Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance
Mains Examination: General Studies-II: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
What’s the ongoing story: The surge began as a trickle as six patients were admitted at Bhagirathpura’s Urban Primary Health Centre on December 28. Within 48 hours, that trickle became a deluge as outpatient clinics saw numbers jump from 129 to over 300 in a single day.
Key Points to Ponder:
— Understand this water contamination case from perspectives of various stakeholders- Citizen, victims, Primary Health Centre, State government and central government
— What are the primary reasons for water contamination in India?
— What is the significance of having a robust Primary Health Centre?
— What are water borne diseases?
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— What are the major schemes of the government related to drinking water?
— What are the norms followed in India for safe drinking water and who is responsible for maintaining the standard?
— What is the Swachh Survekshan Index?
Key Takeaways:
— These were the scenes playing out in a densely populated neighbourhood in Indore, which has time and again topped the rankings of Indian cities for its cleanliness and management. Except this time, the contamination of drinking water by waste from a toilet had exposed the faultlines and put the civic infrastructure under unprecedented strain.
— At the centre of this unfolding crisis were doctors who helped set up effective treatments and healthcare officials who screened panicked families door-to-door to ensure the damage was contained as a deluge of patients reported symptoms ranging from mild diarrhoea to complete renal shutdown.
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— The challenge was immediate and multifaceted. Contaminated water had been flowing through Bhagirathpura’s pipes for days before the first deaths forced authorities to acknowledge the crisis.
— As reported by The Indian Express on Friday, residents had been raising red flags since October. By the time health teams mobilised on December 29, when the first group of 17 medical personnel was deployed, the infection had already spread across the neighbourhood.
— One of the first obstacles health officials encountered was the lack of medical infrastructure in the area, especially since many patients had already sought treatment at small private clinics and nursing homes before the government response mobilised.
— By the time the health department’s coordination system was fully operational on December 30, with senior health officers assigned clear responsibilities for inter-departmental coordination, on-site supervision, data compilation, and continuous reporting, the challenge was clear: Scattered patients, scattered facilities, and a need for centralised triage and referral.
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— According to the health department data, a total of 310 patients had been admitted to hospitals since December 24. Of those, 203 remained hospitalised, 107 had been discharged, and 25 are in intensive care units.
Do You Know:
— Municipal water is governed by Bureau of Indian Standards norms, and supplies must be monitored continuously to make sure no pathogen seeps in. Drinking water pipes and sewage lines must be segregated carefully.
— By all accounts, these fundamentals of urban governance were flouted in Indore, otherwise regarded as India’s best-governed municipality — it has topped the Swachh Survekshan Index for eight consecutive years.
— The bacterial contamination responsible for the outbreak stemmed from a breach in the water pipeline in the city’s Bhagirathpura area. The residents had flagged this health hazard over two months ago. But officials did not heed the warnings, including those of the local corporator.
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— Water contamination has been a longstanding concern in Indian cities. In November, students of the Vellore Institute of Technology in Bhopal went on a protest against contaminated water supply after a jaundice outbreak on the campus. Three people died in Chennai in December 2024 due to the consumption of contaminated piped water.
— The 74th Constitutional Amendment gave an expansive mandate to municipalities — from land regulation to water supply, sanitation, and environmental protection.
— The local bodies must own a large share of the blame for the growing water and air pollution crises in large parts of the country. Indore’s tragedy illustrates that municipal inertia dogs attempts to modernise infrastructure even in India’s cleanest city. A rapidly urbanising country deserves better.
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
📍Indore tragedy points to rot in urban governance
Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
(1) Which of the following can be found as pollutants in the drinking water in some parts of India? (UPSC CSE 2013)
1. Arsenic
2. Sorbitol
3. Fluoride
4. Formaldehyde
5. Uranium
Select the correct answer using the codes given below.
(a) 1 and 3 only
(b) 2, 4 and 5 only
(c) 1, 3 and 5 only
(d) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5
Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:
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What are the salient features of the Jal Shakti Abhiyan launched by the Government of India for water conservation and water security? (UPSC CSE 2020)
NATION
With 1st mountain tunnel breakthrough in Maharashtra’s Palghar, bullet train project marks ‘major milestone
Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance
Mains Examination: General Studies-III: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.
