15 December 2023

• COP28 outcomes: Detailed assessment of the UAE Consensus continued. Key targets: triple renewables to 11,000 GW, double energy efficiency, and $500 billion annual climate finance needed from developed nations.
• Peace prize: The Indira Gandhi Peace Prize 2023 was jointly awarded to pianist Daniel Barenboim and Palestinian activist Ali Abu Awwad for promoting peace through music and dialogue.
• Wildlife: A tiger was spotted at a record altitude of 3,640 metres in Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary in Sikkim, extending the known elevation range of tigers.
• Bhagat Singh: Analysis of the 1929 Central Assembly bomb-throwing marked its cultural and legal place in freedom movement history.

GS area: Environment, International Relations

A comprehensive reading of the UAE Consensus showed India's wins and losses:

India's positions upheld:

• "Transition away" language on fossil fuels, not the stronger "phase out" the EU sought.
• No coal-phase-out mandate that would have constrained India's domestic use of coal for power generation.
• India did not join the Global Methane Pledge (reducing methane 30 per cent by 2030 vs 2020), citing agricultural methane from livestock and paddy fields.

India refused the Loss and Damage Fund contribution: India declined to pledge money to the fund, arguing developed nations are historically responsible.

India's launch of the Global River Cities Alliance: Over 275 cities from 11 countries joined this India-led initiative.

India's NDC target reinforced: India's existing commitment to 500 GW non-fossil capacity by 2030 was cited as evidence of ambition that does not require signing additional pledges.

Climate finance gap: Developed nations owe developing countries $500 billion annually under the NCQG. The Consensus does not specify a mandatory amount, a key disappointment for India and developing countries.

Static linkage: Climate change, Paris Agreement, India's energy policy.

GS area: Economy, Environment

The UAE Consensus called for tripling global renewable energy capacity to at least 11,000 GW by 2030:

• Current installed global capacity: Approximately 3,400 GW of solar and wind combined.
• Required addition: Roughly 7,600 GW of new renewables over seven years.
• India's context: India's non-fossil fuel capacity stood at about 180 GW in December 2023 against a 500 GW target for 2030. India is the world's third-largest renewables installer.
• Energy efficiency target: Double the annual rate of energy efficiency improvement from 2 per cent to 4 per cent globally by 2030.

Static linkage: Energy policy, climate change, economic geography.

GS area: Culture, International Relations

The Indira Gandhi Peace Prize for 2023 was jointly awarded to:

• Daniel Barenboim: Argentine-Israeli-Spanish classical pianist and conductor. Founder of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, which brings together Arab and Israeli musicians.
• Ali Abu Awwad: Palestinian activist who lost a brother in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and chose the path of non-violent dialogue and reconciliation.

The prize is awarded by the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust. It recognises work towards international peace, development, and ensuring a new international economic order.

Static linkage: Peace and reconciliation, India's international awards.

GS area: History (modern India)

The 1929 Central Assembly bombing in Delhi by Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt was recalled in historical analysis:

• Date: 8 April 1929.
• Act: Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw smoke bombs (not designed to kill) into the Central Legislative Assembly chamber in Delhi.
• Purpose: To make the deaf hear. The duo wanted to protest the Public Safety Bill and the Trade Disputes Bill, which they saw as tools to suppress labour and political agitation.
• Bhagat Singh's organisation: The Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA), co-founded with Chandrashekhar Azad.
• Execution: Bhagat Singh was hanged on 23 March 1931 along with Sukhdev and Rajguru for the murder of British police officer J.P. Saunders.

Static linkage: Modern Indian history, freedom movement, revolutionary nationalism.

GS area: Environment, Ecology

A tiger was photographed at an altitude of 3,640 metres in Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary in Sikkim:

• Pangolakha: The largest wildlife sanctuary in Sikkim. It borders Bhutan and is contiguous with the Kangchenjunga Biosphere Reserve.
• Significance of the sighting: The previous recorded altitude limit for tigers was around 3,000-3,200 metres. A sighting at 3,640 metres extends the known elevational range.
• Biodiversity: Pangolakha is also home to snow leopards, red pandas, and various high-altitude bird species.
• Climate link: Some researchers attribute tigers exploring higher elevations to both prey availability at altitude and warming temperatures expanding the zone of suitable habitat.

Static linkage: Biodiversity, high-altitude ecosystems, northeastern India.

GS area: Science and Technology, Health

AKTOCYTE, a nutraceutical tablet developed by the Department of Atomic Energy and IDRS Labs, received FSSAI approval:

• Purpose: Reduces side effects of cancer radiotherapy, particularly damage to healthy tissue surrounding tumour sites.
• Classification: As a nutraceutical (not a drug), it falls under FSSAI's jurisdiction rather than CDSCO's drug regulation.
• Department of Atomic Energy: India's apex body for nuclear research, which encompasses research into radiation biology and its medical applications.
• FSSAI: Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, which regulates food products including nutraceuticals and functional foods under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

Static linkage: Science and technology, health, food regulation.

• Yak domestication evidence: Research found the oldest evidence of yak domestication to be approximately 2,500 years ago near the Brahmaputra river in Tibet. Hybrid yak-cattle offspring (called dzomo for females) were identified in the archaeological record, confirming the practice's antiquity.
• Mohiniyattam: One of India's eight classical dance forms, Mohiniyattam is from Kerala. It draws its name from Mohini, the female avatar of Vishnu. A Mohiniyattam performance was featured as part of cultural diplomacy programming around December's multilateral summits.