tax on income from transactions in such assets.
- Also, to bring such assets under the tax net, it introduced a 1% TDS (tax deducted at source) on transactions in such asset classes above a certain threshold.
- Gifts in crypto and digital assets were also taxed.
Back2Basics: Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA)
- PMLA, 2002 is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted by the NDA government to prevent money laundering and to provide for confiscation of property derived from money laundering.
- It was enacted in response to India’s global commitment (including the Vienna Convention) to combat the menace of money laundering.
- PMLA and the Rules notified there under came into force with effect from July 1, 2005.
- The act was amended in the year 2005, 2009 and 2012.
NASA hands over NISAR satellite to ISRO
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has received the NASA-ISRO SAR (NISAR) satellite.
What is NISAR?
- NISAR has been built by space agencies of the US and India under a partnership agreement signed in 2014.
- The 2,800 kilograms satellite consists of both L-band and S-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) instruments, which makes it a dual-frequency imaging radar satellite.
- While NASA has provided the L-band radar, GPS, a high-capacity solid-state recorder to store data, and a payload data subsystem, ISRO has provided the S-band radar, the GSLV launch system and spacecraft.
- Another important component of the satellite is its large 39-foot stationary antenna reflector.
- Made of a gold-plated wire mesh, the reflector will be used to focus the radar signals emitted and received by the upward-facing feed on the instrument structure.
Objectives of NISAR
- Once launched into space, NISAR will observe subtle changes in Earth’s surfaces, helping researchers better understand the causes and consequences of such phenomena.
- It will spot warning signs of natural disasters, such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and landslides.
- The satellite will also measure groundwater levels, track flow rates of glaciers and ice sheets, and monitor the planet’s forest and agricultural regions, which can improve our understanding of carbon exchange.
- By using synthetic aperture radar (SAR), NISAR will produce high-resolution images.
- SAR is capable of penetrating clouds and can collect data day and night regardless of the weather conditions.
Moon to get its own Time Zone
The European Space Agency is planning a universal timekeeping system for the moon.
Timekeeping on the Moon
- The Moon has its own day and night cycle, which lasts about 29.5 Earth days.
- This means that if humans were to live on the Moon, they would need to develop their own timekeeping system.
- Currently, the time on the Moon is measured using Universal Time Coordinated (UTC), which is the same timekeeping system used on the Earth.
- However, because the Moon’s day is much longer than Earth’s day, it would be difficult to use UTC for day-to-day activities on the Moon.
Why need lunar time zone?
- The Moon is the Earth’s only natural satellite, and humans have been interested in exploring and colonizing it for many years.
- With recent advancements in space technology, there is renewed interest in lunar exploration and settlement.
Proposed Lunar Time Zone
- To address this issue, scientists and researchers have proposed creating a lunar time zone that would be based on the Moon’s day and night cycle.
- This would make it easier for lunar settlers to keep track of time and coordinate activities.
Benefits offered
- Having a lunar time zone would also make it easier for scientists and researchers to conduct experiments and collect data on the Moon.
- It would also help to prevent confusion and errors that could arise from using different timekeeping systems on Earth and the Moon.
Various challenges
- Time on Earth is precisely tracked by atomic clocks, but synchronizing time on the moon is tricky because clocks run faster there, gaining around 56 microseconds, or millionths of a second, per day.
- It would also be difficult to establish a consistent time zone for the entire Moon, given that the terrain and lighting conditions vary widely across its surface.
- Additionally, any timekeeping system on the Moon would need to be able to account for the Moon’s irregular rotation and movement.
International Women’s Day 2023
International Women’s Day 2023 (IWD) was celebrated on 8 March under the theme “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”. The United Nations has highlighted the need for inclusive technology and digital education. It plans to have discussions on the role of all stakeholders in improving access to digital tools. With the IWD’s origins linked to women workers’ movements, it is important to note that women’s lack of access to technology and digital tools makes them less likely to be a part of the wider domains of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics – collectively termed the STEM fields.
Why does women’s underrepresentation in STEM fields matter?
- Across the world, there has been a marked absence of women in the professional realm of STEM subjects – including the IT sector, environment and climate, medical sciences, etc.
- This underrepresentation is of note because developments in STEM fields, particularly in technology, are increasingly shaping all aspects of modern life – from chatbots like ChatGPT that are expected to replace workers in various settings to the ubiquity of social media which shapes identities and public discourse.
- Furthermore, from a career perspective, these fields are generally lucrative for workers. A typical STEM worker earns two-thirds more than those employed in other fields, according to Pew Research Center.
- Therefore, the underrepresentation of women in STEM impacts the overall gender pay gap as well – women are typically overrepresented in lower-paying jobs and underrepresented in higher-paying jobs such as in STEM fields.
What is the ‘gender gap’ in STEM?
- Globally, 18 percent of girls in higher-level education are pursuing STEM studies, compared with 35 per cent of boys.
- Even within the STEM fields, there lies a gender divide, with similar numbers of boys and girls pursuing natural sciences while far more boys looked to engineering, manufacturing and construction.
- In India, the enrolment of girls in engineering programmes is significantly lower when compared to their male counterparts.
- Overall in UG, PG, MPhil and PhD engineering programmes, the total enrolment is 36,86,291 where 71 per cent of enrolled students were males and 29 per cent were females, according to data from the All India Survey of Higher Education for 2020-2021.
Why does the gap exist?
- Multiple factors determine how women choose to work and the options available to them. These include the presence of existing resources such as mentors and programmes offering scholarships, as well as, on a broader level, general societal attitudes on women’s education that do not encourage families to invest in it as much as they do for boys.
- UNICEF points to gender bias in curricula. For instance, in India, more than 50 per cent of illustrations in math and science textbooks in primary show boys and only 6 percent show girls.
- In the UK, over a quarter of girls say they have been put off a career in tech as it is too male-dominated and only 22 per cent can name a famous female working in the field.
- In the US, 26 per cent of tech startups have at least one female founder, and in Europe, only 21 percent of tech founders are female. But it points out that numbers are increasing — potentially creating more role models for girls and women.