📰 Army set to create new positions as part of overhaul
Four expert studies being carried out to rightsize force
•The Army’s biggest reform exercise since independence to rightsize the force and reduce mounting revenue expenditure is likely to see creation of new positions of a third Deputy Chief of Army Staff and a Director General of Strategic Communications, among other measures.
•“The Directorate of Strategic Communications, in addition to the existing Directorates of Military Operations and Military Intelligence, are likely to be moved under a new Deputy Chief of Army Staff,” a defence source said.
•The Army currently has two Deputy Chiefs, one for information systems and training and another for planning and systems.
Phased manner
•The force is undertaking four studies for its overhaul. At the Army Commanders’ Conference earlier this month, it was decided that the “studies would be implemented progressively in a phased manner.”
•The four studies are for restructuring of Army Headquarters (HQ), restructuring which includes cutting down the strength, cadre review of officers and review of terms and conditions of Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs) and Other Ranks (OR).
•“The focus of the studies is holistic integration to enhance the operational and functional efficiency, optimise budget expenditure, facilitate force modernisation and address aspirations,” the Army had said earlier.
•Apart from the new vacancies, other big changes in the offing include having Integrated Battle Groups (IBGs); shifting the Director General Military Training in the Army HQ to the Army’s Training Command at Shimla; reorganising several overlapping divisions at the Army HQ and rightsizing the force over the next 6-8 years.
•In the next step, all the points made at the Commanders conference will be integrated into the study.
•“Then they will be sent for feedback, which will be incorporated and the plan finalised,” the source stated and added that for the IBGs, once the feedback is received, one formation will be identified and the new concepts tested for validation before finalising.
•While finalising the reorganisation of the Army HQ is likely to take 2-3 months, the concept of Integrated Battle Groups is expected to be finalised in 6-8 months.
📰 China, Japan to partner in building Asia infrastructure
Abe to hold talks with President Xi and Prime Minister Li
•Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has arrived in China on a reset visit that is expected to trigger significant collaboration between Tokyo and Beijing in developing infrastructure in Asia.
•Soon after his arrival, Mr. Abe was accorded a reception, hosted by his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang, at the Great Hall of the People. The function was held to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the China-Japan treaty of friendship.
•“Japan and China are playing an indispensable role in the economic development of not just Asia but the world,” Mr. Abe said during his speech at the function.
•Mr. Abe will be accorded a ceremonial welcome on Friday morning and will hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping later in the day. “This is a breakthrough visit, important not just for the China-Japan relations, but whose significance would be felt in the region and the world,” Huang Jing, Dean of the International and Regional Studies Center at the Beijing Language and Culture University, told The Hindu.
•During Mr. Abe’s talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li, the leaders are expected to seek areas of convergence between China’s Belt and Road Initiative and Japan’s concept of a free and open Indo-Pacific. Analysts say that they are expected to discuss joint development of infrastructure in Asia and Africa during talks.
•Tagged with politically benefiting from “debt traps” through its loans to developing countries, China is particularly keen to work together with reputed Japanese financial firms in third countries.
•The overhang of the trade war between Beijing and Washington, as well as U.S. restrictions on Japanese exports of steel and aluminum, are expected to shape the conversation between Mr. Abe and his Chinese interlocutors. “There are structural reasons why Mr. Abe wants closer ties not just with China but other significant players such as Russia and India.
•He senses the decline in U.S. influence in the Asia-Pacific, which is a major factor persuading him to re-define Japan’s role in the region,” Professor Huang observed. Ahead of his arrival, Mr. Abe told China’s Xinhua news agency and other state media that Japan-China ties were advancing towards a “new phase,” following his meetings with President Xi, including September talks with the Chinese leader in Vladivostok, during a forum where joint development of Russia’s Far East and Northeast Asia was in focus.