What’s the ongoing story: Marking a major milestone, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail (MAHSR) corridor achieved a breakthrough in its first mountain tunnel – and second tunnel overall — in Maharashtra’s Palghar Friday.
Key Points to Ponder:
— What is the Bullet Train project?
— What are the advantages of having a bullet train?
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— What are the various initiatives taken by the government in the railways sector?
— What are the reasons for the delay in the project?
— How is the Indian Railways contributing to the economy?
Key Takeaways:
— “A major milestone has been achieved in the Bullet train project today. It is the breakthrough of Mountain tunnel no. 5 (MT-5). There are a total of seven mountain tunnels and one undersea tunnel in this project,” said Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister for Railways, who witnessed the occasion through video conferencing from the Rail Bhawan in New Delhi.
— A tunnel breakthrough is the point or moment when a tunnel being excavated from both ends finally connects, marking the completion of a critical work.
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— Located between Virar and Boisar bullet train stations in Palghar, the 1.5-km-long MT-5 is the longest mountain tunnel in the project. It is almost 55% complete.
— Of the 508-km length of the bullet train project, tunnels comprise 27.4 km. Of these, 21 km make up the underground tunnels while the total length of surface tunnels is 6.4 km. Surface tunnels include eight mountain tunnels, seven of which are in Maharashtra (6.05 km) while one is in Gujarat (350 meters).
— Officials said that the excavation in the MT-5 tunnel was completed in 18 months. It was being excavated from both sides using a cutting-edge drill and blast method — the New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM).
— NATM is used in places where rock formation is not uniform, requiring small-scale excavation through blasting with machinery being deployed on the basis of site conditions.
On Thursday, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that India’s first bullet train will be ready by August 15, 2027. (Image: Ministry of Railways)
— Earlier, a breakthrough of a 4.88-km underground tunnel between Ghansoli and Shilphata was achieved in September 2025. This tunnel is part of a bigger, 21-km tunnel constructed between Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) and Shilphata in Maharashtra. This underground tunnel stretch also includes a 7-km long undersea section beneath the Thane Creek.
— At present, work on all the tunnels is ongoing. In Maharashtra, Mountain Tunnel no. 1 (MT-1), which is 820 metres long, has achieved 15% physical progress while the 228-meter MT-2 is currently under preparatory works. MT-3, having a length of 1.4 km, has achieved 35.5% completion while 1.26 km MT-4 is 31% complete. Similarly, the 453 metre MT-6 has achieved 35% progress while 417 meters MT-7 is 28% complete.
Do You Know:
— The bullet train project spans 352 km in Gujarat and Dadra & Nagar Haveli, and 156 km in Maharashtra. As of November 2025, the project has achieved 55.63% physical progress and 69.62% financial progress. To date, 412 km of foundation work, 405 km of piers, 344 km of girder-casting, and 330 km of girder-launching have been completed.
— The ambitious bullet train project, India’s first ever, has been hit by delays due to land acquisition issues and the coronavirus pandemic and was initially expected to be operational in 2022. However, full completion is now expected by the end of 2029.
— On Thursday, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the first bullet train will run on August 15, 2027 on the Surat-Bilimora stretch. The entire project will open in a phased manner, with the Surat-Bilimora stretch followed by Vapi-Surat, Vapi–Ahmedabad, and the Thane-Ahmedabad sections. The Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor will be operational in the final phase.
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
📍India’s first bullet train to be ready by August 15, 2027 – All you need to know
Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
(2) With reference to bio-toilets used by the Indian Railways, consider the following statements: (UPSC CSE 2015)
1. The decomposition of human waste in the bio toilets is initiated by a fungal inoculum.
2. Ammonia and water vapour are the only end products in this decomposition which are released into the atmosphere.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
THE EDITORIAL PAGE
Energy transition will need more than chasing the sun or the wind
Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance
Mains Examination: General Studies-III: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.
