Daily Current Affairs 16 May 2024 – IAS Current Affairs
Daily Current Affairs 16 May 2024 focuses on the Prelims-Mains perspective. Major events are :
Land Squeeze Report
Source: Down To Earth
GS III: Environment
Overview
- About the Land Squeeze Report
- Key Facts in the report
- India in the report
Why in the News?
Land Squeeze, the report released May 13, 2024, exposed the alarming escalation of land grabbing in various forms
About the Land Squeeze Report
- The new report by the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food).
- The 2008 global financial crisis led to significant land grabbing, and the pressure on farmland has persisted.
- Fifteen years later, global land prices have doubled, and farmers are facing increasing challenges from multiple directions.
Key Facts in the report
- The report revealed the concerning rise of land grabbing, the use of opaque financial instruments and speculation, rapid resource extraction, and intensive export crop production.
- Major new pressures were emerging from ‘green grabs’ for carbon and biodiversity offset projects.
- Green grabs for which huge swathes of farmland were being acquired by governments
- Corporations, now account for 20 per cent of large-scale land deals.
- Sizeable Area Acquired
- The size of Germany has been acquired through transnational land deals.
- 1 per cent of the world’s largest farms now control 70 per cent of the world’s farmland.
- Affecting sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.
- Land inequality is growing fastest in central-eastern Europe, North and Latin America and South Asia.
IPES-Food identifies four trends driving this land squeeze
- Land Grabbing 2.0
- Powerful governments, financial actors, speculators, and large agribusinesses are taking control of land, converting it into a financial asset and disadvantaging small and medium-scale farmers.
- Between 2005 and 2018, agricultural investment funds increased tenfold.
- Additionally, the phenomenon of ‘water grabs’ and ‘resource grabs’ is on the rise, targeting crucial resources for quick value extraction.
- Notably, 87% of land grabs take place in areas with high biodiversity.
- Green Grabbing
- Support a new wave of top-down conservation and carbon offsetting schemes that exclude local land users and food producers.
- Governments have committed to using cropland for carbon removal projects, with over half of these pledges potentially disrupting small-scale farmers and Indigenous Peoples.
- Carbon and biodiversity offset markets are driving significant land transactions, involving major polluters in land markets.
- Expansion and Encroachment
- Urbanization and mega-infrastructure developments in Asia and Africa are claiming prime farmland.
- Mining projects accounted for 14% of large-scale land deals over the past ten years.
- Instead of protecting communities, dubious investment laws are protecting polluters.
- Food System Reconfiguration
- Industrial agriculture is expanding worldwide, leading to rapid degradation of farmland and displacing small-scale farmers.
- Agribusiness corporations are engaging in monopolistic practices, which increase costs for farmers.
- These trends are contributing to widespread economic instability for farmers.
How take countermeasures?
- Instead of opening the floodgates to speculative capital, governments need to take concrete steps to halt bogus green grabs.
- Invest in rural development, sustainable farming and community-led conservation.
- Build integrated land, environmental, and food systems governance to halt green grabs, recentre communities and ensure a just and human rights-based transition.
- Strengthen self-determined land governance systems, through democratic spatial planning processes, community led mapping and digitization, and democratic land agencies.
India in the report
- The top 10 per cent own 45 per cent of farmland (Source: 2020 Global Land Inequality).
- Land squeeze is inflaming land inequality and making small- and medium-scale food production increasingly unviable.
- Farmers, peasants and Indigenous Peoples are losing their land (or forced to downsize), while young farmers face significant barriers in accessing land to farm.
Certificates Handed over Under CAA
Source: PIB
GS II: Constitution of India and Indian polity
Overview
- News in Brief
- About Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA
Why in the News?
The first set of citizenship certificates to 14 people was issued under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA.
News in Brief
- Two months after the Centre notified it, initiating the process of granting Indian nationality to persecuted minority migrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
- Certificates Handed over Under CAA to the applicants in Delhi.
- The legislation has been a subject of intense debate and widespread protests across India.
About Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA
- CAA amends the Citizenship Act of 1955.
- It aims to provide Indian citizenship to migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who belong to Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Parsi, Buddhist, and Christian communities.
- They had entered India on or before December 31, 2014, due to religious persecution in their home countries.
- These rules will now enable minorities persecuted on religious grounds in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan to acquire citizenship in our nation.
Key Features
- Enables migrants/foreigners of six minority communities from three specified countries who have come to India because of persecution on grounds of their religion to apply for Indian citizenship.
- Such a foreigner has to become eligible to apply for citizenship after fulfilling the minimum legal requirements.
- They will not be deported as illegal immigrants under the Passport (Entry into India) Act of 1920 and the Foreigners Act of 1946.
- The CAA does not apply to Indian citizens.
- Reduces the period of residency from 12 years (as mentioned in the Citizenship Act, 1955) to 7 years for applying to get permanent citizenship.
- Empower the government to withdraw registration as OCI due to any violation of the Citizenship Act or any other laws.
- If the OCI has registered through fraud
- If within five years of registration, the OCI has been sentenced to imprisonment for two years or more
- If it becomes necessary in the interest of the sovereignty and security of India.
- Definition of illegal migrants: The Act prohibits illegal migrants from acquiring Indian citizenship. It defines an illegal migrant as a foreigner
- Who enters India without a valid passport or travel documents
- Stays beyond the permitted time
To obtain citizenship by naturalisation, one of the qualifications is that the person must have resided in India or have been in service of the central government for at least 11 years before applying for citizenship. Bill creates an exception for Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan the 11 years’ requirement will be reduced to five years.