•The Nikkei Asian Review is reporting that Japan and China are expected to promote around 50 private-sector, third-country infrastructure projects this week, setting in motion the first joint deal of building a smart city in Thailand as early as this year. “The two countries see third-country infrastructure as a cornerstone of their growing economic cooperation,” the daily observed.
📰 Aim, shoot for a citizen-science repository of Indian mammals
People can share images of rare animals online
•When you are out on a trek and spot an animal that isn’t sighted commonly, what will you do? Take a picture and share it on Facebook? Now, you can also contribute to the cause of science by sharing the picture of the animal on a specific website, providing the location of spotting.
•Scientists and researchers from the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) in Bangalore have come up with a new citizen-science repository on Indian mammals, called Mammals of India (MaOI), which is an online, peer- reviewed, freely-accessible portal that was launched late September 2018. By October 25, as many as 768 images, of 161 species of mammals, were uploaded.
•“So far, there was no portal exclusively for mammals. These photographic records will help us in having distribution map of mammals in the country,” Vivek Ramachandran of NCBS told The Hindu.
•Dr. Ramachandran said that the photographs will not only help gather information on the distribution of the various species but also interactions between different species of mammals, like predation and mutualism. The website, www.mammalsofindia.org, aims to develop individual species pages for all Indian mammals with information on identification, variation, distribution, breeding and non-breeding ecology and species conservation.
•As per current estimates, 426 species of mammals are found in India; of them 47 species are endemic to the Indian subcontinent. Along with well known species, the mammals of 100 species of rats and 126 species of bats and 24 species of whales of dolphins.
•In one month, this citizen-science initiative has seen photographs of rare species -- such as Red Serow from Manipur, Lynx a species of wild cat from Jammu and Kashmir, Asian Golden Cat from West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh and Binturong, also known as bear cat, from East Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh -- being shared for the benefit of researches and public alike. Researchers said that this initiative will also make more information available about lesser known mammals of the country.
•The website provides an opportunity to any person to upload geotagged photographic observations about mammals with information on habitat age of the observed individual. Over time, these observations will be reviewed by subject experts and uploaded on the website.
•Along with Dr Ramachandran who is an expert on small mammals, Rohit Chakravarty an alumnus of NCBS who specialises in bats is associated with MaOI. Organisers behind the initiative said that MaOI is a part of the Biodiversity Atlas (India project), which is an initiative of Krushnamegh Kunte, associate professor at NCBS. Under the project, a popular citizen-science website on butterflies of India www.ifoundbutterflies.org had got to 55,000 reference images in eight years. Under the same project websites dedicated Moths of India, Cicacds of India, Odonatas of India (dragonflies and damselflies) , Reptiles of India, Amphibians of India and Birds of India are operational.
📰 India set to be third largest aviation market
To climb up from no. 7 position by 2024, says IATA
•India will be the third largest aviation market globally a year sooner than was earlier predicted. It is now expected to be among the top three countries by 2024 from its current seventh position, according to global aviation body IATA.
•In its latest 20-year forecast for the aviation industry, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) says that air passenger numbers worldwide could double to 8.2 billion in 2037.
Asian wave
•The biggest contribution in this growth will come from the Asia-Pacific region, which will account for half the total number of new passengers over the next 20 years.
•While China will climb up one spot to displace US as the world’s largest aviation market in the mid-2020s, India will take the third place by surpassing the U.K. around 2024, according to the IATA forecast.
•By 2037, India is expected to add 414 million passengers to its existing 572 million passengers, the report added.
•In fact, the Asia-Pacific region is expected to see the fastest growth at the rate of 4.8%, followed by Africa (4.6%) and west Asia (4.4%).
•“Firstly, we are seeing a geographical reshuffling of world air traffic to the East. And secondly, we foresee a significant negative impact on the growth and benefits of aviation if tough and restrictive protectionist measures are implemented,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO.
•The other south-east Asian countries predicted to grow rapidly include Indonesia, likely to be the fourth largest by 2030 from its current ranking of 10th largest aviation market. Thailand, too, is expected to enter the top 10 markets in 2030.
