Why in the News?

The Government of India, recently released a comprehensive report on the opportunities afforded by this current wave of Artificial Intelligence (AI). 

What is Digital Uncertainity?

Digital uncertainty involves unpredictability and ambiguities regarding the socio-economic impacts of rapidly evolving digital technologies such as AI, social media, cryptocurrencies, and automation. It encompasses unclear effects on jobs, inequality, security, and privacy, as well as challenges like regulatory gaps and technological misuse. This uncertainty stems from the potential transformation of economics, politics, and social structures by emerging technologies.

Scant understanding of the implication:

1. Threat of Cognitive warfare:

   1. It employs technological tools to alter the cognition of human targets, who are often unaware of such attempts.
   2. They use sophisticated techniques aimed at destabilising institutions, especially governments, and manipulation, of the news media by powerful non-state actors. 
   3. It can alter a population’s behaviour using sophisticated psychological techniques of manipulation.

2. Investments in intangible assets carries the risk from AI.

   1. Almost a third of companies in the more advanced countries of the world invest more in intangible assets than the physical one, carrying more risk from AI.
   2. Over 50% of the market value of the top 500 companies sitting in intangibles are also deeply vulnerable to AI.

3. The steps by large firms to migrate to the Cloud, and huge no. of sensors to constantly send out sensitive information, rises the risk of AI.

4. Government and government agencies are spending significant resources to undo the impact of misinformation and disinformation as AI has led to ‘truth decay’.

The emergence of AGI:

1. Currently, many advances in AI are being birthed by the machine itself, which shall lead to the emergence of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).
2. Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) is termed as AI that is equal and or superior to human intelligence, which will penetrate whole new sectors and replace human judgement, intuition and creativity.
3. AGI carries the threats of:
   1. Altering the very fabric of nation-states by disrupting real and imagined communities across the globe.
   2. Exponentially rising the social and economic inequalities.
   3. Social anarchy that will rule the streets especially in cities closest to the epicentre of technological innovation.
   4. Breaking down of the concept of trust due to disinformation and imitating known voices with false ones.
   5. Job displacements and economic displacements as AGI’s highly autonomous systems can outperform humans in work, education, social welfare and the like.
   6. Turning digital data into digital intelligence which can enlarge the scope for disruption.
   7. Threat of digital colonisation as AGI-based power centres are based in a few specific locations.
   8.  Data exploitation

AI in Conflict: The Hamas-Israel conflict

• The recent Hamas-Israeli conflict, sometimes referred to as the Yom Kippur War 2023, highlights the potential for skilled exploitation and manipulation of AI in specific scenarios.

• Some experts attribute Israel's significant intelligence failure in the conflict to an excessive reliance on AI technology, which was adroitly leveraged by Hamas.

• AI is fundamentally dependent on data and algorithms for its operation, and it appears that Hamas utilized deceptive tactics to obfuscate its true intentions. This involved distorting the flow of information into Israeli AI systems to its advantage.

In the ongoing Hamas-Israeli conflict, Israel’s massive intelligence failure has been attributed to its overindulgence of AI and a belief in its invincibility, which was skilfully exploited by Hamas to use subterfuges to conceal its real intentions by distorting the flow of information flowing into Israeli AI systems. 

Why in the News?

Israel has launched intense airstrikes in Gaza after the territory's militant rulers carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel killing thousands and abducting hundreds of people as captives.

“Old Middle East” will not be back:

