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17 Feb
UncategorizedBy Amritha Admin

DO YOU HAVE THE RIGHT PERSPECTIVE TO CLEAR THE IAS EXAM

“The right perspective makes the impossible possible.”

Success is all about having a perspective in life. When it comes to clearing the UPSC exam, it’s all about having the right strategy to not only clear the exam and, before all that, to understand the Civil Service exam.

There are two categories of aspirants who have a deep intention to clear this exam.

  • The first set includes those people with a normal perspective.

In general, like all other aspirants, they know UPSC exam is the toughest one and requires a lot of determination to crack it. A steep filtration process that is carried out to form the final rank list published every year by the UPSC even makes the candidate more serious about what they are about to achieve. The journey from 15 lakhs applicants to 1000 final rank holders is not easy, and that is so true to the core.

These set of aspirants will, for sure, decide to take IAS coaching classes to get proper guidance for the preparation and stay consistent with the topics, which is very usual. Then follows the normal procedure of revising the topics and then gets assessed with multiple test series.

With this routine to approach this exam, it might be easier to cover the upsc syllabus, but whether you crack or not remains uncertain.

THE RIGHT PERSPECTIVE TO CLEAR THE IAS EXAM – UPSC CENTRICITY

  • This is the second category of people about whom we were talking. They have a well-structured plan about how to approach the exam beforehand.

As usual, after knowing about the whole structure of the exam, they tend to analyze the first prelims paper with previous questions asked by the UPSC. Prelims consist of 2 papers, among which CSAT is the qualifying paper and the other, i.e., GENERAL STUDIES I, is the paper considered for cut-off. After the analysis, out of 200 questions, 70 has to be right and to reach the usual cut-off of 155 range, we will have to attempt about 80 to 85 questions considering the negative marking that can happen.

Once you know about the trend, you can quickly identify the portion of the syllabus from which the questions are being asked since you have a lot to cover.

It is all about decoding the exam so that you master the syllabus and the whole exam procedure. Know the pattern that can relieve a diligent mind, or it is like catching the wrong bus that will never take you to the destination.

80-20 RULE

The rule states that 80% result comes from 20% of the inputs. This rule is even followed in the IAS exam, where 80% of questions come from 20% of the syllabus. So you must focus on that 20% of the portion by analyzing the previous questions and learning only what is needed.

All these, followed by taking proper test series to assess yourself, will take you to the result.

So, be more rational and empirical and rise above the normal perspective to crack this exam.

DECODING THE QUESTION PAPER

  • Previous year’s question paper analysis:

Collect previous year’s question papers on prelims and mains from Amrita IAS Academy’s Telegram channel, then know the pattern, decode the paper and decide the difficulty you have while attempting the questions, among which the majority of questions might be unfamiliar. Never forget to write down the terms you come across while going through the questions; each term will surely hold a theme in that particular subject and, thus, centre your focus on that.

Even when you take classes for conceptual clarification, make sure you have these terms in your mind and connect your preparation with your classes.

Knowing the syllabus and decoding the paper is mandatory to clear this exam, and at the same time, referring to limited materials also has to be noted. Some of the commonly suggested books besides basic NCERTs:

  • POLITY – INDIAN POLITY by LAXMIKANT
  • GEOGRAPHY – 11th and 12th NCERT
  • HISTORY – INDIA’S STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE by BIPIN CHANDRA / SPECTRUM
  • ANCIENT and MEDIEVAL HISTORY – 11th and 12th TAMILNADU BOARD NCERT
  • ECONOMICS – INDIAN ECONOMY by RAMESH SINGH
  • ETHICS – LEXICON
  • ART and CULTURE – book by NITIN SINGHANIA

The time you keep aside each day for the preparation is crucial since you have a lot of content to cover. Investing a few hours, in the beginning is advisable, but make sure that you sit continuously with full focus, gradually increase your time for studies, and make it a habit or a way of life until you achieve your target.

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17 Sep
EducationUncategorizedBy Amritha Admin

EVACUATION STRATEGY AS A MATTER OF FOREIGN POLICY

WHY IN NEWS?