📰 ‘Digital boards will change the face of classrooms, education’
Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar praises The Hindu’s Excellence in Education conclave
•The launching of ‘Operation Digital Board’ across 15 lakh classrooms in the country in the next four years will change the face of education in the country, said Union Human Resource Minister Prakash Javadekar.
•Speaking at the third edition of Excellence in Education conclave organised by The Hindu group in association with Blue Star here on Thursday, Mr. Javadekar said, “We get valuable inputs from such events to raise the educational standards in the country. The media is not just a loudspeaker but has to critically examine government programmes and come up with new suggestions so that the country is benefitted and enriched.”
•In his special message delivered via video link, Mr. Javadekar mentioned the initiatives undertaken by the NDA government to harness the digital revolution. “Our government has taken benefit of the digital revolution to educate 15 lakh teachers and making education available online and offline. Education policy today is based on accessibility, accountability, affordability and equity,” he said.
•He said that the HRD Ministry had unveiled initiatives like SWAYAM and the National Digital Library (NLD) to revolutionise the structure of education in the country.
•He further said that the granting of complete autonomy to IIMs was a major step towards ensuring excellence in education. The concept of research parks and Atal innovation centres was a major step towards fostering entrepreneurship, he added.
•State Education Minister Vinod Tawde said The Hindu conclave was “a breakthrough” for thinking about the education system not only in Maharashtra, but in the entire country.
•“Our educational system still languishes in the industrial revolution era. The conclave will help in providing inputs on how the curriculum can be adapted to today’s digital educational epoch,” Mr. Tawde said.
•He further remarked on the need to mull about the emotional and spiritual quotients and not merely the intelligence quotient in education.
•In his keynote address, Maharashtra Education Commissioner Vishal Solanki noted that the three critical issues were digitalisation in 21st century schools, excellence in education and fostering an entrepreneurial spirit.
•“While phrases like ‘Technology is a great leveller’ sounds good to the ears, in reality, a lot needs to be done towards improving digital connectivity in the State’s — and India’s — rural hinterland,” Mr. Solanki said.
•Observing that while education offered by some establishments was expensive, he questioned whether an ‘Ivy League’ education truly guaranteed quality education or imbibed the right values in moulding children’s characters.
•“It is necessary to introspect in this digital age if a wealthy education is the sole guarantor of quality? For there is an amazing hunger for education among children in the rural areas as opposed to their privileged urban counterparts. We also have to ask hard questions as to how effective is the vocational training being imparted to students in institutes across the State,” he said.
•Fondly recalling his eager wait for The Hindu during his days as a civil services aspirant, Mr. Solanki said Pune was an apt place to host the conclave as it had a number of excellent institutions with a 200-year academic pedigree.
•Commenting on the yeoman service rendered by The Hindu in upholding journalistic values and maintaining literary standards, B. Thiagarajan, Joint Managing-Director, Blue Star, said the conclave symbolised a marriage of two iconic brands in fostering education and an entrepreneurial spirit through knowledge.
•“For educationists as well as the student fraternity, The Hindu is indelibly associated with high-quality English writing and a judicious choice of informative articles. Likewise, a commitment to providing quality vocational training constitutes a significant part of Blue Star’s CSR initiatives,” said Mr. Thiagarajan.
📰 Our time begins now
India stands to suffer most from climate change. A road map to transit quickly to a near-zero carbon economy
•Even at the time of its signing in 2015, it was clear that the Paris Agreement on climate change would not be enough to avoid global warming of 1.5° C over pre-industrial temperatures. In fact, early analyses revealed that the collective effect of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) would result in 3-5° C of warming. More recently, there has been mounting pressure on India to raise its pledges further. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on 1.5° C has come at a time when there are multiple alarms for India. Another study in Nature Climate Change identifies India as the country with the most expected damage from rising levels of carbon dioxide. How should India respond?
