What to Read in The Hindu
06 June 2022

1. 10% ethanol blending goal met, says PM

  • Front Page.
  • GS 3, Resources, Growth and Development.
  • India has achieved the target of 10% ethanol blending in petrol, five months, Prime Minister said. This, had led to a reduction of 27 lakh tonnes of carbon emissions and saved foreign exchange worth ₹41,000 crore. Farmers earned ₹40,600 crore in the past eight years due to increase in ethanol blending.

 

2. World’s first fishing cat census done in Chilika 

  • Front Page.
  • GS 3, Environment and Conservation.
  •  The Chilika Lake, Asia’s largest brackish water lagoon, has 176 fishing cats, according to a census done by the Chilika Development Authority (CDA) in collaboration with the Fishing Cat Project (TFCP). This is the world’s first population estimation of the fishing cat done outside the protected area network.

 

3. The IPEF holds promise but there are perils too 

  • Page 6.
  • GS 2,3; IR, Security.
  •  Joe Biden administration launched its own version of a “pivot to Asia” through the establishment of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) with other partner countries — Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the United States. Within days of its launch, IPEF expanded its membership to the Pacific Island states, with Fiji joining the initiative. The initiative is to bring together its allies in the Indo-Pacific region to enhance economic cooperation, is bound to lead to comparisons with one of former U.S. President Barack Obama’s pet projects, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which was spiked by Donald Trump immediately after he took over the reins in Washington. The IPEF reignites the twin ambitions of the U.S. to provide economic leadership and to challenge China’s hegemony in the region. India should also be wary of the considerable emphasis that is being given to strengthening labour rights in the ongoing discussions on the IPEF (Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity).

 

4. Counterfeiting and getting away with it

  • Page 7.
  • GS 3, Economy.
  • In FY22, the number of counterfeit Rs 500 notes doubled to about 80,000 from the previous year. There was a significant increase in fake Rs 2,000 notes as well.

 

5. The status of eVTOL: a soon to be reality?

  • Page 8.
  • GS 3, Technology and Resources, Growth and Development.
  • The Government of India is exploring the possibility of inviting manufacturers of Electric Vertical Take off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft to set up base in India. Aviation Minister has been reported as asking Beta Technologies, which has a partnership with the Blade group (it has a presence in India), to look at the Indian market. An eVTOL aircraft is one that uses electric power to hover, take off, and land vertically. This is technology that has grown on account of successes in electric propulsion based on progress in motor, battery, fuel cell and electronic controller technologies and also fuelled by the need for new vehicle technology that ensures Urban Air Mobility (UAM).

 

6. HC remark on conversion ‘right’ raises questions

  • Page 10.
  • GS 2, Fundamental Rights.
  • Recent observations by the Delhi High Court that religious conversion, unless forced, is not prohibited raise a question if proselytism is also protected under the right to religious freedom in the Constitution. Article 25(1) of the Constitution says that “subject to public order, morality and health... all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right to freely profess, practise and propagate religion”.

 

7. Project to track small fishing vessels pending since 26/11 

  • Page 11.
  • GS 2,3; International Groupings, Security.
  • As the QUAD grouping looks to track and address illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the Indo-Pacific, an ambitious effort to install the satellite-based Vehicle Monitoring System (VMS) for small fishing vessels (less than 20 metres) across the country’s coastline is still to be rolled out. Despite pilot studies being conducted, the project, conceived in the aftermath of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, remains stuck.

 

8. Rivers facing heavy pollution: CSE

  • Page 12.
  • GS 3, Environment and Conservation.
  • Three of every four river monitoring stations in India posted alarming levels of heavy toxic metals such as lead, iron, nickel, cadmium, arsenic, chromium and copper. In about a fourth of the stations, which are spread across 117 rivers and tributaries, high levels of two or more toxic metals were reported. Of the 33 monitoring stations in the Ganga, 10 had high levels of contaminants. The river, which is the focus of the Centre’s Namami Gange Mission, has high levels of lead, iron, nickel, cadmium and arsenic, according to the State of Environment Report, 2022 from the environmental NGO, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).