UPSC Essentials : Key terms of past week with MCQs & Points to ponder

KEY TAKEAWAYS

What is BRICS?

— In 2001, British economist Jim O’Neill of Goldman Sachs coined the term ‘BRIC’, standing for the initials of what he said were the four emerging economies at the time – Brazil, Russia, India, and China from an investors’ interest perspective.

— Now, BRICS includes these five economies, representing 42% of the world’s population, 30% of the world’s territory, 23% of global GDP, and around 18 per cent of world trade, according to its website. An informal meeting of the grouping was held in 2006 among Russia, India, and China on the sidelines of the G8 Outreach Summit in Russia. The first formal meeting was in 2009, also in Russia. South Africa joined in 2010, expanding it to ‘BRICS’.

What was the rationale behind creating BRICS?

— In the past, India and other Asian and African countries have criticised the dominance of European and Western countries at international forums and institutions, such as the United Nations. They have argued that this leads to a lack of representation from voices of the ‘Global South’, a term used to refer to countries that have not traditionally been at the centre of international agenda-setting.

PM Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg on Thursday. (ANI)

— It also came amid a solidification of the United States’ status as the sole superpower after the USSR’s collapse in 1991, and a realisation of countering its influence.

— With the economic rise of countries such as India and China in recent decades, the creation of their own forums has been utilised as an alternative. G20 is one example, which was more expansive in its memberships as compared to the G8 grouping (later G7 after Russia was expelled over its annexation of Crimea in 2014). Another example is G77, which now has more than 130 members, largely from Africa and Asia.

— Similarly, BRICS came about to enhance cooperation between these five countries. This includes aspects of political cooperation through meetings, and economic cooperation such as through the New Development Bank, which is meant to provide financial support to developing markets for infrastructure and other projects.

— But despite these shared larger goals, BRICS has also meant different things to different member countries, and even those strategic interests have evolved over the years. By now, China has gained significantly more economic heft than others in the grouping. Both China and Russia are also now viewing the West with a lot more suspicion than before, with the Ukraine War continuing in its second year and US-China ties seeing frequent roadblocks.

— India, meanwhile, has been deepening its relations in spheres of economy and technology with the US, of late. This makes having a common policy and cooperation within the grouping difficult.

— As C Raja Mohan, a senior fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute, wrote in The Indian Express this year, “Notwithstanding the ambitious plans for their expansion, the SCO and BRICS are running out of their geopolitical steam as the context that brought them together at the turn of the millennium no longer exists.”

What was the BRICS agenda for 2023?

— The chairmanship rotates among the group annually. The Chair has to set the agenda, priorities and calendar for the year. This year, the agenda of the 15th Summit was ‘BRICS in Africa: Partnership for Mutually Accelerated Growth, Sustainable Development and Inclusive Multilateralism’.

— Notably, both China and Russia have developed a significant presence in Africa in recent years. China has made investments worth billions of dollars in various infrastructure projects, and Russia’s mercenary Wagner Group – whose troops also participated in the Ukraine War – has also made its inroads in several local conflicts.

— Further, in July, a South African diplomat said that more than twenty countries have formally expressed an interest in joining the grouping, including Saudi Arabia and Iran. A Bloomberg report said that the other countries that have expressed interest in joining include Argentina, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Egypt, Bahrain and Indonesia.

— For India, the platform could be a means of establishing its larger efforts to represent the Global South. It could also be a moment where the Summit could move things along from a diplomatic perspective. As The Indian Express has reported, the 2017 Doklan stand-off at the Bhutan-India-China trijunction was resolved just days before Modi and Xi were scheduled to meet for the then BRICS summit in China.

BRICS gets six new members

— The five-member BRICS invited six more countries to join the alliance on Thursday (August 24), in a move which can strengthen its claim of being a ‘voice of the Global South’ on one hand, while raising concerns about China’s increasing dominance on the other.

— BRICS consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. In its summit at Johannesburg, South Africa, it invited Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Egypt, and Ethiopia. Their membership will begin in January.

— BRICS decisions are unanimous, that is, all members have to agree for any move to go ahead. Among its original members, while Russia finds itself facing a united West as adversary and China-US ties have dipped to a historic low, Brazil, South Africa, and India have important partners in the US and in Europe.