•India’s NDC is already ambitious and it has made decisive changes in its energy sector. Meanwhile, the U.S. has pulled out of the climate treaty, and the support of Australia and Brazil teeters on the outcome of their respective elections. Some countries are also doing less than they claim. According to Kevin Anderson at the University of Manchester, with aviation, shipping and trade counted, the U.K. has made no reduction to its greenhouse gas emissions.
A socio-economic challenge
•India has two complex and inter-related problems. The first is to bring a vast population out of poverty and into decent lives. The second is to do this while dealing responsibly with the global carbon challenge and building resilience to climate change.
•While India is often mentioned along with China in climate-related discussions as a large emerging economy, the two are very different. India ranks 130 among nations in the Human Development Index, and China ranks 86. In spite of remarkable recent improvements, India still has 364 million living in multidimensional poverty. Nearly a third (27.5%) are multidimensionally poor and about a fifth (19.1%) are vulnerable to becoming poor. Almost half the country is therefore at high risk from events such as loss of a job or ill health of a family member. Combined with damage from a severe cyclone, flood or drought, each subsequent shock will have a multiplier effect on hundreds of millions, potentially pushing them deeper into poverty.
•Add to this the current rural distress and the large youth bulge with few job prospects, and the country is in dire straits. It is clear that past development frameworks have not improved well-being across social strata. Instead, evidence indicates that economic growth has gone hand-in-hand with rising inequality and the creation of a small but powerful class of the super-rich.
SDGs are crucial
•It turns out that the most sensible way to deal with these complex challenges is to deepen and expand India’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The synergies of meeting SDGs, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to a changing climate can only be fully realised if transformative and cross-scale changes are conceived, deliberated upon and tested widely. Further, “scaling up” may not be the correct way to think about what is needed; rather, replication with context-relevant modifications through local and institutional innovation may be more appropriate for a country of India’s size and ecological diversity.
•The 1.5° C report calls for societal transformation on a global scale that “reflect[s] the links, synergies and trade-offs between mitigation, adaptation and sustainable development.” Recent events, however, show that we cannot trade off forests, urban water bodies, riverine ecosystems, waste management or groundwater as these come back to bite us as floods, landslides, droughts and infectious disease.
•India, nevertheless, has a large number of successful examples of transformative innovation around energy production and access, land, livelihoods and climate resilience. The Bureau of Energy Efficiency showed how government ‘nudges’ are made effective through appliance labelling and large-scale procurement of efficient devices. In the building and cement industry, innovation around housing and new materials, including natural fibre composites, could make far-reaching changes in infrastructure through low-carbon modular technologies.
•India expects to reach its ambitious solar target of 100 GW capacity by 2022 primarily through large centralised solar power plants, but these require significant amounts of land, water and evacuation infrastructure and support from mega-corporations. Instead, as some States have shown, renewable-based microgrids can become an important feature of electricity policy. Jharkhand, which has 249 remote villages powered by solar microgrids, is now considering their use even in villages that are already grid connected.
•In the near future, entrepreneurs could make use of rapidly lowering storage costs to build decentralised, neighbourhood-scale micro-utilities, managed by locally owned enterprises and cooperatives. With modern power electronics and innovations in hybrid waste to energy, water recycling and community gardens could be integrated as standalone modules that are connected to larger grids.
•Sustainable approaches to land are evident in cases such as forest conservation in Mendha-Lekha village in Maharashtra and community delivery of public services in Nagaland. These and several other instances are documented in initiatives such as Vikalp Sangam. Similarly, in a recent comment in Nature, Harini Nagendra points out that India has for long had strongly rooted cultural movements about living sustainably with land and its ecology that provide practical models.