In the backdrop of Russia Ukraine war, the Government of India carried out a complex evacuation from the conflict hit Ukraine under the OPERATION GANGA to bring back thousands of stranded Indian nationals, particularly Indian students

EVACUATION STRATEGY

The strategy deployed in lifting people from danger place to a safer place is what is known as the evacuation strategy.

CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH CAN PUT PEOPLE’S LIFE IN DANGER

  1. Partition

  • Partition is one of the turmoil that can put the people’s life in

For Example, during partition of India in the year 1947, it was a chaotic situation as some wanted to join with the Indian union while the others needed to join with the Pakistan.

  • This in turn necessitated the government of India to bring those who wanted to stay with the Indian union safely and provide them shelter and a livelihood
  • Dangerous circumstances may appear not only when one’s own country underwent a divisional

problem but also when any other nation too.

2.  Natural calamities

  • Natural calamities like earth quake, floods etc will create a sense of danger to the lives of the
  • In the year 2015, an earthquake had happened in India immediately went and rescued not only the Indian nationals but also the other foreign nationals stranded there.

3.  War or accession

  • When 2 countries indulge in a war or when one country tries to occupy the other, will create immense danger to the lives of people staying

4.    Civilian revolution

  • When people living in a particular territory revolt themselves against the existing ruler to bring a new regime, sometimes leading to a chaotic situation and will put the people’s life in danger
  1. Serious health crisis in the country like any pandemic or endemic g., Covid 19 pandemic

NEED FOR A PROPER EVACUATION STRATEGY

  • Approximately around 14 million Indian expatriate workers and students are residing around 200 countries and they contribute to 3% of our Around$87-89 billion remittances are being received by India. Hence their economic contribution toward the Indian economy is very high.
  • The political influence of these expatriates is high i.e.; these people influence the politics of some other countries
  • The Diaspora population is growing day by day as the people starts moving to the different geographical areas, there by urges the need for a proper evacuation strategy
  • The nature of conflicts also differs. some countries in the name of security wanted to expand their own sphere of influence, while on the other hand, civils revolts are happening in the name of democracy

IMPORTANCE OF A PROPER EVACUATIOON STRATEGY

  • Evacuation process is important as it will protect its own nationals
  • It is being considered as a real testing time for the government whether or not it is having a strong diplomatic skill
  • It shows the strength of our soft power
  • It shows India’s concerns about other nationals, e.g. During the Operation Rahat the Indian Armed Forces evacuated both Indian citizens as well as foreign nationals (including nationals from USA, Pakistan etc) from Yemen during the 2015 military intervention by Saudi Arabia and its allies in that country during the Yemeni Crisis which shows India’s concern about humanity

EVACUATION STRATEGIES OF INDIA

  1. PARTIRION OF INDIA-1947

  • During 1947, whenIndia got partitioned into the Indian union and the Pakistan union, lot of apprehensions were created in the minds of the people about which side of the border would they
  • This in turn had created Unfortunately, the then India were not having a clear-cut mechanism to deal with that evacuation. The incident took lakhs of lives .

 

2. KUWAIT AIRLIFT 1990

  • In one of the massive operations in Indian history, the Indian Air Force joined hands with Air India in airlifting stranded Indian nationals in Kuwait in August 1990. Nearly 170, 000 citizens were safely airlifted in this operation which was carried out just before the Persian Gulf war in

3.   OPERATION SUKHOON -2006

  • Operation Sukhoon was an operation launched by the Indian Navy to evacuate Indian, Sri Lankan and Nepalese nationals, as well as Lebanese nationals with Indian spouses, from the conflict zone during the 2006 Lebanon
  • This operation is being considered as one of the Indian navy’s biggest rescue operations since World War 2.