— China is driving the expansion of the group. After a meeting of BRICS officials in February this year, China’s foreign office had said “membership expansion has become part of the core agenda of BRICS”.

— While Saudi Arabia has traditionally been a US ally, it has been increasingly striking out on its own, and the BRICS membership is in line with that.

— For Iran and Russia, this membership is a signal to the West that they still have friends globally.

— Both Egypt and Ethiopia have had longstanding ties with the US too.

— Argentina, facing a trying economic crisis, will hope for financial aid from BRICS.

— What BRICS expansion means for India If India’s presence at the recent G7 summit in Hiroshima, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi also participated in an informal Quad summit, was seen as a sign of New Delhi’s US tilt, it continues to attach importance to the “anti-West” BRICS.

—  Rajiv Bhatia, Distinguished Fellow at the policy think tank Gateway House and a former Indian diplomat, had earlier told The Indian Express, “India is also part of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), and despite problems, it has relations with Russia, with China. While China does want BRICS to be an anti-western group, the Indian view is that it is a “non-western” group and should stay that way.”

— Among the new members, while India looks at all of them as partnerships worth developing, concerns have been raised that the group could become more pro-China and sideline New Delhi’s voice and interests.

Other takeaways

Shubhajit Roy writes:

— On UN Security Council reforms, the BRICS declaration introduced the phrase “legitimate aspirations” and the word “democratic” in the paragraph. Last year, BRICS had merely talked about “aspirations” of India, Brazil and South Africa and making the UNSC “representative, effective and efficient”.

— It said: “We support a comprehensive reform of the UN, including its Security Council, with a view to making it more democratic, representative, effective and efficient, and to increase the representation of developing countries in the Council’s memberships so that it can adequately respond to prevailing global challenges and support the 3 legitimate aspirations of emerging and developing countries from Africa, Asia and Latin America, including Brazil, India and South Africa, to play a greater role in international affairs, in particular in the United Nations, including its Security Council.”

— On the issue of the Russia-Ukraine war, the BRICS declaration used the word “conflict in and around Ukraine”, instead of last year’s formulation of the “situation in Ukraine” .

— “We recall our national positions concerning the conflict in and around Ukraine as expressed at the appropriate fora, including the UNSC and UNGA. We note with appreciation relevant proposals of mediation and good offices aimed at peaceful resolution of the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy, including the African Leaders Peace Mission and the proposed path for peace,” the declaration said this time. There was, however, no mention of the Black Sea Grain Initiative which was an important issue this time.

— Afghanistan was a noteworthy miss in the 94-paragraph declaration running into 17 pages, especially considering that there was an extensive paragraph on it in the June 2022 declaration.

— Last time, the BRICS declaration had said it strongly supports a peaceful Afghanistan while emphasising on national reconciliation, an inclusive political structure and rights of all Afghans including women and children. It said Afghan territory should not be used for acts of terror and called on authorities to combat drugs.

— BRICS — largely portrayed as an anti-West platform — acknowledged G20 as a “premier multilateral forum” and the “Indian Presidency” this time. It helped that two more BRICS countries — Brazil and South Africa — will preside over the G20 in 2024 and 2025, respectively.

— India’s proposal of disaster-resilient infrastructure was in the declaration as well.

— The BRICS decided to expand the membership from five to 11, but they also decided not to tinker with the name. “BRICS is a brand, and need not be changed, so that was the consensus decision,” a government source said.

Point to ponder: How the West is reacting to BRICS’ expansion plans ?

1. MCQ:

Which of the statements below is/are not true for BRICS?

1. In its summit at Johannesburg, South Africa, BRICS invited Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Egypt, and Afghanistan.

2. In 2001, British economist Jim O’Neill of Goldman Sachs coined the term ‘BRICS’, standing for the initials of what he said were the emerging economies at the time.

(a) Only 1

(b) Only 2

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Fujiwhara effect

WHY IN NEWS?