What’s the ongoing story: Shefali Khanna writes: India’s renewable energy transition is no longer constrained by the ability to build clean energy generation capacity. Solar and wind installations have crossed 180 gigawatts and renewables have become among the lowest-cost sources of new generation.
Key Points to Ponder:
— Know about India’s energy security and what is the share of renewable energy
— What are the challenges faced by the DISCOM sector in India? Why are they crucial in the clean energy transition?
— What are the various reforms brought by the government for the DISCOM sector?
— What are the reasons for high aggregate technical and commercial losses (AT&C)?
— How does the free electricity subsidy impact the power sector?
Key Takeaways:
— Instead, the transition is constrained by the urgent need for reforms in distribution and market design. The challenge today is whether the power system can utilise the green electrons it already produces as efficiently as possible.
— That challenge has three pieces.
* First, distribution reform is the decisive bottleneck.
* Second, dynamic retail tariffs and smart technologies are key to scaling access to clean and reliable electricity.
* Third, wholesale market reform is essential both to attract investment and to reduce renewable curtailment by improving how power is scheduled and traded across the country.
— Distribution companies (discoms) sit at the heart of India’s clean energy transition. Improving their operating performance is therefore critical. National aggregate technical and commercial losses remain around 16 per cent and several discoms continue to face persistent cost under-recovery even after initiatives such as UDAY and RDSS.
— This challenge becomes more acute as renewable penetration rises. Variability increases, peak demand becomes costlier to serve, and balancing and forecasting become core system functions. Yet discom incentives remain tied primarily to volumetric electricity sales rather than to maximising overall system efficiency.
— In many states, discoms recover a substantial share of their revenues from commercial and industrial consumers who pay tariffs well above cost, subsidising households and agriculture that pay below-cost tariffs.
— When these high-paying consumers invest in energy efficiency, adopt rooftop solar, or shift to open access, discoms lose their highest-margin sales but continue to bear the obligation of serving subsidised consumers, which strains their finances.
— At the same time, discoms face large, fixed costs from network operations and maintenance to capacity payments under long-term power purchase agreements. When energy efficiency or behind-the-meter solar reduces demand, these costs do not disappear.
— Rooftop solar further alters the economics of discoms’ most valuable customers. Net metering, where permitted, credits exported solar power at or near the retail tariff, even though that tariff often includes network costs and cross-subsidies.
— None of this implies that energy efficiency, rooftop solar, or demand response are inherently harmful to discoms. What makes these measures financially threatening is the absence of complementary tariff reform, the deployment and usage of smart technologies and incentive redesign.
— Tariff reform must be paired with smart technologies that allow demand to respond automatically — such as smart thermostats for cooling, smart charging for electric vehicles, and smart plugs and switches for appliance-level automation. Without automation, we are effectively asking households to act as real-time energy managers, which is unrealistic.
— Two wholesale reforms are important. The first is transitioning to a nationwide market-based economic dispatch system. A centralised framework would ensure that the cheapest available power — including zero-marginal-cost renewables — is dispatched first ahead of generators with a higher short-run marginal cost.
— The second is integrating captive power plants into wholesale markets. Captive power plants represent a large and underutilised source of flexible capacity. Bringing them into markets would increase competition, improve liquidity, and lower system costs. Taken together, retail and wholesale reforms could redefine the role of discoms from passive intermediaries to active system optimisers.
Do You Know:
— Over the past two-and-a-half decades, there have been multiple bailouts, restructuring and turnaround schemes for discoms. Carrots have been tried, and some sticks too. But, the end result has been the same. Another scheme, another bailout, is unlikely to bring about any meaningful change.
— Arguably, the only way out of this quagmire is to open up the sector – usher in competition. Bring more players in distribution. It will help weed out inefficiencies in the system – in billing, collection, labour costs, for instance.
— State governments, however, also face the demand for cheaper power from industry. Average commercial and industry tariffs, which can be up to 40 per cent higher than the cost of supply, are higher when compared to some of India’s competitors.
— As higher energy tariffs hurt competitiveness and act as deterrents for fresh investment, industry will flock to areas where costs are lower. Especially when cost-effective alternatives are available. Moreover, the imposition of carbon taxes – for instance, the EU’s CBAM – will only accelerate the industry’s push to clean energy.