•Some research groups have recognised that agro-ecology methods are best suited for increasing crop yield, raising profits, trapping soil carbon, reducing dependence on fertilisers and pesticides. Successful models are already effective on small scales in many States. Andhra Pradesh is attempting to replicate widely one such approach, Zero Budget Natural Farming, to all its farmers by 2024 with an expected savings of 2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. This is with 6 million farmers across 8 million hectares. If similar methods were used for the entire country, the savings would be substantial.
•In transport and urbanisation, the challenge is to create isotropic communities in the areas of the peri-urban, the rapidly expanding hinterland, which would have to be designed around not cars but walking, cycling and sustainable neighbourhood vehicles. Work and industry would also have to focus on the small and medium scale of about 300 employees and modest capital investments, which reduce the risk of speculation and jobless growth.
•Energy and livelihood gains from such alternative visions could be far more significant than conventional ways of replacing fossil-fuelled infrastructure with renewables. But they also involve a lot of learning-by-doing, living laboratories and innovation, practice, patience and support from government and academia.
Putting plans into action
•The next round of state action plans on climate change now being developed might begin with identifying successful development approaches overlaid with expected climate impacts in each ecological zone. Policymakers, with inputs from academia, community workers and the public, could then work on how these would be repeated in other contexts keeping climate impacts in mind.
•Large investments are needed to make the transitions in each sector that would take the country to a near zero-carbon economy. But given the shortage of external support and the need for rapid deployment, India will not be able to rely entirely on external funds. Some of this could instead be financed through a ‘luxury’ carbon tax that curbs non-essential consumption. Savings can also be expected from the economic and social transformation itself.
•Political pressure and activism across the globe may soon turn the tide in other countries, but India needs to begin now with its enormous untapped successes. We cannot be pressured from outside, but need to change from within.
📰 Think small: on Ganga rejuvenation
Decentralised sludge management systems are vital to achieve clean water goals
•Bad sanitation is India’s worst-kept secret, but recent data from Uttar Pradesh show that in spite of working in mission mode to expand sanitation, 87% of faecal sludge expelled from toilets in urban areas is untreated. Viewed against the 2030 goal to achieve clean water and sanitation for all under the UN Sustainable Development Agenda, this depressing statistic shows how much work remains to be done. State support for improved housing and planned development has never been strong, and the National Urban Sanitation Policy of 2008 has not changed that significantly. At the national scale, a United Nations report of 2015 estimates that 65,000 tonnes of untreated faeces is introduced into the environment in India annually. The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan promised a major shift, but it has focussed more on the basic requirement of household and community toilets in rural and urban areas. The study in U.P. conducted by the Centre for Science and Environment has now exposed broken links, of faecal sludge and septage being collected from household tanks and simply discharged into drains, open land and wetlands. The problem of the waste not being contained, collected without manual labour, transported and treated safely is becoming graver. It is now time for a new approach. This has to be decentralised and different from the strategy being used to clean the Ganga, for which the NDA government announced an outlay of ₹20,000 crore in 2015. That strategy relies on large sewage treatment plants for riverside cities and towns.
•Immediate investments in decentralised sludge management systems would bring twin benefits: of improving the environment and reducing the disease burden imposed by insanitary conditions. It is welcome that the CSE study is being followed up with a mapping exercise on the flow of faecal waste streams in individual cities. The results for Varanasi, Allahabad and Aligarh in particular should be revealing, since the collection efficiency for sludge in these cities ranges from just 10% to 30%. One immediate intervention needed is the creation of an inter-departmental task force to identify land to build small treatment systems for sludge, and to provide easily accessible solutions to houses that are currently discharging waste into open drains. The business of emptying faecal material using tanker trucks needs to be professionalised and de-stigmatised. It is untenable that manual scavengers continue to be employed in violation of the law to clean septic tanks in some places, and caste factors play out in the recruitment of workers even in the mechanised operations. All aspects of the business of sanitation need reform if India is to meet Goal Number 6 of the Sustainable Development Goals with egalitarian policies. A large State such as Uttar Pradesh provides the opportunity to demonstrate commitment to policy. Success here can transform lives.