1. Though terror attack by Hamas on Israel can have an impact on the rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Israel, it shall be only short-term.
2. It is unlikely to hold over the long term because for several reasons:
   1. Hamas cannot fight a long-term war with Israel
   2. Regional powers except Iran, have shown little inclination to escalate the conflict.
   3. Iran’s increasing influence in the region will make Saudi Arabia more vulnerable, pushing it closer to the US.
3. Divided support to the Palestinian cause by the states of West Asia:
   1. The Hamas’ attack was to terrorise Israel and galvanise the West Asian states in repositioning the Palestine problem.
   2. Though it was achieved, it has unified the fractured Israeli government which was facing fractures due to internal political strife.
   3. Presently, Israel gained advantages of:
      1. Mobilised its society
      2. Garnered Western support
      3. Ready to dispatch ground forces which might change the status quo in Gaza strip, as Israel is determined in collapsing the governance and sovereignty of the Hamas organisation.
4. Hamas’ ability to sustain the conflict rests entirely on the backing of Hezbollah and Iran.
   1. Iran has held that Palestine has a right to resist occupation and blamed Israel squarely for the incident.
   2. Tehran is working in a full-fledged manner to galvanise support in the Arab world.
5. The Hamas-Hezbollah-Iran connect development has alarmed the Saudis. 
   1. Though Saudi provides unequivocal in their support for Palestinian statehood, it has hard ties with Hamas owing to the latter’s proximity to Iran and Turkey.
   2. Saudi is also under the pressure amidst the growing wave of anti-Israel sentiment in the region to break all ties with the Jewish state. 
   3. Riyadh has suspended its negotiations with Israel, but its vulnerability has multiplied.
   4. The Saudis cannot depend on China and Russia for their security as Iran has stronger ties with these nations and hence, it is likely to remain close to Washington.
6. US is likely to remain engaged in the region:
   1. It is taking extensive measures to contain the crisis by deterring Hezbollah and Iran.
   2. It has deployed nuclear-powered USS Dwight D Eisenhower and the USS Gerald R Ford carriers in the Eastern Mediterranean.
   3. Antony Blinken visited Israel, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt to assure civilian protection to these states.

Why in the News?

Just like on Earth, the surface of Mars sometimes vigorously shakes and unsurprisingly, that is called a marsquake and the largest ever such marsquake was recorded in history happened in 2022.

Reason behind the Marsquake:

1. The quake had a magnitude of 4.7 and had seismic signal similar to previous quakes that were caused by meteoroid impacts.
2. However, the possibility that the marsquake was caused by a meteor impact has been ruled out.
3. Mars is smaller than Earth but it has around the same land surface area (144 million square kilometres) as our planet because it has no oceans.
4. All missions in orbit around the red planet have collaborated on a single project for the first time to find the reason for the marsquake 2022.
5. The collaborations were among European Space Agency, (ESA) the Chinese National Space Agency, (CNSA) the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the United Arab Emirates Space Agency.
6. The researchers announced, after months of comprehensively searching on the Martian surface that no crater was found.
7. Therefore, the marsquake was concluded to be caused by the release of tectonic forces from within the planet’s interior, indicating that Mars is seismically active.
8. Though it is agreed that Mars doesn’t have any active plate tectonics today, the quake was likely caused by the release of stress within Mars’ crust that accumulated over billions of years of evolution.

InSight Mars lander of NASA:

1. The lander detected the largest quake ever observed on another planet.
2. InSight is not looking for life on Mars, but is studying what Mars is made of, how its material is layered, and how much heat seeps out of it.
3. Study of Mars is significant as to compare Earth and Mars and better understand how a planet’s starting materials make it more or less likely to support life.
4. InSight has detected 1,319 marsquakes since 2018, including a magnitude 5 quake in May 2022
5. Mars doesn't have tectonic plates - its solid crust shrinks over time, creating faults and quakes
6. Quake waves give insights into origin point, timing, and strength of marsquakes
7. Tracking quakes provides understanding of Mars' interior structure and evolution
8. Mars is still active, not geologically dead
9. Strongest quakes come from Cerberus Fossae region with recent volcanic flows
10. This region had landslides likely caused by large quakes
11. Volcanic activity can cause marsquakes even without lava flows
12. No quakes detected from Tharsis volcanoes one-third of Mars away
13. Tharsis may have "shadow zone" blocking quake waves to InSight
14. Shadow zones mean areas can be active but quakes go undetected
15. InSight quake data still provides insights despite shadow zones
16. Some missions studying the possibility of life on Mars include
    1. UAE’s Hope
    2. China’s Tianwen-1
    3. NASA’s Perseverance.

Why in the News?

The Union Home Minister said that Left-wing extremists and their ideology are “against the country’s development and bright future” during a Tribal Youth Exchange Programme. 