— Managing this balance – providing free/subsidised power for agriculture and households while supplying cheap power for industry – is a difficult proposition. No wonder in some states the same minister holds both the power and industry portfolios.
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
📍To help India’s economy, unleash the power sector
Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
(3) Which one of the following is a purpose of ‘UDAY’, a scheme of the Government? (UPSC CSE 2016)
(a) Providing technical and financial assistance to start-up entrepreneurs in the field of renewable sources of energy
(b) Providing electricity to every household in the country by 2018
(c) Replacing the coal-based power plants with natural gas, nuclear, solar, wind and tidal power plants over a period of time
(d) Providing for financial turnaround and revival of power distribution companies
THE IDEAS PAGE
Inattention to high tech, minerals is showing
Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance
Mains Examination: General Studies-II: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests; Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation
What’s the ongoing story: Dhiraj Nayyar writes: US President Donald Trump is no fan of either multilateralism or multilateral partnerships — the UN, NATO, G20, G7 have all faced either his ire or cold shoulder. That made the recent announcement of the US-led Pax Silica initiative — to secure supply chains in critical minerals, energy, semiconductors and AI — noteworthy.
Key Points to Ponder:
— What is the US-led Pax Silica initiative?
— Is India part of this initiative?
— Know about the composition and functioning of these multilateral institutions-UN, NATO, G20, G7
— What are the challenges of India’s R&D ecosystem?
— What are the reasons for low R&D share in India’s GDP?
— What are the reasons for the low contribution of the mining sector in India’s GDP?
— Understand the significance of critical minerals and its supply chain
Key Takeaways:
— The nine member countries do not include India. That the initiative is implicitly directed at countering China makes India’s exclusion puzzling. Or does it? In Trump’s transactional world, India’s exclusion makes perfect sense.
— Each of the nine member countries — the US, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the UK, the Netherlands, Israel, the UAE and Australia — brings something to the table either in terms of high technology capability or resources (energy/minerals).
— India isn’t even among the “guests”, which include Canada (resource-rich) and Taiwan (semiconductors). In the things that preoccupy today’s great power politics — semiconductors/AI and energy/minerals —India doesn’t bring much to the table.
— India spends just 0.6-0.7 per cent of its GDP on R&D. And this percentage has been largely unchanged for the last two decades. The US and China spend roughly 3 per cent and 2.5 per cent of GDP respectively on R&D.
— South Korea and Israel spend close to 5 per cent of their GDP on R&D. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that India has not emerged as a product or innovation nation. The only sector in which India has acquired some cutting-edge capacity is space.
— A similar story of stagnation is in the minerals sector. India has one of the finest geologies in the world (comparable to Australia) but it has only explored 25-30 per cent of its geological potential. India is a massive importer of oil and gas — 90 per cent of our requirement comes from overseas.
— It is also a huge importer of gold (99.9 per cent) and copper ore (95 per cent). It even imports apparently abundant minerals like coal and bauxite. In critical minerals, like lithium, the import dependence is 100 per cent.
— Mining contributes just 2 per cent of GDP. Like in R&D, its share hasn’t moved much over time. In countries of comparable geology, it is 8-10 per cent.
— The bigger part of India’s mineral wealth is lying deep underground, unexplored and undiscovered. It needs a different policy approach. The government cannot be the sole explorer. The private sector has to step in.
— If India wants to be relevant in the emerging geopolitics, it has to be a player in the emerging geo-economics. The only other option — call it the third way — for India to get a seat at the global high table in this new era is to leverage the one thing it does have — its market. Open it to the transactional Trump and the rest of the world, and there will be great interest.
— For long, India has banked on its potential — as an economic heavyweight and a political counterweight to China —to be accorded a place at the global high table. India’s potential is intact. But it will still take time to realise it fully. Today’s geopolitics is based on what is, not what might be. It is all about actuals and delivery, and not a matter of good faith.