4.  OPERATION SAFE COMING 2011

  • India launched ‘Operation Homecoming’ to bring back Indian citizens stranded in conflict-torn
  • Under the operation, India evacuated 15,400 Indian nationals.
  • The air-sea operation was conducted by the Indian Navy and Air

 

5.  OPERATION MAITRI 2015

  • It is the joint relief and rescue operation by the Indian government and the Indian Armed forces in the aftershock of the 2015 Nepal
  • The joint Army-Air Force operation brought over 5,000 Indians back from Nepal by Air Force and civilian planes. The Indian army successfully evacuated 170 foreign nationals from the US, the UK, Russia and

6.  OPERATION RAAHAT 2015

  • In 2015, a conflict raged between the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels during which thousands of Indians were stranded and Yemen was not accessible by air due to a no-fly zone announced by Saudi
  • Under Operation Rahat, India evacuated nearly 5,600 people from

 

7.   VANDE BHARAT 2020

  • When the Covid-19 pandemic hit the world, the Centre launched the Vande Bharat Mission to bring back Indian citizens stranded in foreign
  • In the multiple phases of the operation, about 60 lakh Indians were brought back as on 30th April,
  • Special flights were operated across to globe in this mission to bring back the nationals who were left stranded in foreign countries due to the coronavirus pandemic

8.  OPERATION DEVI SHAKTI 2021

  • An evacuation operation by the Indian Armed Forces (IAF) was kicked off in August 2021 to safely bring back Indian nationals from Afghanistan after the collapse of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the fall of Kabul, the capital city of the Taliban

9.   OPERATION GANGA 2022

  • In a mission to evacuate stranded Indians from war-torn Ukraine, the Indian government kicked off Operation Ganga in February India has set up round the clock control centres in Poland,Romania, Hungary, Slovakia to assist in the evacuation of Indian nationals from Ukraine through border crossing points with these countries.

CHALLENGES TO THE EVACUATION STRATEGY

While India is not a newcomer to conducting evacuation operations, it has traditionally faced significant challenges in deploying its diplomatic and military assets abroad to protect its diaspora. The shortcomings of the government of India’s capacity have been further compounded by its nonaligned posture and consequent reluctance to get involved in conflict zones. However, as these operations become more frequent and complex, India will need to expand its operational capacity and prepare accordingly, including by adopting best practices from other states’ emergency plans. Evacuating citizens from abroad is an extremely complex mission in which distance, logistics, security, and coordination pose numerous obstacles.

1.      Distance

  • As the distance, where the intended evacuation to be done increases, more complex will be the evacuation

2.      Logistics

  • Pulling out thousands and lakhs of nationals from a foreign country in itself is a logistical nightmare because of the need to work out on the appropriate mode of transportation.
  • The maximum duration the evacuation process lasts is also unknown e.g., evacuation process took almost 2 months during the gulf crisis. hence needs of the stranded nationals should be addressed

3.  Coordination

  • As the evacuation process in itself involves various processes, no single ministry can deal the entire evacuation process. Hence coordination among different ministries is required and that in itself is a hurdle since it is not recognised as a regular

4.  Geographical spread of the people

  • Expatriates residing in a particular country may not be residing in a single location. They may be distributed across that particular country. Hence it is a big challenge in locating the nationals and establishing a contact link between them, particularly those who are residing in the

5. Communication network

  • Staying in constant touch with the stranded Indian nationals and ensuring their proper location is not an easy task. Hence embassy needs to maintain a list through which it can reach out to the Indians and thereby can stay in touch with them and can get updated about their
  • Establishing a proper communication channel is considered as an important preparatory task to be done in such a dangerous condition especially when an evacuation strategy is planned

6. Number of evacuees

  • As the number of evacuees increases, greater will be the evacuation challenge

7.  Coordination from other countries

  • Diplomatic contacts with neighbouring countries and theothers, keyleaders, institutions, rebel groups/terror outfits play a major during the evacuation missions to get the required permission as well as to ensure that a safe passage or humanitarian corridor is being created, so that the nationals can be pulled out.E.g.,during the Ukraine conflict, India didn’t lift the people directly from the Ukraine, instead relied on Poland,Hungary,Slovakia, Romania etc because of the difficulty in entering into the conflict zone
  • but at times, some countries refuse to cooperate which poses hurdles in the evacuation
  • Complex geopolitics of the complex zones should also be kept in mind in order to ensure that it

doesn’t offend any country or party unnecessarily which might hamper the evacuation activities