Tribal Youth Exchange Programme:

1. 1. It is run through Nehru Yuva Kendras of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
   2. The programme targets tribal youth from LWE-affected areas of the country.
   3. Under the programme, participants travel to major cities and metros and interact with government officials, constitutional authorities, outstanding achievers in different fields, and their urban peers across the country.
   4. They are also taken on tours of camps of security forces, educated on government policies, and exposed to cultural and sporting events. 
   5. The programme intends to
      1. promote the aspirations of young people in LWE-affected
      2. counter propaganda against the government spread by CPI Maoists.
      3. sensitise youth about India’s cultural heritage and deepen confidence in the democratic system.

The Maoist Resilience:

1. Though Naxal or the Maoist insurgency was virtually wiped out in 1970, it began resurfacing in the 1980s due to:
   1. Continued apathy of the State towards the sufferings of the natives of the forested plateau lands (across 9 States of Central India)
   2. States saw the Naxal’s rise as a mere law-and-order nuisance that did not necessitate any extraordinary action.
   3. The states in ‘denial mode’ failed to conceive the characteristics and long-term implications of the rebellion, and its causes and remedies.
2. By the second half of the 1990s, Maoist established ‘liberated areas’ where they ran their ‘government as they involved in active recruitment, heists, loot of police weaponry and widespread extortion gaining sufficient strength to expand their control over plateau-forest land.
3. Branches of Maoist joined hands and spread their influence across many areas to be described as the ‘Red Corridor’.
4. The first decade of the 2000s saw unprecedented degree of violence and ‘Party Rule’ in the Maoist’s core areas of operations.

Steps taken by the government:

1. Strengthening of the security forces and a quantum upgrade of security related infrastructure.
2. Upgradation of the intelligence network and methods of timely dissemination of information sharing
3. Political recourses to address the people’s disenchantment over the governance deficits
4. Clamp down on terror funding and extortion networks.
5. Security forces patrols into their ‘liberated’ and dominated areas.
   1. With modernisation and training, police forces have broken into some of ‘no-go’ areas such as Dandakaranya, Bastar- Indravati Ranges, Saranda-Singbhum Ranges and Gadchiroli-Sundarnagar Range.
6. Financial grants for CAPFs to undertake welfare activities in the affected areas under a Civic Action Program (CAP).
7. A scheme of Universal Services Obligation Fund (USOF) has also been initiated to upgrade mobile communication services in affected districts of 10 States.
8. ROSHNI (Ajeevika Skills) or the e ‘Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana is a special initiative launched in 2013 for training and placement of rural youth from the affected districts in the nine States.
9. The Strategy of SAMADHAN, adopted in 2017 stands for
   1. Smart leadership
   2. Aggressive strategy
   3. Motivation and training
   4. Actionable intelligence
   5. Dashboard based key performance indicators and key result areas,
   6. Harnessing technology
   7. Action plan for each theatre
   8. No access to financing
10. Strengthening in terms of long institution of long overdue constitutional provisions such as:
    1. Explosives and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Acts
    2. Prevention of Money Laundering Act
    3. ban on the CPI (Maoist) and other organisers of radicalism who pose threat to the society
    4. The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006

Why in the News?

The Amazon rainforest has been witnessing intense drought with numerous rivers vital for travel having dried up which has deprived Indigenous communities living in the area of water, food, or medicine in villages.

News in Detail: 

1. The Rio Negro, one of the world’s largest rivers by discharge levels, has fallen to a record low level of 13.59 metres in Brazil.
2. Amazon, called the planet’s lungs, covers nearly 7 million square kilometres, (about the area of Australia) and stores more than 150 billion metric tonnes of carbon.
3. The present spell of drought has persisted since June, 2023 which has led to drop in water levels and death of high numbers of fish and river dolphins, known as boto.
4. The dead rotting carcasses have contaminated the water supply in some areas, forcing residents to use it for cooking, bathing, and drinking.
5. The water scarcity has stalled the operations of a major hydropower dam in the region and has left people in remote villages with limited access to food, and other supplies.
6. The extreme dry conditions have made the rainforest more vulnerable to wildfires, given that already the Amazonas state has witnessed 2,700 blazes in this month, the highest ever noted for the month of October in the last 25 years.