— The United States west coast recently witnessed Hurricane Hilary (a sub-tropical storm by the time it hit the US), prompting the National Hurricane Centre (NHC) to issue its first ever tropical storm watch for parts of Southern California. This was the latest incident in a string of unusual weather phenomena in the region.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Ayesha Jain Explains

— Earlier this year, California witnessed an unusually wet winter, with at least twelve ‘atmospheric river’ storms battering the state. ‘Atmospheric rivers’ are vast airborne currents carrying dense moisture and hanging low in the atmosphere.

— In one of these storms, two small areas of low pressure were drawn together in a ‘dance’: instead of merging together, the stronger low pressure area became the dominant one in the system – displaying, for a brief moment, what is known as the ‘Fujiwhara effect’.

What is the Fujiwhara effect?

— As per the National Weather Service (NWS), when two hurricanes (or cyclones, depending on where you live), spinning in the same direction, are brought close together, they begin ‘an intense dance around their common center’ – this interaction between two cyclones is called the Fujiwhara effect.

— If one hurricane’s intensity overpowers the other, then the smaller one will orbit it and eventually crash into its vortex to be absorbed. On the other hand, if two storms of similar strengths pass by each other, they may gravitate towards each other until they reach a common center and merge, or merely spin each other around for a while before shooting off on their own paths.

— In rare instances, the two ‘dancing’ cyclones, if they are intense enough, may merge with one another, leading to the formation of a mega cyclone capable of wreaking havoc along coastlines.

— Identified by Sakuhei Fujiwhara, a Japanese meteorologist, this phenomenon first found mention in a paper published in 1921. Decades after the paper was published, it was observed for the first time over the western Pacific ocean, when typhoons Marie and Kathy merged in 1964.

How is this related to today’s climate?

— Contending that a warming climate is giving rise to stronger cyclones, and thus, increasing the possibility of the Fujiwhara effect, Ravi Shankar Pandey, a research scholar at the Department of Atmospheric Science at the National Central University in Taipei, noted that “there has been a 35 per cent increase in the strength of typhoons that have hit Taiwan between 1977 and 2016. This happened due to a 0.4 to 0.7°C rise in the sea surface temperature during these 40 years in the northwest Pacific,” as quoted by Down to Earth.

Point to ponder: What California’s atmospheric rivers mean for drought, floods, fires?

2. MCQ:

In the South Atlantic and South-Eastern Pacific regions in tropical latitudes, cyclones do not originate. What is the reason? (UPSC CSE 2015)

(a) Sea surface temperatures are low

(b) Inter-tropical Convergence Zone seldom occurs

(c) Coriolis force is too weak

(d) Absence of land in those regions

‘The Debt-Fossil Fuel Trap’

WHY IN NEWS?

— Poor countries with heavy debts have been forced to continue to rely on fossil fuels for generating revenue to return the loans taken from richer countries and private lenders to meet various economic exigencies like the pandemic three years ago, a new report said.

— These countries, mostly in the global south, may find it impossible to phase out fossil fuels and transition to renewable energy as revenues from fossil fuel projects “are often overinflated and require huge investments to reach expected returns, leading to further debt,” said the analysis, ‘The Debt-Fossil Fuel Trap’, published on Monday (August 21) by the anti-debt campaigners Debt Justice and partners in affected countries.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Alind Chauhan Explains

Understanding the “debt-fossil fuel trap”

— The global south — a term used for developing, less developing and underdeveloped countries, located in Africa, Latin America, and Asia — countries are increasingly being burdened by enormous debts in recent years. Their “external debt payments (money borrowed from richer countries, or multilateral creditors like the World Bank and IMF, or private lenders such as banks) has gone up by 150% between 2011 and 2023, reaching their highest levels in 25 years”, said the report. Moreover, 54 countries are in a debt crisis — they had to cut their public sending budgets during the pandemic to repay the loans, the analysis found.

— The situation is worsened by extreme weather events, which force these countries to borrow more money as they lack adequate finances and resources for adaptation, mitigation and tackling loss and damage. For instance, Dominica’s debt as a percentage of GDP rose from 68% to 78% after Hurricane Maria hit the island in 2017.