8. Attitude of the local government

  • Support of the local government is a necessity during every evacuation mission e.g., during the Ukrainian crisis, Russia had stopped the war for around 5-6 hours in order to create a humanitarian corridor
  • But at times, the local government might refuse to cooperate thereby will create a hindrance on the evacuation process

LONG TERM STRATEGY

In spite of all the mentionedchallenges, India had undertaken around 30 evacuation processes till now. Government of India rise to the occasion to the best possible extentin order to bring back all our nationals. Despite all those successful evacuation missions, India must devise a proper strategy under its foreign policy in such a way that it must not only deal with trade, immigration and emigration but should also include a separate department and a separate budget for dealing with the evacuation and safety of the Indian diaspora. Hence a long-term evacuation strategy is very important –

 

1.  Learn From the Past

  • Support policy-oriented research on India’s vast experience in conducting evacuation operations
  • Document the institutional memory of senior diplomats and military and other government officials that have successfully conducted evacuation operations in recent years. Such efforts would help transmit their expertise and best practices to younger
  • Reach out to key stakeholders, associations, and activists in the diaspora that participated in past evacuation By listening to their grievances and suggestions, the government can build on best practices and correct shortcomings

2.  Develop Standard Operating Procedures

  • Establish a clear chain of command and division of labour among various ministries, overseas missions, and other organizations
  • Identify regional support bases, local assembling camps, and routes for
  • Adopt country-specific warden systems to communicate with
  • Sign standing service agreements with local companies providing emergency transportation and relief to avoid lack of supplies and inflated costs during
  • Develop criteria regulating priority lists of evacuation and embarkation

 

3.   Train, Prepare, and Collaborate

  • Offer security training for all incoming Indian Foreign Service probationers on how to operate in active conflict zones, with support from the Indian Police Service or Indian
  • Conduct evacuation operation simulations and periodic emergency
  • Create rapid reaction teams of Indian military, police, and other security personnel that can be deployed as advisory missions to protect diplomatic staff and installations in hostile
  • Encourage Indian diplomatic missions to intensify political and consular dialogue with their counterparts so as to exchange information and prepare joint emergency and evacuation

 

4.   Involve and Deploy Military Forces

  • Invest in specific training for military personnel to conduct out-of-area evacuation operations, including through joint exercises with other friendly military services that have greater experience in this domain.
  • Adapt military modernization, defence procurement, and production plans to focus on acquiring specific assets that increase India’s long-range military transportation, naval, aerial, and
  • Conclude bilateral defence agreements that guarantee the Indian Armed Forces continued access to military support bases in the Gulf and other critical regions to conduct evacuation

5.  Improve Coordination

  • Incentivize cross-posting of administrative and military officials dealing with diaspora affairs, including in the political and consular sections of diplomatic missions in countries with volatile security conditions.
  • Facilitate the creation of diaspora emergency cells and contingency plans by regional state governments, following guidelines set out by central

  1. Identify and Monitor the Diaspora

  • Utilize new communication technologies to provide both permanent expatriates and short-term travellers with real-time updates during crises and evacuation
  • Continue to crack down on agents and other intermediaries that facilitate the illegal migration of low- skilled and illiterate Indian workers, whose vulnerability during crises poses a significant security liability
  • Sustain investment in pre-departure training of low-skilled workers, informing them of basic rights and security procedures to follow in case of emergency and
  • Consider making the Aadhaar unique identification card compulsory for Indian citizens abroad to facilitate biometric identity verification and reduce identity

 

CONCLUSION

To protect its migrants and travellers more effectively, the Indian government needs to dedicate significant resources toward building on best practices from the past, developing standard operating procedures, expanding training and preparedness, institutionalizing emergency evacuation plans, and increasing coordination with other states. By enhancing its capacity to conduct evacuation operations and ensure the safety of its citizens abroad, the Indian government will not only be pursuing its immediate national interests but will also be able to credibly project power and assume a leading role beyond its sub continental shores.