Reasons for the severe drought condition:

1. The severe drought is a result of two simultaneous natural events that have hindered cloud formation, reducing the already low rainfall levels in the region.
2. One of them is the onset of El Nino:
   1. El Nino refers to an abnormal warming of surface waters in the equatorial Pacific Ocean.
   2. This weather pattern is known to increase the likelihood of breaking temperature records causing intense heating in the region.
   3. It also triggers more extreme heat in many parts of the world and in the ocean.
3. The other natural event is the unusually high temperatures of water in the northern tropical Atlantic Ocean. 
   1. The warmer ocean waters cause the heated air to rise into the atmosphere, which then reaches the Amazon rainforest.
   2. The warm air inhibits clouds formation, causing rainfall to drop sharply.

A grim future:

1. Studies have revealed that with rising global temperatures, the Amazon will experience longer and more frequent droughts.
2. Also, with the current rate of burning fossil fuels by humans can lead to major drought 9 out of every 10 years by the year 2060 in the rainforest.
3. It has also become evident from a study that Amazon has become slower at recovering from longer periods of drought over the past 20 years and is nearing its tipping point.
   1. Breaching the tipping point means that the rainforest would transform from a lush green forest into a drier open savanna
   2. It then starts releasing a large amount of stored carbon, which would, in turn, exacerbate global warming.
4. In the last 50 years, between 17 and 20 per cent of the Amazon has been destroyed mainly due to deforestation, which demands for efforts to curb deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions.

Why in the News?

The Third Belt and Road Initiative for International Cooperation was convened in Beijing, China and marked the 10^th year of anniversary of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s signature initiative.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI):

1. It was perceived as a gateway for China to transition from a regional power with global influence to a global power with comprehensive strength.
2. Chin also wanted to develop alternative transport and trade arteries as rivals could put the squeeze on the Strait of Malacca, the jugular vein for China’s economy.
3. The establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank with $100 billion was with the idea to enable Mr. Xi to harvest early gains of the BRI.
4. BRI’ launch enabled Mr. Xi to brand himself as a global statesman and project China’s power and influence overseas.
5. The Chinese government’s white paper on BRI revealed that
   1. around 200 BRI cooperation pacts had been inked with over 150 nations.
   2. The total two-way investment between China and partner countries from 2013 to 2022 touched $380 billion.
6. Under China’s Marshall Plan (BRI), motorways, power plants, ports, railway networks, and digital infrastructure have been built.

Many misses of BRI:

1. Issues related to ecological damage, displacement of people, disputes over payouts and labour unrest have been associated with BRI.
   1. For instance, in Indonesia, anxieties related to Chinese labourers filling up positions earmarked for locals have erupted.
   2. The super-fast trains in Laos and impressive dam projects over the Mekong River have affected those displaced due to lack of compensation and affected people due to droughts led by dam-construction projects.
2. Unsustainable debt
   1. Debt burden: Laos owes China around $12.2 billion i.e., about 65% of its GDP.
3. Tarnished tagline of ‘win-win cooperation’ 
   1. In the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) , China has cornered 91% of Gwadar port’s revenue while Pakistan pocketed just 9%. 

Global alternatives

United States and Japan initiative of “United States-Japan infrastructure investment alternatives in the Indo-Pacific region”.

1. ‘Build Back Better World’ (B3W)” or Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment initiative by the US.

   1. It seeks to channelise private capital into climate change and energy security, health care and health security, digital technology, and gender equity.

2. India-Middle East-Europe Corridor (IMEC) proposed in the G20 Delhi summit, which seeks to link India, West Asia, and Europe through railways and shipping lines.

1. Trade connectivity, electricity, digital infrastructure as well as a pipeline for clean hydrogen export have been envisioned.

Why in the News? 

The state of Andhra Pradesh has said that it would begin a backward classes census to gather data to better know the numerical strength of 139 backward-class communities in the state.

• This comes after the publication of the results of the caste survey in Bihar earlier this month.
• It has also raised the possibility that other states too would announce similar exercises as the country enters a new cycle of elections.

Who are the Other Backward Classes (OBCs)?