— To deal with the mounting debts, these countries have turned to extracting more fossil fuels. Take the example of Argentina, which has been supporting fracking projects in the Vaca Muerta oil and gas field in Northern Patagonia to generate revenues to ease the country’s debt crisis. Notably, the IMF has also backed these projects.

— Experts, however, have raised serious concerns regarding the development. They have pointed to the environmental devastation that fracking — a drilling method used to extract oil or natural gas from deep in the Earth’s surface — could cause.

— Moreover, many analysts believe that proposed benefits may not materialise given the risks of relying on fossil fuel revenues and given the huge amount of investment required to scale up extraction in the next few years, which will require taking on more debt from external creditors.

— “The country’s strategy to reduce debt may end up adding to debt levels without generating adequate revenue to repay,” which could force Argentia to further expand its fossil fuel projects, the report added. This is known as the “debt-fossil fuel trap”.

— Rich countries, IMF and World Bank keep global south’s fossil fuel projects running. The report also highlighted that despite many assurances, to stop investing in fossil fuels in global south countries, richer countries and multilateral and bilateral lenders have financed “fossil fuel projects, often through loans, adding to debt burdens and keeping countries locked in fossil fuel production.”

— One of the ways this happens is through loan contracts like resource backed loans (RBLs). In RBLs, “repayment is either made directly in natural resources (in kind) such as oil or minerals, or from a resource-related future income stream; or repayment is guaranteed by a resource-related income stream, or where a natural resource asset serves as collateral,” the analysis noted.

Ending the high debt burdens

— The report has laid out a few recommendations to help global south countries exit the “debt-fossil fuel trap”. It said clean energy, wealthy governments and institutions must implement “ambitious debt cancellation for all countries that need it, across all creditors, free from economic conditions.”

— They should also stop accepting repayments made through fossil fuel projects’ revenue. Meanwhile, “Bilateral and multilateral finance should be aligned with a 1.5 degree warming scenario and fair shares calculations, and not be used to finance fossil fuels.”

Point to ponder: What is India’s fossil fuel lessons for net zero?

3. MCQ:

Which one of the following statements best describes the term ‘Social Cost of Carbon’? It is a measure, in monetary value, of the

(a) long-term damage done by a tonne of CO2, emissions in a given year

(b) requirement of fossil fuels for a country to provide goods and services to its citizens, based on the burning of those fuels

(c) efforts put in by a climate refugee to adapt to live in a new place

(d) contribution of an individual person to the carbon footprint on the planet Earth

Fukushima water

WHY IN NEWS?

— Japan started to pump treated radioactive water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, destroyed in a 2011 earthquake and tsunami, into the Pacific Ocean on Thursday.

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Japan. (Image source: AP)

— In response, China announced it is suspending Japanese seafood imports with immediate effect. South Korea’s largest opposition party has amped up protests.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Alind Chauhan Explains

Why is the water being released?

— Several reactors at the nuclear power plant melted down after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Since then, workers at the now-defunct plant have been cooling the reactors by using water, which becomes contaminated. All the radioactive water, about 350 million gallons, is stored in more than 1,000 storage tanks at the site. But the tanks are nearing capacity, leading the workers to release water into the ocean after filtering it.

How is the water being filtered?

— Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO), operator of the nuclear plant, is using a filtration system called the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS). The system can remove all radioactive contaminants from the water except tritium. Tritium is a form of hydrogen that occurs naturally in the Earth’s atmosphere, and is part of water itself. So it isn’t possible to create a filter to separate it from the contaminated water.

— To tackle the situation, TEPCO has said it will dilute the contaminated water using seawater to ensure that the concentration levels of tritium are well below the safety standards. If the levels of tritium remain too high after filtration, it will repeat the process before releasing the water. Moreover, the water will be discharged slowly, over decades.

Is the released water safe?

— The issue has polarised experts. Japan and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has peer-reviewed the country’s water release plan, have said “discharges of the treated water would have a negligible radiological impact to people and the environment”.

— The Japanese government also says tritium isn’t dangerous — and even if it enters into the body, the risks are low.
Many experts, however, have accused officials of downplaying the level of radiation in the water. Many also allege that apart from tritium, there are other radioactive elements that remain in the water even after filtering.

Point to ponder: In Asia, nuclear power is experiencing a renaissance. Comment.