PRACTICE QUESTION

India’s expatriates’ evacuation strategy requires a shift from adhocism to a permanent policy, critically comment in the context of growing global uncertainties. (250 words, 15 marks)

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13 Aug
EducationUncategorizedBy Amritha Admin

SRILANKA’S ECONOMIC CRISIS

WHY IN THE NEWS?

The Sri Lankan economy has been facing a serious economic crisis owing to its Balance of Payments (BoP) problem. The country is struggling to pay for essential imports after its foreign exchange reserves saw a 70 percent drop in two years.

INFLUENCE OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC

 The ongoing pandemic has influenced all nations across the world like Sri Lanka. But there are some specific reasons for the current economic crisis in Sri Lanka.

WHY SRI LANKA IS DIFFERENT FROM OTHER COUNTRIES?

  1. Downfall of GDP growth rate
  • Sri Lanka is experiencing a long-term recession due to a continuous negative GDP growth The negative GDP rate worsened the economic health of the country.
  • It is because of the exorbitant prices for the essential commodities which resulted in the poor consumption of goods and services. It further reduced the overall production in the Sri Lankan
  1. External debt
  • The total amount of debt taken by the Government of Sri Lanka is about 115% of its GDP. Before the pandemic, it was around 90-95% of the
  • The entire GDP of Sri Lanka was around 85 billion
  • They procured loans beyond their tolerant
  1. Shortage of foreign exchange reserves
  • The foreign exchange reserves of Sri Lanka have fallen from around 7.5 billion dollars to just $2 billion at the end of February i.e., falling by 70% in two years, which can barely cover two months of
  1. Fiscal deficit
  • The fiscal deficit is the difference between the revenue and expenses in the economy. If an economy spends 100 rupees with a revenue of 80 rupees, the rest of 20 rupees is taken as a loan and it can be termed a fiscal
  • In Sri Lanka, the fiscal deficit is around 10% of the GDP, i.e., they are taking about 8 billion dollars as debt each
  1. Current Account Balance
  • The country is resorting to more imports as compared to Since the GDP growth is negative and there is not much production taking place to raise its exports.
  • It has a negative current account balance in the range of 3-5 % indicating it is a net
  1. Inflation
  • The country is experiencing inflation of around 15
  • The unplanned pumping of money into the economy and reduced production of goods and services fueled the inflationary trends in the
  • Even the availability of goods in the market cannot be increased through imports due to a shortage in foreign exchange

WHAT ARE THE SPECIFIC REASONS THAT MADE SRI LANKA EXPERIENCE THE PRESENT CRISIS? IMMEDIATE EXPOSURE TO CRISIS

  1. Influence of Covid-19 pandemic
  • The tourism industry which accounts for about 10% of Sri Lanka’s GDP and the country’s third

largest foreign exchange earner has been hardly affected by the covid-19 pandemic.

  • The remittances from their diaspora were stopped due to Covid-19 lockdowns and the further downfall of the global economy. It has negatively affected the foreign exchange reserves of the
  • Covid-19 lockdown also negatively impacted the informal sector which accounts for nearly 60% of

the country’s workforce.

  1. Poor Fiscal policy
    • The government’s ban on the use of chemical fertilizers in farming to make Sri Lanka the first

country to fully adopt organic farming, led to a drastic drop in domestic food production, pushing up food prices.

  • It led to a reduction in tea exports, spices, and a shortage of food grains in the
  • It subsequently resulted in long queues of people in the

LONG TERM REASONS

  1. Shortage of foreign direct investment
  • The country is not able to attract viable FDI from foreign
  • Beyond tourism and dependence on remittances, the country has not devised better policies for improving its economic stability.
  • The country is mostly depending on imports for their basic essential items and not even concentrated on improving its production
  • The country attracted limited investments and that too mostly from China as part of Chinese checkbook diplomacy. The inability to repay Chinese loans finally led to the 99-year leasing of the Hambantota port to China by Sri
  • Sri Lanka invited investments only in a few sectors such as real estate, tourism, Telecommunication, and ports which shrank their foreign currency reserves within the
  1. Poor monetary policy
  • There is a wide mismatch between goods produced and the amount of money available in the economy to procure these goods.