Exercise Tarkash 2024
Source: Times of India
GS III: Internal Security
Overview
- About Excercise Tarkash
- National Security Guard (NSG)
- What is the purpose of Exercise Tarkash?
- CBRN TERROR RESPONSE
Why in the News?
The India-U.S joint exercise in conducting coordinated operations in urban counter-terrorism contingencies will conclude in Kolkata.
About Excercise Tarkash 2024
- Which country conducted the exercise Tarkash 2024?
- This is the seventh edition of the Indo-U.S. joint exercise Tarkash.
- Between the elite National Security Guard (NSG) and the U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF).
- The three-week exercise encompassed intense training and mock drills in urban counter-terrorism scenarios.
National Security Guard (NSG)
- The National Security Guard (NSG) is India’s elite counter-terrorism unit.
- Formed to combat terrorist activities with the highest level of professionalism and precision.
- Following Operation Blue Star and the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, the NSG has been a pivotal force in safeguarding the nation against various internal threats.
Facts and Figures
- Formation: The NSG was officially raised on October 16, 1984.
- Parent Ministry: It operates under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
- Motto: “Sarvatra Sarvottam Suraksha” (Omnipresent Supreme Security).
- Personnel: The NSG is a mix of army and police personnel, often referred to as Black Cats due to their distinctive black uniform.
- Structure: The NSG is divided into two main components:
- Special Action Group (SAG): Comprising army personnel, responsible for counter-terrorism and special operations.
- Special Ranger Group (SRG): Comprising personnel from central armed police forces and state police, tasked with VIP security and sensitive installations.
What is the purpose of Exercise Tarkash 2024?
- Involved sharing of best practices, tactics, techniques and procedures over a wide spectrum of counter-terror operations.
- Counter-terror operations in urban environments including close-quarter battles, building intervention drills, hostage rescue operations, surveillance, long-range sniping and planning complex operations involving multiple targets in multiple locations.
- Improving bilateral cooperation between India and the US in matters relating to combating terrorism.
- In 2023 this exercise focused on CBRN TERROR RESPONSE.
- CBRN means Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear.
CBRN TERROR RESPONSE
- Training and strategies used against CBRN are called CBRN terror response.
- The risk of CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear) weapons or materials being used by non-state actors for terrorism or crime is a major concern today.
- This can be used by non-state actors for terrorism purposes and causing internal disturbance.
Where has CRBN been used recently?
- In 2017 CRBN was used in Syria.
- The attack using Sarin Gas killed 100 people.
- In the recent war between Ukraine and Russia, chemical attacks were done in the Kharkiv region.
World Hydrogen Summit 2024
Source: PIB
GS III: Science and Technology
Overview
- News in Brief
- Hydrogen as a fuel
- National Green Hydrogen Mission
Why in the News?
Recently India addressed the World Hydrogen Summit 2024 in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
News in Brief
- Highlighting India’s strategic vision and capabilities in the domain of renewable energy and green hydrogen production.
- World Hydrogen Summit delegates of India’s capability to meet any scale of production demand for green hydrogen, provided there is sufficient market demand and support.
- World Hydrogen 2024 Summit & Exhibition, is the largest hydrogen summit.
Hydrogen as a fuel
Hydrogen is an intriguing fuel with several unique properties. Let’s explore the basics:
Clean Fuel
- When consumed in a fuel cell, hydrogen produces only water as a byproduct. This makes it an environmentally friendly option.
- It can be produced from various domestic resources, including:
- Natural Gas: Through a process called steam reforming, where steam reacts with natural gas to produce hydrogen.
- Nuclear Power: By utilizing nuclear energy.
- Biomass: From organic materials.
- Renewable Power: Such as solar and wind energy.
Energy Carrier
- Hydrogen acts as an energy carrier, similar to oil or gas. It can be transported to where it’s needed.
- Remarkably, it stores three times as much energy per unit of mass as conventional petrol.
- When it “burns” in air (releasing stored energy), it simply combines with oxygen to produce water again.
Production Methods
- Thermal Processes:
- Steam reforming (high-temperature process) using hydrocarbon fuels like natural gas, diesel, or biomass.
- Currently, 95% of hydrogen is produced from steam reforming of natural gas.
- Electrolytic Processes:
- Water is separated into oxygen and hydrogen through electrolysis.
- Electrolyzers create hydrogen from water molecules.
- Solar-Driven Processes:
- Use light for hydrogen production:
- Photobiological processes (bacteria and green algae).
- Photoelectrochemical processes (specialized semiconductors).
- Solar thermochemical processes (concentrated solar power).
- Use light for hydrogen production:
- Biological Processes:
- Microbes (bacteria and microalgae) can produce hydrogen through biological reactions.
- Photobiological processes use sunlight as an energy source.
National Green Hydrogen Mission
- It is a flagship initiative of the Government of India.
- It is aimed at fostering the development and adoption of green hydrogen technologies in India.
- With a target of establishing 5 million tonnes of annual green hydrogen production capacity by 2030, the mission represents a significant step towards realizing India’s ambitions in the hydrogen economy.
- The Government has made substantial progress in this regard, having awarded tenders for incentives to support green hydrogen production of a total of 412,000 tonnes per annum.
- Additionally, tenders have been awarded for the establishment of electrolyser manufacturing capacity amounting to 1,500 MW per annum, further bolstering India’s capacity to produce green hydrogen at scale.
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