4. MCQ:

India is an important member of the  ‘International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor’. If this experiment succeeds, what is the immediate advantage for India? (UPSC CSE 2016)

(a) It can use thorium in place of uranium for power generation

(b) It can attain a global role in satellite navigation

(c) It can drastically improve the efficiency of its fission reactors in power generation

(d) It can build fusion reactors for power generation

Bharat NCAP

WHY IN NEWS?

— India has launched its own crash test rating assessment system, joining half a dozen other countries and geographies that have these norms.

— A crash test is a collision of a vehicle in a controlled environment to assess its safety parameters. The new norms under the Bharat New Car Assessment Programme or Bharat NCAP, will come into effect from October 1.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Anil Sasi Explains

— The norms define safety standards of motor vehicles with type approval for seating up to eight people, and with a gross weight of less than 3.5 tonnes, which are either manufactured or sold in the country. Work on drawing up the norms began in 2015.

— The standards will offer customers an objective metric to compare the crash safety of vehicle models before buying, and will nudge manufacturers to progressively improve the safety ratings of models.

Testing protocol, scores

— The Bharat NCAP testing protocol is aligned with global crash test protocols, and will have ratings from 1 star to 5. The higher the NCAP score (stars) the safer the car.

— Evaluation will cover (i) Adult Occupant Protection (AOP), (ii) Child Occupant Protection (COP), and (iii) Fitment of Safety Assist Technologies. For this, three tests will be conducted: a frontal impact test, a side impact test, and a side pole impact test.

— Based on the vehicle’s performance in these tests, the model will be offered separate star ratings for AOP and COP.

— The front impact test will be against an offset deformable barrier at a speed of 64 km/h, which is faster than the 56 km/h that vehicle-makers had lobbied for). The pole impact test will only be carried out for cars securing 3 stars and above. Also, for a 3-star or higher rating, the car must have electronic stability control and front seat belt reminders.

Format of the testing

— To begin with, the exercise will be voluntary. Carmakers will be encouraged to offer their models for testing as per the Automotive Industry Standard (AIS) 197.

— Once the manufacturer offers a vehicle model for crash testing, the manufacturing facility will be visited by a Bharat NCAP team that will pick a base variant of the model through random sampling. This vehicle will be taken to the Bharat NCAP testing centre, and put through the crash test in the presence of the manufacturer’s representatives. The results will be compiled and shared with the manufacturer.

— After a Bharat NCAP standing committee approves the entire process, the crash test results and the star rating of that vehicle will be published.

— The parameters under review include an assessment of the car’s structural integrity in the event of a frontal collision or a sideways impact, provision of active and passive safety assist technologies, safety of adult and child occupants in the vehicle, and the vehicle’s overall pedestrian-friendly design, which will be used to determine the final rating.

— The Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) is mandated with testing the vehicles under the scheme at its laboratories in Pune and Chakan.

Why testing matters

— So far, carmakers have been shipping models abroad for testing and star grading, an expensive and time-consuming affair. These tests largely covered petrol and diesel cars. Bharat NCAP will also test and rate CNG and electric vehicles based on their crash performance.

— The new norms could lead to an improvement of the quality of cars sold in the country, and the export-worthiness of India-made automobiles. Over time, the programme is expected to catalyse a change in consumer behaviour and lead to an increase in the demand for safer cars, nudging manufacturers to increase focus on safety.

— India sees some 1.5 lakh fatalities on its roads every year, and has among the world’s highest rates of road accident deaths. Under the Stockholm Declaration, India is committed to reducing the number of road traffic deaths and injuries by 50 per cent by 2030.

Global NCAP, and India’s

— An exercise to rate cars based on crash safety first started in the United States in the late 1970s. Similar programmes were subsequently launched elsewhere: the Euro NCAP, Australasian NCAP, Japan NCAP, ASEAN NCAP, and China NCAP, which were largely based on the US format.

— In 2011, the United Kingdom-based charity Towards Zero Foundation, which was promoted by, among others, Bloomberg Philanthropies, FIA Foundation, International Consumer Testing and Research, and the Road Safety Fund, formed the Global NCAP to improve coordination among the various NCAPs.