Money available in the market

Products available in the market

Rupees per product

10 rupees

10 numbers

1 rupee per product

100 rupees

10 numbers

10 rupees per product

10 rupees

1 number

10 rupees per product

 

Fig: Table shows poor equilibrium between the money available in economy and products available in the market.

  • In this scenario, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka pumped more currency despite the limited availability of the products in the
  • This step worsens the economic situation and inflated the prices of even essential commodities. Because there is more money chasing few available goods which spiked the prices of the
  • It further depreciated the value of the Sri Lankan currency and now, One Sri Lankan Rupee is equal to 355.36 (as of date 27th July 2022).
  • They have even canceled the student’s examination on account of the inability to procure enough

pens, papers, and pens.

HISTORICAL REASONS

  1. Illegal nexus between politics and business
  • Sri Lanka after its independence from the British in 1948 gave importance to the public
  • The country is having constitutional multi-party socialistic republic policy. The government itself started the business with public sector
  • Conflict of interest arises among people holding the positions and their personal interests which made the situation
  • By 1971, there was political instability leading to a communist revolution 1971-1972.
  • The civil war on account of the Tamil crisis between Sinhalese and Sri Lankan Tamils from 1971 to 2009 exacerbated the financial
  • However, hidden political agenda led to backdoor postings to top positions with no meritocracy resulting in poor policy formulation and
  • The vested interest never allowed private participation in its
  • Consequently, the country developed the habit of depending on external loans for meeting their day-to-day operations such as providing subsidies and paying salaries to the people.
  • Moreover, this external debt has not been utilized for creating capital infrastructure in the
  • The World Bank recommended the nation to utilize the debt for the creation of long-term assets in the
  • Education sector- The education in the country is also more confined to Arts and general education and very less technical education is given to the students. It may negatively affect the skill sets available in the market and incur low technical upgradation in the long
  • In addition to this, around 80 percent of lands were under the control of the Sri Lankan
  • The country has not even fully connected with the global supply chain
  • The parochial interest of the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government after the Civil war in 2009 led to corrupted leaders in governance finally resulting in financial
  • All these elements together come into the picture after the global pandemic and its sudden influence on the

GOVERNMENT’S STAND

  • The Sri Lankan government is blaming the present condition of the country due to hoarding by the The practice of hoarding led to artificial scarcity in the economy which is responsible for the entire crisis.
  • However, the government fails to address the reason behind the scarcity or why the people resorted to hoarding for meeting their essential
  • The Sri Lankan government finally requested India and China to grant credits for meeting their essential
  • India provided Sri Lanka with a USD 1 billion line of credit (LoC) for procuring food, medicines, and, other essential
  • Sri Lanka has signed a Currency swap agreement with India and the Reserve Bank of India had announced a USD 400 million currency swap to help Sri
  • Currency swap agreements are agreed for trading in their own local currencies, where both countries pay for import and export trade, at the pre-determined rates of exchange, without bringing in a third country currency like the US Dollar.
  • Finally, Sri Lanka has reached IMF support despite their initial reluctance. However, IMF loans always come with conditionality which is very necessary for achieving economic stability for Sri

WAY FORWARD

  1. Fiscal consolidation
  • Spend money on creating capital infrastructures rather than spending on unwanted revenue
  • Abide by the conditionality of IMF for better financial discipline in the long
  • Develop forex reserves by reorienting its structural
  • Maintain financial prudency in the overall functioning of the
  • Monetary policy
    • Improved autonomy in the performance of the Central Bank is the need of the
    • Expert advice should be sought before adopting monetary measures since the untimely supply of


currency aggravated the financial status of the country.

  1. Banking sector
  • Independence to be provided for the banking sector to take decisions in granting loans, especially to corporates.
  • Earlier, the banking sector which was completely under government control has to abide by the decisions of government authority and grant loans to those companies which are insisted by the government despite their poor financial
  • It resulted in the burgeoning of Non-Performing Assets (NPA) within the
  1. External sector
  • Design domestic policies to attract more FDIs in various
  • Devise better policies to improve corporate
  • Initiate structural frameworks to start production within the country to meet the country’s needs

rather than depending on imports.