Do You Know:
— Pax Silica is a US-led strategic initiative to build a “secure, prosperous, and innovation-driven silicon supply chain” — from critical minerals and energy inputs to advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, AI infrastructure, and logistics.
— Measures under Pax Silica include pursuing new joint ventures and strategic co-investment opportunities, protecting sensitive technologies and critical infrastructure from undue access or control by countries of concern and building trusted technology ecosystems, including ICT systems, fibre-optic cables, data centres, foundational models and applications.
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
📍India out of US-led coalition on critical minerals supply chain
Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
(4) Recently, there has been a concern over the short supply of a group of elements called ‘rare earth metals’. Why? (UPSC CSE 2012)
1. China, which is the largest producer of these elements, has imposed some restrictions on their export.
2. Other than China, Australia, Canada, and Chile, these elements are not found in any country.
3. Rare earth metals are essential for the manufacture of various kinds of electronic items and there is a growing demand for these elements.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:
Discuss the multi-dimensional implications of uneven distribution of mineral oil in the world. (UPSC CSE 2021)
To resolve the street dogs issue, use reason and compassion, not fear and cruelty
Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance
Mains Examination: General Studies-II: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation
What’s the ongoing story: D R Mehta writes: Over the past decade, street dogs have moved from being neighbourhood sentinels to legal battlegrounds, caught between compassion and commotion. Have you ever heard of any constitutional court in the world getting involved with issues relating to dogs? The Indian Supreme Court is an exception. Despite the pendency of several lakhs of cases, some very serious, dogs are getting special attention.
Key Points to Ponder:
— What is the Supreme Court order on stray dogs?
— What is the whole issue regarding stray dogs in Delhi?
— What is the doctrine of separation of power?
— What diseases can dog bites cause?
— What are the functions of the Animal Welfare Board (AWB)?
— What are the key features of the ABC rules?
— How to draw a balance between compassion to dogs and the lives of human beings?
Key Takeaways:
— Some time ago, the Supreme Court picked up a case of dogs and that too, suo motu, on the basis of an unverified newspaper report. Furthermore, without hearing the lawyers on the other side, a basic requirement, the Court issued a direction that all street dogs should be picked up and confined in pounds.
— Yet another constitutional issue is that of the separation of powers, a part of the basic structure of the Constitution, laid down by the Court itself. Under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, the Animal Welfare Board (AWB) is the executive authority to issue guidelines regarding the management of animals, including dogs.
— It seems that the appropriate course would be for the Supreme Court, instead of issuing the guidelines itself, to direct the AWB to revise its existing ones, harmonising human needs on the one hand and compassion — one of the fundamental duties enshrined in the Constitution, which is binding on all — on the other.
— The tragedy of India’s “dog problem” isn’t a lack of law. It’s a failure to apply it. The Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules, first notified under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and updated in 2023, already lay down a clear, evidence-based national protocol:
— Capture-sterilise-vaccinate-release (CSVR). They embody the scientific consensus of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) that sterilisation and vaccination are the only sustainable ways to control the dog population and prevent rabies.
— Removal or culling, in contrast, simply opens ecological “vacuum zones”, inviting unsterilised dogs from surrounding areas to move in, restarting the cycle of fear and anger.
— By the 1980s, French cities were struggling with uncontrolled dog populations. The government implemented a combination of mandatory registration, sterilisation incentives, strict enforcement of pet abandonment laws, and robust waste management — all coordinated by the municipalities, not the courts. Public education campaigns shifted the narrative from nuisance to responsibility. Within a decade, stray populations plummeted without mass removal or cruelty.
— The Netherlands went further, achieving what few thought was possible: It became the first country in the world with zero stray dogs, without killing a single one. How? Through a nationally implemented CSVR programme, the same model India already enshrines in law.
— The Dutch government backed sterilisation drives with funding, education, and strict penalties for abandonment, while also investing in adoption, identification, and enforcement of pet-keeping norms. It wasn’t the judiciary but the municipal and health authorities, acting in concert with civil society, that delivered this transformation.