1. The expression ‘OBC’ was coined to denote backward/ marginalised communities and castes that were not Scheduled Castes (SCs) or Scheduled Tribes (STs).
2. The categorisation recognised that social backwardness in India is a direct consequence of caste status which has led to emanation of other handicaps.
3. Article 15(4) of the Constitution:
   1. It provides for affirmative action for OBCs by the state.
4. Article 16(4):
   1. The state is empowered to make “any provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favour of any backward class of citizens which, in the opinion of the State, is not adequately represented in the services under the State”.
5. Article 29:
   1. Deals with non-discrimination with regard to admission into state educational institutions on grounds of religion, caste, etc
6. There are many castes among the OBCs which lead to different levels of marginalisation. Thus, two broad categories within the OBCs emerge: 
   1. those who own land (such as the Yadavs and Kurmis in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh),
   2. those who do not own land
7. The demand for reservation for the “backwards among OBCs”  have gained prominence due to the feeling that “upper” OBCs have been the major  beneficiaries of the 27% reservation.
8. Bihar, in the past, set up committees to identify the “most backward” from among the OBCs.
   1. Mungeri Lal Commission
   2. Karpoori Thakur Formula provided 26% reservation, of which OBCs got a 12% share, the economically backward classes among the OBCs got 8%.

Two OBC Commissions:

1. First OBC commission headed by Kaka Kalelkar:

   1. It was constituted by Nehru’s government in 1953 which submitted its report in 1955.
   2. The commission adopted the following criteria to identify socially and educationally backward classes:
      1. low social position in the traditional caste hierarchy of Hindu society
      2. lack of general educational advancement among the major section of the caste/ community
      3. Inadequate or no representation in government service
      4. Inadequate representation in trade, commerce and industry.
   3. The commission prepared a list of 2,399 backward castes and categorised 837 of them as “most backward”.
   4. It also recommended enumerating castes in the 1961 census, providing 25-40% reservation at different levels of government jobs, and 70% reservation for admission to technical and professional institutions.
   5. The report was never implemented as it was agreed that “any all-India list drawn up by the Central Government would have no practical utility”.

2. Second OBC commission or B P Mandal Commission:

   1. It was appointed by Morarji Desai’s Janata government in 1979.
   2. The Mandal Commission identified 3,743 castes and communities as OBCs and estimated their population at 52%.
   3.  It recommended for 27% reservation in government jobs and admissions to all government-run scientific, technical, and professional institutions.
   4. No subcategories were recognised within the 27% OBC quota by the commission.

Subcategories in states:

1. The state governments apply their own criteria to distribute quota benefits among the various categories of OBCs.
   1. In Karnataka, 207 OBCs castes are divided into five sub-groups.
   2. Jharkhand has two groups:
      1. Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs) and Backward Classes.
   3. In Tamil Nadu, the 50% OBC quota is divided among
      1. Backward Classes (26.5%)
      2. Backward Class Muslims (3.5%),
      3. Most Backward Classes/Denotified Community (20%).
2. A new commission for sub-categorisation of OBCs was constituted under Justice G Rohini in 2017, which has recently submitted its report.

1. It is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue where voters of a country exercise direct democracy.
2. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. 
3. The referendum can deal with adoption of a new policy or specific law or be only advisory.
4. Other methos of using direct democracy includes:
   1. Plebiscite- it is a direct vote of all the members of an electorate on an important public question such as a change in the constitution
   2. Initiative- it is a citizen-initiated referendum that empowers public to propose, by petition regarding specific statutory measures or constitutional reforms to the government.
   3. Recall- empowers voters to remove an elected official from office through voting before that official's term of office has ended. 

Coal production in India is a significant part of the country's energy and industrial sectors. India has one of the world's largest coal reserves, and coal remains a crucial source of energy for power generation, as well as a key raw material for various industries, including steel and cement production.

Coal production in India is mainly overseen by Coal India Limited (CIL), a state-owned coal mining company, and various subsidiary companies. India's coalfields are primarily located in states such as Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and West Bengal.

The coal industry in India faces various challenges, including environmental concerns, issues related to land acquisition, and the need for modernization and increased efficiency in mining operations. The government of India has been taking steps to address these challenges and promote sustainable coal production, while also exploring alternatives such as renewable energy sources to reduce the country's reliance on coal.

