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News 1: ‘India may need up to 28 GW in new coal-fired plants by 2032’
Background:
- India may need up to 28 gigawatts of new coal-fired power plants by 2032 to meet power demand that is expected to more than double from the current 404.1 GW, a government advisory body said, signaling more increases in coal use by the world’s third-largest greenhouse gas emitter.
India’s energy demand:
- India’s annual electricity demand could grow by an average of 7.2% over the five years to March 2027, almost double the rate of increase in the fiscal years from 2017 to 2022, the plan said.
- The share of coal in India’s total power generation, however, is likely to fall below 60% by 2027, with India targeting the addition of 500 GW in non-fossil based installed capacity by 2030, according to the plan.
- Although India is a major greenhouse gas producer, its per capita power demand and emissions are much lower than most developed countries.
- It also accounts for a huge share of renewables along with China.
Central Electricity Authority
- Ministry: Ministry of Power
- Type: Statutory
- Vision: To ensure reliable 24×7 power supply of adequate quality to all consumers in the country.
- Function: The functions and duties of CEA are delineated under Section 73 of the Electricity Act, 2003.
- CEA has to discharge various other functions as well:
- Section 3 (National Electricity Policy & Plan)
- Section 8 (Hydro Electric Generation)
- Section 34 (Grid Standards)
- Section 53 (Provision relating to Safety and Electric Supply)
- Section 55 (Use of Meters)
- Section 177 (Making of Regulations) of the Electricity Act, 2003.
News 3: Naga delegation meets Shah, pushes for revival of talks
Background:
- A Naga delegation led by Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio met Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday to push for revival of talks between the Centre’s envoy and Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM).
Demands by NSCN-IM:
- Inclusion of Yehzabo (Naga constitution) into the Indian constitution
- Integration of Naga-dominated areas of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur into the existing State of Nagaland
- Creation of regional autonomous territory council for Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.
Peace talks:
- The NSCN-IM, a key player in Naga peace talks, has been demanding a separate Constitution and a flag for the Nagas and creation of ‘Greater Nagaland’ or ‘Nagalim’ by integrating Naga-dominated areas in neighbouring Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh to unite 1.2 million Nagas.
News 4: E-FAST- India’s first National Electric Freight Platform Launched by NITI Aayog, WRI
Background:
- NITI Aayog and World Resources Institute (WRI), launched India’s first National Electric Freight Platform- E-FAST India (Electric Freight Accelerator for Sustainable Transport-India).
About E-FAST:
- The platform aims to raise awareness of freight electrification bolstered by an on-ground demonstration pilot and evidence based research.
- It will support scalable pilots and inform policies aimed at accelerating freight electrification in India.
NITI Aayog:
- Established: 2015
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- NITI Aayog replaced erstwhile Planning commission in 2015 and serves as the apex public policy think tank of the Government of India, and the nodal agency tasked with catalyzing economic development, and fostering cooperative federalism through the involvement of State Governments of India in the economic policy-making process using a bottom-up approach.
- Composition:
- Chairperson: Prime Minister
- Vice-Chairperson: To be appointed by Prime-Minister
- Chief Executive Officer: Appointed by Prime minister for a fixed tenure, in rank of Secretary to Government of India.
- Governing Council: Chief Ministers of all states and Lt. Governors of Union Territories.
- Regional Council: To address specific regional issues, Comprising Chief Ministers and Lt. Governors Chaired by Prime Minister or his nominee.
- Ad hoc Membership: 2 members in ex-officio capacity from leading Research institutions on rotational basis.
- Ex-Officio membership: Maximum four from Union council of ministers to be nominated by Prime minister.
- Special Invitees: Experts, Specialists with domain knowledge nominated by Prime minister.
- Hubs of NITI Aayog:
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- Team India Hub acts as an interface between States and Centre.
- Knowledge and Innovation Hub builds the think-tank acumen of NITI Aayog.
- Important index published by NITI Aayog: Composite Water Management Index, Sustainable Development Goal index, India Innovation Index, School Education Quality Index, Export Competitiveness Index
News 5: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
- Headquarter: Vienna, Austria
- Membership: 175 member states
- Objective: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote safe, secure and peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons.
- It is known as Atoms for Peace organization and is not a Principal or specialized agency of UN
- It reports to both General Assembly and Security Council of United Nations
- Missions:
- Peaceful uses: Promoting the peaceful uses of nuclear energy by its member states,
- Safeguards: Implementing safeguards to verify that nuclear energy is not used for military purposes, and
- Nuclear safety: Promoting high standards for nuclear safety
News 6: Rohingya Refugees
- Rohingyas are the minorities, who are predominantly Muslims but also includes people from different religions, are from Rakhine state of Myanmar.
- Several Rohingyas have fled to Bangladesh and India.
- Bangladesh has relocated several Rohingyas to Bhasan Char island, which lies in ecologically fragile area, as it is prone to cyclone, floods, erosion.