  • Use the demographic potential and available skill sets in the
  1. Diversification of the export policy to raise foreign reserves of the
  2. Develop a virtuous cycle- Promote domestic savings and raise investments from these savings and further promote savings in the country and then further investments.
  3. Always learn from the past experiences and trends of other countries to not repeat the failures and

adopt successful measures.

  1. Gradual introduction of new policies to avoid economic shocks in the

For example: if the policy is better to eliminate chemical fertilizers, organic farming has to be introduced gradually as natural farming tends to give results much later. Moreover, it will not affect the food security of the country too.

HOW SRI LANKAN CRISIS INFLUENCES INDIA?

  1. Crisis as an Opportunity
  • India, the largest democratic country, needs to be extremely patient and engage with Sri Lanka more regularly and
  • There is also a need to step up our people-centric developmental activities while staying away

from any interference in Sri Lanka’s domestic affairs.

  • The crisis should be used as an opportunity to negotiate with Sri Lanka to abandon their swinging attitude between China and India according to the
  • For example- Still Sri Lanka is confused with their oil infrastructure policy at Trincomalee with the Indian
  • The strategic position of Sri Lanka in the mid of the Indian Ocean make the country more vital to
  1. Geo-political significance
  • The IMF loans with conditions will necessarily improve the Sri Lankan financial
  • However, the western favored IMF tends to devise policies that might result in the Dominance of western nations in Sri
  • It will negatively impact India’s strategic interest by occupying the region by another power

instead of China in the region.

  1. Devise better policies to help neighboring countries of
  • For Instance, the non-reciprocal assistance to other countries under the “Gujral doctrine” of India bridges the trust deficit and can overtake China’s Chequebook
  1. Mass exodus of Sri Lankans raises the refugee problems in
  2. Chances of rising anti-social elements and terrorism can happen mostly in poorly governed
  • For instance- The Easter attack in 2019 in
  1. Indian investors who are doing business and projects on Sri Lankan soil are at
  2. Moreover, the bilateral trade and exports of around 4 billion dollars might affect
  3. Cultural interest- India is having its cultural connections with Sri Lankan India often demanded more political representation for them and active implementation of 13 th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution. In this situation, the Sri Lankan Tamils would also face a lot of struggles due to the current economic crisis is a major concern for India.

CONCLUSION

The need of the hour is to undertake structural reorientation of its economic policies. The expert advice in the policy formulation and the subsequent implementation can act as a roadmap for Sri Lanka’s economic development. Moreover, India should use the current situational opportunity strategically along with preparing for the challenges also.

Practice Question

The strength of an economy depends on both internal and external strengths. Critically examine the lessons that India must learn from the recent Sri Lankan economic crisis and explain its implications on India.

(250 Words, 15 Marks)

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04 Aug
UncategorizedBy Amritha Admin

NATIONAL HYDROGEN POLICY 2021

WHY IN THE NEWS?

Recently, the Ministry of Power notified the National Hydrogen Policy on Green Hydrogen/ Green Ammonia Policy. On India’s 75th Independence Day, the Hon’ble Prime Minister launched the National Hydrogen Mission. The Mission aims to aid the government in meeting its climate targets and making India a green hydrogen hub.

WHY HYDROGEN?

  • Hydrogen is an efficient energy
  • Hydrogen is the most abundant element and the cleaner alternative
  • At room temperature, hydrogen is colorless, tasteless, odorless, non-toxic, and highly flammable gaseous substance.
  • It is very difficult to harness hydrogen since it weighs very
  • The energy density of Hydrogen is very high compared to gasoline and diesel i.e., two to three times of extra
  • 1kg of Hydrogen is equivalent to 5 L of petrol.
  • Hydrogen is an emission-free
  • Hydrogen gas can be used in the generation of Ammonium (NH3). The produced ammonium has wider applications and can be used in refineries, steel industries, chemical industries, fertilizers,
  • Present-day extraction of Hydrogen and Ammonium completely results in high emissions as they are extracted from crude oils; thus, it is high time to generate hydrogen in a green way without
  • Present practice of ammonia generation is polluting the
  • The produced hydrogen can be stored by converting to the Ammonium form and can be reconverted when there is a need to use it. It is because presently the liquefied Hydrogen gas has to be stored under -253
  • Moreover, solar energy and other energy sources available is not always reliable, thus it is not possible to rely entirely on

GREEN HYDROGEN

Green hydrogen is generated by breaking down water in an electrolyzer, i.e., an energy-intensive process for splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen by using renewable power.