1. Coal is a combustible sedimentary rock formed from ancient vegetation which has been consolidated between other rock strata and transformed by the combined effects of microbial action, pressure and heat over a considerable time period.
2. This process of co formation is commonly called ‘coalification’.
3. It is composed mostly of carbon (50–98 per cent), hydrogen (3–13 per cent) and oxygen, and smaller amounts of nitrogen, sulphur and other elements.
4. It is divided into two sub-categories as:

   1. Hard Coal

• Anthracite: Anthracite coal is a superlative coal variety renowned for its exceptional attributes, notably a high carbon composition, minimal moisture content, and a remarkable energy density. It stands as the preeminent grade of coal, distinguished by its exceptional purity and its capacity to generate substantial energy.

Its salient features include:

1. Carbon Purity: Anthracite coal consistently boasts an impressive carbon content, typically ranging from 86% to 97%, rendering it one of the most pristine coal varieties available.

2. Low Moisture: With its minimal moisture content, anthracite exhibits an exceptional combustion efficiency, characterized by reduced emissions and a notable absence of smoke or creosote accumulation.

3. Superior Energy Density: Anthracite's superior energy density translates to a remarkable heat output per unit of weight, rendering it a valuable fuel source.

4. Negligible Volatile Matter: This coal type contains only trace amounts of volatile matter, which contributes to its distinction as a clean-burning fuel source.

5. Minimal Ash Content: The ash content in anthracite coal is notably low, resulting in reduced waste production during combustion.

Historically, anthracite coal has found extensive utility for domestic heating applications, particularly in stoves and residential heating systems. Furthermore, its deployment in industrial processes, such as the production of iron and steel, underscored its versatility. Nonetheless, its utilization has waned in recent years due to heightened environmental concerns related to coal combustion, coupled with the advent of cleaner and more sustainable energy alternatives.

• Bituminous coal is a type of coal that falls between sub-bituminous coal and anthracite coal in terms of carbon content and energy density. It is characterized by a moderately high carbon content, making it a valuable energy source, and it typically contains lower moisture levels compared to sub-bituminous coal. Bituminous coal is widely used in electricity generation, industrial applications, and as a fuel for heating and steel production. It is known for its relatively clean combustion properties and versatility.

• Coking coal also known as metallurgical coal, is a specific type of coal with properties that make it suitable for use in the production of coke. Coke is a crucial component in the steelmaking process, used in blast furnaces to convert iron ore into molten iron. Coking coal has particular attributes, including low ash and sulfur content, as well as good coking properties, which enable it to be heated in the absence of air to produce high-quality coke. It is primarily utilized in the steel industry to ensure the quality and efficiency of iron and steel production.

• Other bituminous coal- Other bituminous coal refers to bituminous coal varieties that do not fit into the standard categories of high-quality bituminous coal. These coals typically have characteristics such as moderate carbon content and energy density, and they may vary in terms of their specific properties. The term is used to encompass bituminous coals that do not meet the precise criteria of standard bituminous coal or coking coal, but they still hold utility in various industrial and energy applications, depending on their particular composition and qualities.

2. Brown coal

• Sub-bituminous coal: Sub-bituminous coal is a type of coal that falls in the middle of the coal rank classification, between lignite and bituminous coal. It contains a higher energy content than lignite but lower than bituminous coal. Sub-bituminous coal has a carbon content ranging from 45% to 60% and is characterized by relatively low moisture and sulfur content. It is commonly used for electricity generation due to its moderate energy density and lower environmental impact compared to higher-rank coals.

• Lignite: Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is a type of coal that represents the lowest rank in the coal classification system. It is characterized by its relatively low carbon content, high moisture content, and low energy density. Lignite is soft, brownish-black in color, and has a woody texture. Due to its high moisture and low carbon content, it tends to produce lower energy when burned compared to higher-ranking coals. Lignite is primarily used for electricity generation in power plants and is abundant in some regions, but it is less energy-efficient and has a higher environmental impact compared to other coal types.

