21 October 2023

• FPOs in UP: Farmer Producer Organisations in eastern Uttar Pradesh expanded vegetable and fruit exports significantly. UP's FPO Shakti Portal shows 1,600 FPOs with Rs 229 crore turnover.
• EIA for Himalayas: the Teesta dam breach and Himachal Pradesh floods prompted calls to reform Environmental Impact Assessment criteria for the ecologically fragile Himalayan region.
• INS Imphal: the delivery ceremony was formally held, with Navy Chief in attendance.
• Coral fossils in Ladakh: geologists found coral reef fossils at 18,000 feet in Eastern Ladakh, evidence that the Tethys Sea once covered the region about 40 million years ago.

GS area: Economy, Agriculture, Governance

Eastern Uttar Pradesh's FPO programme showed measurable impact on vegetable and fruit exports.

• What FPOs are: voluntary farmer-controlled organisations that aggregate smallholders to leverage economies of scale. Farmers pool their produce, access finance, buy inputs in bulk, and access markets collectively.
• Government target: establish 10,000 FPOs nationwide. Uttar Pradesh aims for one FPO per block (826 blocks) annually for five years.
• UP's FPO Shakti Portal: 1,600 FPOs registered; combined turnover Rs 229 crore (as of July 2023).
• Tax incentive: FPOs with annual turnover up to Rs 100 crore receive 100 per cent income tax deduction.
• Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF): FPOs receive 3 per cent interest subvention from the Centre plus 3 per cent from the state, bringing effective interest rates near 3 per cent.
• Supporting schemes:
  • Operation Greens (TOTAL): price stabilisation for tomato, onion, potato; extended to other vegetables and fruits.
  • Equity Grant Fund Scheme and Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme: reduce FPO financing barriers.
• GI-tagged exports from UP: Kalanamak rice (Siddharthnagar), Banarasi langda mango, and Adam Chini rice are FPO-promoted products.
• Challenges: inadequate professional management; limited credit access (500 shareholder minimum to access credit guarantee); financial weakness of member farmers; market linkage gaps.

Static linkage: Agriculture, economy, governance.

GS area: Environment, Disaster Management, Polity

The Teesta GLOF (October 2023) and the Himachal Pradesh floods (August 2023) intensified calls to reform the Environmental Impact Assessment process for the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR).

• Current EIA framework: EIA Notification 2006. Projects are categorised A or B based on scale and impact. Four stages: screening, scoping, public consultation, appraisal.
• Problem: the current criteria were designed for plains and peninsular contexts. They do not account for the unique vulnerabilities of mountain ecosystems: high seismic risk, permafrost, glaciers, steep slopes, low ecological carrying capacity.
• Proposed reforms:
  • Introduce specific clauses for IHR characteristics.
  • Differentiated risk management approach for mountain hydropower.
  • National-level regulator for IHR infrastructure approvals.
  • Modify the four EIA stages for mountain-specific factors.
• Unplanned urbanisation: rapid growth of towns in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh is disrupting natural drainage lines and increasing flood exposure.
• Chungthang dam lesson: run-of-river dams in GLOF zones need a different risk analysis than conventional dams. Cascade failure (one dam breaches into another) is a distinct risk.

Static linkage: Environment, disaster management.

GS area: Science and Technology, Physical Geography

Geologists found coral reef fossils at an elevation of 18,000 feet (approximately 5,500 m) in the Burtse region of Eastern Ladakh.

• Significance: the fossils prove that this region was submerged under the Tethys Sea approximately 40 million years ago. When the Indian Plate collided with the Eurasian Plate, the Tethys Sea floor was thrust upward to form the Himalayas and Ladakh Plateau.
• Tethys Sea: the ancient ocean that once separated the Indian and Eurasian plates. The Himalayas are essentially upthrusted seafloor material from the Tethys.
• Timeline: the Indian Plate began its journey northward about 70-80 million years ago and started colliding with Eurasia about 50-40 million years ago.
• Other Tethyan evidence in India: marine fossils in Ladakh and Spiti Valley (Himachal Pradesh) are well-documented. The Spiti Valley has 'Permian Tethys' deposits studied by the Geological Survey of India.
• Relevance: this is a direct question type that appears in UPSC Prelims: "Why are marine fossils found in the Himalayas?"

Static linkage: Physical geography, science.

GS area: Defence, Society

The formal delivery of INS Imphal brought attention to the expanding role of women in the Indian Navy.

• First women officer on a warship: women officers first joined Indian warships as part of experimental deployments in the 2020s.
• INS Imphal distinction: the first destroyer specifically designed and built with permanent accommodation (living spaces, facilities) for women officers and sailors.
• Other Navy milestones for women: women have served as pilots of Naval Air Squadrons; the first batch of women sailors joined the Navy in 2022; women are now eligible for permanent commission in more branches.
• Agnipath scheme: the Agnipath short-service military recruitment scheme (2022) opens all three services to women Agniveers. This will significantly increase women's numbers in the armed forces from 2023 onward.

Static linkage: Defence, society.

GS area: Polity, Governance, Society

The Supreme Court directed all states and UTs to appoint District Officers under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 within four weeks.

• POSH Act, 2013: mandates Internal Complaints Committees (ICCs) in establishments with 10 or more employees and Local Complaints Committees (LCCs) at the district level for smaller employers or cases where the harasser is the employer.
• District Officer (Section 5): the State Government must appoint a District Officer in each district to receive and redress complaints, oversee LCCs, and ensure compliance.
• Finding: most states had not uniformly appointed District Officers. The SC found non-implementation.
• Directions:
  • Appoint District Officer in each district (Section 5).
  • Constitute Local Complaints Committees for small establishments (Section 6).
  • Submit compliance report within 8 weeks; Centre consolidates within 12 weeks.
  • Make anonymised compliance data public.
• Context: the Vishaka Guidelines (1997, Supreme Court) preceded the POSH Act and required mandatory grievance mechanisms for workplace sexual harassment.

Static linkage: Polity, society.

GS area: Economy, Environment

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved Green Energy Corridor (GEC) Phase-II for a 13 GW renewable energy project in Ladakh.

• Implementing agency: Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (POWERGRID).
• GEC-2 scope: seven states (Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh); targets about 20 GW of additional renewable energy evacuation over 2021-22 to 2025-26.
• GEC-1: underway in 8 states, targets 24 GW RE integration.
• Ladakh project: Ladakh's high altitude (above 3,000 m) provides exceptional solar irradiance. NTPC and SECI have targeted Ladakh for large solar parks.
• Objective: achieve 500 GW non-fossil installed capacity by 2030 (India's NDC target).
• Transmission challenge: Ladakh's remoteness requires long High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission lines. HVDC reduces power losses over very long distances compared to AC transmission.

Static linkage: Economy, environment.

• Marshall Islands: the US signed a 20-year Compact of Free Association worth over USD 2 billion with the Marshall Islands, Palau, and Micronesia to maintain US strategic presence in the North Pacific and counter China's influence.
• Bharat Tex 2024: announced as India's largest textile trade fair, to be held in February 2024. India is the world's third-largest textile exporter.