— The Bharat NCAP norms are aligned with the format of the Global NCAP, which worked with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in formulating the Indian edition of the crash tests.

— It is to the credit of Global NCAP that its series of crash tests, starting in January 2014, spotlighted automotive safety and sensitised manufacturers to the need to upgrade safety offerings in cars sold in India. Global NCAP did not inform manufacturers about the tests, and picked cars from showrooms — while this caused considerable heartburn for players in the Indian auto sector, most Indian carmakers have embraced the launch of Bharat NCAP as a positive step.

Point to ponder: India’s road deaths are not accidents — they are a public health crisis. Comment.

5. MCQ:

Consider the following statements:

1. In 2011, the United Kingdom-based charity Towards Zero Foundation formed the Global NCAP to improve coordination among the various NCAPs.

2. The Bharat NCAP norms are aligned with the format of the Global NCAP, which worked with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in formulating the Indian edition of the crash tests. 

Which of the above statement/s is/are true?

(a) Only 1

(b) Only 2

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Stalled real estate projects

WHY IN NEWS?

— A 14-member committee chaired by former NITI Aayog CEO and India’s G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant, which was constituted to examine stalled real estate projects and recommend ways to complete them, submitted its report on August 21.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

 Damini Nath Explains:

— The committee was set up in March by the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry.

What did the committee find?

— The committee’s report cited the IBA as estimating that 4.12 lakh dwelling units of Rs.4.08 lakh crore were “stressed” and about 2.40 lakh (44%) of these were in the National Capital Region. Another 21% of the units were in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, it said.

— The committee concluded that the main reason for the stress in these projects was the “lack of financial viability”, which had led to cost overruns and time delays. The committee said the way to solve the problem would be to improve the Internal Rate of Return of the projects in order to attract funding.

— Judicial interventions, like the use of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, should be “the last resort”, it said. In order to make the projects viable, all stakeholders — that is the developers, financiers, land authorities etc. — would have to take a “haircut” or accept less than what is due to them, it said.

What did the committee recommend?

— The committee began its list of recommendations by reiterating provisions of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, which mandates that all projects where the land is over 500 square metres or the number of apartments to be constructed are more than eight are registered with the respective state RERA. This, the committee said, must be “enforced”. Registration of the projects would lead to greater transparency, it said.

— The committee recommended de-linking the grant of registration or sub-lease by the land authorities to the homebuyers from the recovery of dues from developers.

— Similarly, there were many projects where the homebuyers were not being given no-objection and completion certificates in projects that were substantially complete due to “administrative hurdles”. The committee recommended that the RERAs identify such projects and expedite the process to grant certificates, irrespective of the developers’ paying their dues to the authorities.

— One of the main recommendations of the committee was for state governments to set up a rehabilitation package to get the stalled projects running again. Those developers who sign up for the package would have to commit to completing the projects in three years. The committee gave the example of a model package for Noida and Greater Noida that it detailed.

— This includes a “Zero Period” for two years starting with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 where interest and penalties on developers by the authorities would be waived. Developers would be allowed to get a “co-developer” on board to complete the work. The committee proposed a “partial surrender policy”, in which developers can give back some of the unused lands to the authority in exchange for a waiver on the dues for that land.

Who will implement the recommendations?

— Being a state subject, most of the recommendations of the committee fall within the purview of the respective state governments.

Point to ponder: What is SWAMIH?

6. MCQ:

With reference to committee constituted to examine stalled real estate projects, consider the following statements:

1. It is chaired by former NITI Aayog CEO and India’s G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant.

2. One of the main recommendations of the committee was for central governments to set up a rehabilitation package to get the stalled projects running again.

Which of the above statement/s is/are true?

(a) Only 1

(b) Only 2

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

State of India’s Birds (SoIB) report

WHY IN NEWS?

— A large number of bird species in India are either currently declining or projected to decline in the long term, according to a report based on data from about 30,000 birdwatchers that was released on Friday (August 25). Out of the 942 bird species that were assessed, 142 are diminishing and only 28 are increasing.