— The dogs that bite are generally those that are hungry, have been disturbed in their sexual activity or pelted with stones. If they are fed and neutered, they are not only non-aggressive but also mostly sleeping. Only a microscopic minority of them are vicious, and surely, they can be picked up or dealt with differently.
— The problem is basically with the elites. In schools, children share a part of their snacks with the dogs, a way of acquiring compassion. For psychologists, dogs are occasionally used for therapy. Dogs are man’s best friend. They must be dealt with rationally and humanely, and not with impractical solutions, or at times, with phobias.
Do You Know:
— According to data from the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, 3,196 dog bite cases have been reported till January. The figure was 25,210 in 2024 and it was 17,874 in 2023.
— — Children — especially those under 10 years of age — are at a higher risk for severe or fatal outcomes following a dog bite, experts opine. The seriousness of a dog bite depends on factors such as wound depth, extent of damage to tissues, the location, and the dog’s vaccination status.
— Even minor-looking bites should be carefully monitored, as per the experts. Immediate washing, cleaning, and medical treatment of the wound are crucial to prevent infection.
— Dog bites are dangerous due to the bacteria harboured in the animal’s mouth, which can cause serious infection, including staphylococcus, pasteurella, and capnocytophaga, once the skin is broken.
— The bite itself may damage the skin, muscles, tendons, nerves, or even bones, especially in severe cases, which can result in scarring, disability, or even death, he underlines.
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
📍Explained: How govt, courts have dealt with stray dogs
UPSC Prelims Practice Question Covering similar theme:
(5) Consider the following diseases:
1. Diphtheria
2. Rabies
3. Smallpox
Which of the above diseases has/have been eradicated in India?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 3 only
(c) 1, 2 and 3
(d) None
EXPLAINED
How rice farmers can cut methane, and make money off it
Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.
Mains Examination: General Studies-II: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
General Studies-III: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment
What’s the ongoing story: It isn’t easy to get farmers to buy into cutting greenhouse gas emissions and other climate action goals, especially when this requires investing in new machinery (Happy Seeders, balers and straw choppers to manage and not burn crop stubble) or results in yield loss (replacing urea with organic fertilisers).
Key Points to Ponder:
— How rice cultivation is done in India?
— Why is methane a greenhouse gas?
— How are paddy fields a source of methane?
— What is carbon credit?
— What are the concerns related to paddy cultivation in India?
— What is the Indian Carbon Credit Trading Scheme?
Key Takeaways:
— The difficulty is more in countries like India, which has over 86% farmers with small or marginal holdings of 2 hectares (5 acres) or less. That’s where transformative “low effort, high impact” agricultural practices can make a difference. One such practice, specific to rice cultivation, is Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD).
— The flooded paddy fields help control weeds, the resultant anaerobic (oxygen-free) soil environment is also suitable for methanogenic microbes – archaea and bacteria – that decompose the plant organic matter. This reaction, of the carbon from organic matter with hydrogen from water, ends up producing methane.
— Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, with 28 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide (CO2) over 100 years.
— Under AWD, the paddy fields, instead of being kept constantly flooded, are periodically dried out before re-flooding. The idea is to disrupt the waterlogged anaerobic conditions conducive to methane-producing microbes.
— “We tell farmers to flood their fields for the first 20 days. But for the next 45 days (from the 21st to the 65th), they should dry it out for 12 days. We recommend two such dry-downs of six days each (for draining out the water to 10-15 cm below the soil surface) within the 45-day window,” says Devdut Dalal, co-founder of Mitti Labs Ltd.
— The Bengaluru-based climate-tech startup conducted a detailed study to quantify the water savings, methane emissions reduction and grain yields from AWB during the 2024 kharif (monsoon) cropping season. It covered 30 farmers’ fields across three supersites (villages) in the Warangal district of Telangana. Paddy was grown through the AWD method in 15 of these fields and through traditional continuous flooding (CF) in the other 15.
— The Mitti Labs study found the average water consumption to be only 3.14 million litres per acre in the AWD fields, as against 4.96 million litres for CF. The average methane emissions, likewise, worked out to 3.5 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per hectare (1.4 tonnes per acre) from AWD, compared to the baseline number of 6 tonnes (2.4 tonnes/acre) in CF paddy cultivation.