1. The all India coal production in the year 2021-2022 has witnessed a growth of about 8.67% compared to the last year.
2. In the year 2020-21, the highest coal production list is occupied by:
   1. Chhattisgarh (22.12%)
   2. Odisha (21.53%)
   3. Madhya Pradesh (18.51%)
   4. Jharkhand (16.66%)
3. Tamil Nadu was the largest producer of lignite with Neyveli Lignite Corporation as the main producer.
4. Coal India Limited produced 83.26% of total coal production in the country.
5. 95.64% of coal production in India was from Open Cast mines and the rest 4.36% was from Under Ground mines.
6. India has high geological reserves of non-coking coal compared to reserve of coking coal (prime, medium and semi-coking).
7. Coal was mainly imported from Indonesia, followed by Australia, South Africa, USA, Russia, Singapore and Mozambique.

1. MSP is the minimum price set by the government for certain agricultural products, at which the products would directly be bought from the farmers if the open market prices are less than the cost incurred.
2. It fosters to insure the farmers against a steep decline in the prices of their goods and to help them prevent losses.
3. MSP is set by the government of India twice a year for 24 commodities.

4.The Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) considers the following key factors while recommending the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for agricultural crops in India:

• Cost of production - Includes costs like seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation, labor, machinery, interest on working capital etc. incurred by farmers. A fair return over cost of production is added.
• Demand and supply - Estimates of production, stock levels, domestic and export demand are analyzed to balance price growth with enough buffer stock.
• Price trends in domestic and global markets - Price trends are studied to ensure Indian farmer interests are protected from international price volatilities.
• Inter-crop price parity - MSPs are balanced between crops to prevent over-production of one at cost of another. Relative profitability is maintained.
• Terms of trade between agriculture and non-agriculture sectors - Broad parity is maintained between prices farmers pay and receive to protect their interests.
• Likely implications of MSPs on consumers - MSPs are set keeping in mind impact on consumers, especially price rise in cereals, pulses, edible oils.
• Objectives of production policy and procurement - MSPs aim to incentivize farmers to adopt modern technology and produce surplus for procurement and price stabilization.
• International costs and prices - World prices, freight rates, import duties etc. are considered to keep domestic prices aligned.

So CACP takes a comprehensive view accounting for producer and consumer interests, market factors as well as national socio-economic goals while recommending MSPs.

Benefits of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) system in India:

• Provides a minimum guaranteed price to farmers for their crops and protects them from potential price falls during bumper production.
• Encourages farmers to invest in new technologies, seeds, fertilizers etc. to increase productivity as price risk is reduced.
• Supports crop diversification by incentivizing farmers to grow a wider basket of crops through attractive MSPs.
• Enables maintaining buffer stocks of grains, pulses etc. for food security and price stabilization. 
• Protects farmers from volatility and sudden drops in international commodity prices by ensuring domestic rates do not fall below MSP.
• Transmits inflationary signals across the economy helping align the price structure between agriculture and non-agriculture sectors. 
• Promotes growth of agriculture sector by making it more stable, predictable and remunerative for farmers.
• Helps India maintain self-sufficiency and food security in major staple crops like wheat, rice, pulses, oilseeds etc. 
• Frees farmers from dependence on traders and money lenders by assuring a minimum income from farming.
• Smoothens price risks and uncertainty in agricultural markets, thereby reducing wastage and inefficiencies.

However, MSP also has limitations and economic costs if expanded imprudently. The aim should be optimal price support aligned to larger goals.

1. NCLT has been constituted by the central govt. under section 408 of the Companies Act, 2013.
2. The body was established based on the recommendation of the V. Balakrishna Eradi committee on law relating to the insolvency and the winding up of companies
3. It is a quasi-judicial body that adjudicates issues relating to Indian companies.
4. The body deals with all proceedings under the Companies Act, including proceedings relating to 
   1. arbitration
   2. compromise
   3. Arrangements
   4. reconstructions
   5. winding up of companies
   6. limited liability partnerships under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.
5. The NCLT bench is chaired by a Judicial member (retired or a serving High Court Judge) and a Technical member who must be from the Indian Corporate Law Service, ICLS Cadre.
6. Decisions of the tribunal may be appealed to the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal which can be further appealed to the Supreme Court of India on a point of law.