News 7: National Investigation Agency:
- Established: 2009 constituted under National Investigation Agency Act, 2008
- Ministry: Ministry of Home Affairs
- Headquarter: New Delhi
- NIA is functioning as the Central Counter Terrorism Law Enforcement Agency in India.
- NIA aims at creating deterrence for existing and potential terrorist groups/individuals. It aims to develop as a storehouse of all terrorist related information.
- It can deal with investigation of terror crimes in states without the permission from states under written proclamation of Ministry of Home Affairs.
- Areas of investigation:NIA is mandated to investigate all the offences affecting the sovereignty, security and integrity of India, which includes:
- Friendly relations with foreign states.
- Against atomic and nuclear facilities.
- Smuggling of arms, drugs and fake Indian currency and infiltration from across the borders.
- The offences under the statutory laws enacted to implement international treaties, agreements, conventions and resolutions of the United Nations, its agencies and other international organisations.
Jurisdiction:
- It extends to the whole of India and also applies to Indian citizens outside the country.
- Persons in the service of the government wherever they are posted.
- Persons on ships and aircraft registered in India wherever they may be.
- Persons who commit a scheduled offence beyond India against the Indian citizen or affecting the interest of India.
News 8: G7 countries:
- Formed: 1973
- Members: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.
- The Group of Seven (G7) is an inter-governmental political forum.
- In addition, the European Union is a ‘non-enumerated member’.
- Its members are the world’s largest advanced economies and liberal democracies.
- The G7 was founded primarily to facilitate shared macroeconomic initiatives in response to contemporary economic problems; the first gathering was centered on the Nixon shock, the 1970s energy crisis, and the ensuing global recession.
Recent Posts
Petrol in India is cheaper than in countries like Hong Kong, Germany and the UK but costlier than in China, Brazil, Japan, the US, Russia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, a Bank of Baroda Economics Research report showed.
Rising fuel prices in India have led to considerable debate on which government, state or central, should be lowering their taxes to keep prices under control.
The rise in fuel prices is mainly due to the global price of crude oil (raw material for making petrol and diesel) going up. Further, a stronger dollar has added to the cost of crude oil.
Amongst comparable countries (per capita wise), prices in India are higher than those in Vietnam, Kenya, Ukraine, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Venezuela. Countries that are major oil producers have much lower prices.
In the report, the Philippines has a comparable petrol price but has a per capita income higher than India by over 50 per cent.
Countries which have a lower per capita income like Kenya, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Venezuela have much lower prices of petrol and hence are impacted less than India.
“Therefore there is still a strong case for the government to consider lowering the taxes on fuel to protect the interest of the people,” the report argued.
India is the world’s third-biggest oil consuming and importing nation. It imports 85 per cent of its oil needs and so prices retail fuel at import parity rates.
With the global surge in energy prices, the cost of producing petrol, diesel and other petroleum products also went up for oil companies in India.
They raised petrol and diesel prices by Rs 10 a litre in just over a fortnight beginning March 22 but hit a pause button soon after as the move faced criticism and the opposition parties asked the government to cut taxes instead.
India imports most of its oil from a group of countries called the ‘OPEC +’ (i.e, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Russia, etc), which produces 40% of the world’s crude oil.
As they have the power to dictate fuel supply and prices, their decision of limiting the global supply reduces supply in India, thus raising prices
The government charges about 167% tax (excise) on petrol and 129% on diesel as compared to US (20%), UK (62%), Italy and Germany (65%).
The abominable excise duty is 2/3rd of the cost, and the base price, dealer commission and freight form the rest.
Here is an approximate break-up (in Rs):
a)Base Price | 39 |
b)Freight | 0.34 |
c) Price Charged to Dealers = (a+b) | 39.34 |
d) Excise Duty | 40.17 |
e) Dealer Commission | 4.68 |
f) VAT | 25.35 |
g) Retail Selling Price | 109.54 |
Looked closely, much of the cost of petrol and diesel is due to higher tax rate by govt, specifically excise duty.
So the question is why government is not reducing the prices ?
India, being a developing country, it does require gigantic amount of funding for its infrastructure projects as well as welfare schemes.
However, we as a society is yet to be tax-compliant. Many people evade the direct tax and that’s the reason why govt’s hands are tied. Govt. needs the money to fund various programs and at the same time it is not generating enough revenue from direct taxes.
That’s the reason why, govt is bumping up its revenue through higher indirect taxes such as GST or excise duty as in the case of petrol and diesel.
Direct taxes are progressive as it taxes according to an individuals’ income however indirect tax such as excise duty or GST are regressive in the sense that the poorest of the poor and richest of the rich have to pay the same amount.
Does not matter, if you are an auto-driver or owner of a Mercedes, end of the day both pay the same price for petrol/diesel-that’s why it is regressive in nature.
But unlike direct tax where tax evasion is rampant, indirect tax can not be evaded due to their very nature and as long as huge no of Indians keep evading direct taxes, indirect tax such as excise duty will be difficult for the govt to reduce, because it may reduce the revenue and hamper may programs of the govt.