— More importantly, from a farmer’s perspective, the average grain yield was the same, roughly 2.5 tonnes per acre, under both AWD and CF
— In 2023-24, Mitti Labs signed up with 850 farmers – 600 from Telangana and 250 from Andhra Pradesh – for them to implement AWD, alongside installing 30-cm-long perforated pipes (to monitor water table depths) and closed acrylic chambers (to collect gas samples for measuring methane emissions) in their fields.
— “We are seeking to generate methane emissions data based on direct measurement, through placement of chambers in individual farmer fields and sending the samples collected in vials to accredited laboratories for gas chromatography analysis. Such real, verified and location-specific reductions (in CO2 equivalent) can be used as carbon credits for sale in domestic and international markets,” explains Dalal.
— The buyers of carbon credits are data centre operators, airlines and other massive energy- and water-consuming industries. They purchase these credits in order to offset their own emissions and achieve “net zero-carbon” targets.
— Carbon credits from methane abatement are now trading at $15-25 dollars per tonne of CO2 equivalent. At 2.5 tonnes (6 minus 3.5) per hectare, a single paddy crop can, thus, generate at least $37.5 of carbon credit. That, at current exchange rates, translates into Rs 3,367 per hectare or Rs 1,363 per acre – not an insignificant amount.
— The Good Rice Alliance – a partnership of the German life sciences major Bayer with Shell Energy India and Singapore’s Tamasek-owned GenZero investment platform – is promoting paddy cultivation through both AWD and direct seeding of rice (which bypasses nursery preparation and transplanting).
— The alliance claims to have enrolled 12,000-plus farmers across 13 states, covering 35,000 hectares and reducing methane emissions equivalent to around 120,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.
— Clearly, this is a field that’s opening up – and in a crop where India is today the world’s top producer, as well as exporter.
Do You Know:
— The Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS), launched in 2023, is to create a framework for the trading of carbon credits, to facilitate the reduction of emissions in energy-intensive industries, and to support India’s climate commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement of 2015.
— This scheme is not operational yet and for that for that the the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has notified a Draft Greenhouse Gases Emissions Intensity (GEI) Target Rules, 2025, on April 16, to put in place a compliance mechanism for the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme, 2023 (CCTS).
— In December last year, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, in response to a Parliament question, provided that CCTS follows two mechanisms: a compliance mechanism and an offset mechanism. “In the compliance mechanism, the obligated entities that comply with the prescribed GHG emission intensity reduction shall be eligible for issuance of Carbon Credit Certificates.
— In the offset mechanism, the non-obligated entities can register their projects for GHG emission reduction or removal, or avoidance for issuance of Carbon Credit Certificates.”
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
📍Knowledge Nugget: What is Carbon Tax and why is it important for UPSC exam?
Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
(6) Consider the following statements: (UPSC CSE 2023)
Statement-I: Carbon markets are likely to be one of the most widespread tools in the fight against climate change.
Statement-II: Carbon markets transfer resources from the private sector to the State.
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
(a) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II is the correct explanation for Statement-I
(b) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II is not the correct explanation for Statement-I
(c) Statement-I is correct but Statement-II is incorrect
(d) Statement-I is incorrect but Statement-II is correct
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Grok’s use against women: Govt seeks X response in 3 day
Taking note of Elon Musk-owned X’s artificial intelligence service Grok being abused to generate objectionable pictures and videos of women, without their consent, while increasing the risk of exposure and harm with “grave concern,” the Indian government has sent a missive to the company saying that it was not adhering to the country’s laws, raising red flags over “serious failure” of safeguards enforcement, and has sought information within 72 hours about technical details related to Grok’s actions.
The notice said that due to Grok’s actions, X was not adequately adhering to provisions of the Information Technology (IT) Rules, 2021, and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, particularly in relation to obscene, indecent, vulgar, pornographic, paedophilic, or otherwise unlawful or harmful content which are potentially violative of current laws
PRELIMS ANSWER KEY
1. (c) 2. (d) 3. (d) 4. (c) 5. (b) 6. (b)
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