The electrolysis is conducted in a special chamber and segregates Hydrogen ions from Water.

TYPES OF HYDROGEN

  1. Blue Hydrogen – Hydrogen is produced by using natural gas and fossil However, the emissions are sequestrated and stored.
  2. Gray Hydrogen – Hydrogen is produced by using natural gas but without carbon
  3. Black Hydrogen – Black hydrogen is created through burning coal or It is the least environmentally friendly hydrogen produced.
  4. Pink Hydrogen – Pink hydrogen is generated through electrolysis powered by nuclea

IS THE GREEN HYDROGEN PROCESS SIMPLE?

  • Present system of producing 1kg of Ammonium generates 2 kg of carbon
  • However, generating green hydrogen can eliminate the emissions, but there are high costs involved in the generation of electricity through renewable
  • It is highly needed to make the system more efficient to reduce the cost of renewable
  • It can be possible when solar energy gets revolutionized and bringing technological innovations in designing the chamber so that efficiency can be

NATIONAL HYDROGEN POLICY 2021

  1. Green Hydrogen / Ammonia manufacturers may purchase renewable power from the power exchange or set up renewable energy capacity themselves or through any other, developer,
  2. The Green Hydrogen / Ammonia manufacturer can bank his unconsumed renewable power, up to 30 days, with the distribution company and take it back when
  3. The distribution licensees can also procure and supply Renewable Energy to the manufacturers of Green Hydrogen / Green Ammonia in their States at concessional prices which will only include the cost of procurement, wheeling charges, and a small margin as determined by the State
  4. Waiver of inter-state transmission charges for a period of 25 years will be allowed to the manufacturers of Green Hydrogen and Green Ammonia for the projects commissioned before 30th June
  5. The benefit of Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) will be granted incentive to the hydrogen/Ammonia manufacturer and the Distribution licensee for consumption of renewable

SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS POLICY

  1. Reduce dependence on fossil fuels- The policy will reduce dependence on fossil fuels and also reduce crude oil
  2. Environmental protection – This green hydrogen will provide clean fuel to the common people of the With no toxic emissions, this policy has the power to revolutionize the energy sector.
  3. Financial security- This move can favor the balance of payment and reduce the Current Account It helps the country to reduce its oil imports and thereby improve the foreign exchequer.
  4. Energy security- Diversification of energy by focusing on sustainable renewable energy
  5. Greener jobs – It raises employment opportunities for the vast section of
  6. Abiding international laws – This policy promotes Renewable Energy (RE) generation as RE will be the basic ingredient in making green This in turn will help in meeting the international commitments under COP26, UNFCCC- net-zero carbon emissions by 2070 and 50 percent of its energy requirements from renewable energy by 2030.

WAY FORWARD

  1. Incentivisation- The government has to consider providing additional concessional finance to the discoms and renewable energy generators to produce green
  2. Demand creation- Measures to be devised to stimulate the demand and ensure behavioral changes to percolate the use of green hydrogen.
  3. Technological innovations- better investment in technological developments to design chambers with minimal cost.

CONCLUSION

National hydrogen policy will help in meeting the target of production of 5 million tonnes of green hydrogen by 2030 and the related development of renewable energy capacity. It is high time to invest more in research and development in terms of bringing efficiency, storage and transportation, and demand creation. The current move will help India to achieve SDG 7: Affordable and clean energy and ensure sustainable and modern energy for all.

PRACTICE QUESTION

What do you understand by Green Hydrogen? Discuss the various measures announced under Green Hydrogen Policy by government to promote it. (150 Words, 10 Marks)

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