Vultures in the nest (Gyps indicus), on the tower of the Chaturbhuj Temple, Orchha, Madhya Pradesh, India. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

— While raptors, migratory shorebirds, and ducks have declined the most, birds living in habitats like open ecosystems, rivers, and coasts are among the worst affected, the State of India’s Birds (SoIB) report added.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Alind Chauhan Explains:

What are the major threats to birds in India?

Climate change

— The average global temperature has risen by over 1 degree Celsius since pre-industrial times, resulting in catastrophic consequences not only for humans but also for other living beings, like birds.

— Climate change affects bird reproduction and survival through the disruption of species interactions by phenological mismatches — it occurs when the timing of annual events like breeding, nesting and migration become out of sync.

— “Mismatches in seasonal timing (of migration, breeding, emergence) between birds and their prey can reduce survival and reproduction and also lead to fatal competition with other species,” the report said.

— Soaring temperatures force sedentary birds to go through rapid adaptive changes. For instance, Amazonian birds over 50 years lost body weight to lose heat more efficiently, the report said.

— Moreover, sapping heat compels birds to change their behaviour. They tend to spend more time looking for shade instead of searching for food. This can have an adverse effect on their survival and reproduction.

— Climate change leads to new and dangerous interactions between different species. A case in point is Hawaii, where with rising mercury, mosquitoes have colonised higher altitudes. This has given rise to malaria among mountain birds (Yes, humans aren’t the only ones who get malaria from mosquitoes).

Urbanisation

— The most urbanised regions in India have the least number of bird species, the least number of rare species, and the fewest insectivorous species, according to the report. It’s because urbanisation results in loss of natural habitat for birds and it exposes them to more air pollution and high temperatures.

— Not only this, cities have noise pollution, which forces birds to “sing louder, or at different frequencies, or, in the worst case, to abandon otherwise suitable habitat,” the report noted. Meanwhile, light pollution may confuse and disorient them, causing them to collide with buildings. Ultimately, lack of food supplies in urban areas leads to the homogenisation of bird communities as only behaviourally dominant species such as House Crows and feral Rock Pigeons are able to survive.

Monocultures

— Monoculture is the practice of growing one type of seed in a field at a time. In India, commercial monoculture plantations of rubber, coffee, and tea have been rapidly expanding in recent years. For example, tea plantations have grown from 5,214 sq km to 6,366 sq km from 2003 to 2020, the report said. Oil palm plantations have also increased across the country with expanding hotspots located in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and the northeastern Himalaya.

— However, such plantations are detrimental to the well-being of birds. The report mentioned: “Commercial monocultures are known to harbour fewer bird species than natural forests within the same biome.”

— For instance, oil palm plantations in Mizoram support only 14% of the bird species found in comparable rainforests. In Uttarakhand, teak plantations can shelter just 50% of the total woodpecker species seen in the state’s sal forests.

Energy infrastructure

— In the context of the looming climate crisis, countries have started to generate power using renewable resources instead of depending on conventional methods like coal-fired power plants. It has led to an increase of wind turbines in a country like India, where they have been installed in a wide range of landscapes including coastal areas, Western Ghats mountaintops, open arid lands, agricultural lands, and grasslands.

— Although wind turbines are eco-friendly, they have emerged as a threat to birds, the report has revealed. A wide range of species are known to have been killed due to collisions with wind turbines. Several of them have migrated to regions where there aren’t such giant devices.

— The report said the transmission lines have also led to the death of many large-bodies species because of collision and numerous small-bodies species have been electrocuted. “A literature review reveals that over 60 species from 33 families of birds are affected by collisions and electrocution at power lines in India,” it added.

— Such incidents may cause a drop in population levels and a change in the migration patterns of birds.

Point to ponder: Freeing caged birds alone is not justice. We should be phasing out bird trade. Discuss.

7. MCQ:

With reference to India’s biodiversity, Ceylon Frogmouth, Coppersmith Barbet, Gray Chinned Minivet and White-throated Redstart are (2020)

(a) Birds

(b) Primates

(c) Reptiles

(d) Amphibians

ANSWERS TO MCQs: 1 (c), 2 (a), 3 (a), 4 (d), 5 (c), 6 (a), 7 (a)

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