DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYSIS

22 MARCH 2022 – CA

No.	Topic Name	Prelims/Mains
1.	DETAILS OF THE FAME INDIA SCHEME	Prelims & Mains
2.	ABOUT THE WORLD HAPPINESS REPORT	Prelims & Mains
3.	CHEETAH REINTRODUCTION PROJECT	Prelims & Mains
4.	ABOUT THE FOREST ELEPHANT	Prelims Specific

 

1 – DETAILS OF THE FAME INDIA SCHEME:

GS II

Topic – Government Policies and Interventions

• Context:
• Incentives are granted to customers of electric vehicles under the FAME-India Scheme in the form of an upfront reduction in the purchase price of electric vehicles
• According to information obtained from the Department of Revenue, the current GST rate on electric vehicles is 5%.
• The GST rates are set in accordance with the GST Council’s recommendations.
• Electric vehicles already have the lowest tax bracket of 5%.
• The government has taken the following initiatives to encourage the use of electric vehicles in the country:
• On May 12, 2021, the government approved a Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for the manufacturing of Advanced Chemistry Cells (ACC) in the country in order to lower battery prices.
• Electric vehicles will become less expensive as battery prices fall.
• The GST on electric vehicles has been decreased from 12 percent to 5%, while the GST on electric vehicle chargers/charging stations has been reduced from 18 percent to 5%.
• The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has stated that battery-powered vehicles would be issued green license plates and will not be required to obtain a permit.
• The Ministry of Road Transportation and Highways (MoRTH) issued a letter advising states to eliminate EV road taxes, which will assist lower the initial cost of EVs.
• About the FAME India program:
• The Department of Heavy Industry is implementing the FAME-India Scheme to promote the manufacturing of electric and hybrid vehicle technology and assure its long-term growth.
• The National Electric Mobility Mission Plan includes FAME India.
• FAME’s main goal is to stimulate the use of electric vehicles by giving financial incentives.
• The (FAME-India) Scheme aims to promote electric vehicles (EVs) in public transportation and boost their adoption through market formation and demand aggregation.
• It is being implemented in two stages: first, it is being implemented; second, it is being implemented.
• From April 1, 2015, Phase-I [Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid) and Electric Vehicles in India] will begin.
• The Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid) and Electric Vehicles Phase-II.
• Phase I of the FAME-India Scheme:
• The government has funded the establishment of roughly 500 charging stations across the country as part of Phase I of the FAME-India Scheme.
• About 230 charging stations have been installed out of about 500 charging stations sanctioned under Phase I of the FAME-India Scheme.
• Furthermore, the Ministry of Power’s Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) has installed 65 public charging stations for electric vehicles across the country.
• Phase II of the FAME-India Scheme:
• The FAME 2 program aims to increase the number of electric vehicles in commercial fleets and enhance electric mobility.
• Electric buses, three-wheelers, and four-wheelers will be eligible for government incentives if they are employed for commercial reasons.
• With the active engagement of public sector units and business actors, the center will invest in the establishment of charging stations.
• Projects for charging infrastructure will include pantograph charging and flash charging, which are needed to extend electrification for operating automobiles.
• In addition, FAME 2 will promote the interconnection of renewable energy sources and charging infrastructure.
• The necessity of the hour:
• To make the transition to electric transportation easier in India, the auto sector must actively participate.
• The automotive and battery industries may work together to raise customer awareness and boost domestic production.
• To promote electric vehicles, the government should focus on a phased manufacturing strategy and give fiscal and non-fiscal incentives for phased manufacturing of EVs and batteries.
• Source – The PIB

2 – ABOUT THE WORLD HAPPINESS REPORT:

GS II

Topic – International Relations

• Context:
• India may have one of the world’s fastest expanding economies, but it is also one of the world’s least happiest countries.
• The World Happiness Report 2022 put India 136th, ninth from the bottom of the list, ahead of the UN International Day of Happiness on March 20.
• The World Happiness Report is a study that looks at how happy people are around the worl
• The Sustainable Development Solutions Network publishes the World Happiness Report, which is based on Gallup World Poll data.
• The tenth edition of the study combines global survey data to examine how people rate their own lives in addition to economic and societal factors.
• The rankings are based on a three-year average of data from 2019 to 2021.
• The World Happiness Report assesses happiness levels in each country based on characteristics such as GDP, social support, personal freedom, and corruption levels.
• The following are some of the report’s highlights:
• According to the 10th edition of the World Happiness Report, Finland topped the list for the fifth time in a row.
• Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, and the Netherlands came in second, third, and fourth, respectively.
• While the United States was ranked 16th among western countries, Britain was placed 17th, and France was ranked 20th.
• India’s standing in the world happiness index remained weak, increasing only slightly from 139 last year to 136 this year.
• Only Taliban-ruled Afghanistan outperformed India among South Asian countries.
• Afghanistan was rated the world’s happiest country, placing last out of 146 countries on the survey.
• Better rankings were achieved by Nepal (84), Bangladesh (94), Pakistan (121), and Sri Lanka (127).
• According to the Happiness Report, India was one of the countries that saw a drop in life assessments of more than a full point on a 0 to 10 scale during the last ten years.
• Significance:
• Happiness has become a significant indicator to track for not just countries but also corporations over the years.
• The report’s purpose is to uncover important drivers of happiness.
• This data is supposed to aid governments in developing policies that will lead to happier societies.
• Why are there linkages between law, government, and happiness important:
• Happiness is now widely recognized as a policy goal. And this conversation has sparked a new narrative in which the linkages between law, government, and happiness are being investigated.
• Experiences from a variety of countries show that countries with higher GDP and per capita income are not always the happiest, and that there is a correlation between happiness and the rule of law.
• Over time, the WHRs have confirmed that humans have:
• Mental health issues.
• A poor subjective well-being score.
• Despite high income levels, there is a negative opinion of governance and law and order.
• Source – The Hindu

3 – CHEETAH REINTRODUCTION PROJECT:

GS III

Topic – Environmental Conservation related issues

• Context:
• With the announcement of an action plan by the Union Government, the cheetah, which became extinct in India after Independence, is on its way back.
• In the next five years, 50 cheetahs would be introduced into India under the ‘Action Plan for Introduction of Cheetah in India.’
• The action plan was unveiled at the National Tiger Conservation Authority’s 19th meeting (NTCA).
• What is reintroduction, and why is Cheetah being reintroduced now:
• A species”reintroduction’ entails releasing it in an environment where it can thrive.
• Large carnivore reintroductions are becoming more widely recognized as a technique for conserving threatened species and restoring ecological processes.
• The cheetah is the only great animal that has gone extinct, owing to previous overhunting in India.
• India now has the financial means to contemplate recovering its lost natural heritage, both ethically and environmentally.
• Facts:
• Acinonyx jubatus, the cheetah, is one of the oldest big cat species, having ancestors dating back more than five million years to the Miocene epoch.
• The cheetah is also the fastest terrestrial mammal on the planet.
• In the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the African Cheetah is classified as vulnerable.
• In 1947, the last spotted feline in the country perished in Chhattisgarh. In 1952, the cheetah, the world’s fastest land mammal, was proclaimed extinct in India.
• The IUCN Red List lists the Asiatic cheetah as a “critically endangered” species that is thought to only exist in Iran.
• In India, a cheetah reintroduction program is underway.
• Seven years ago, the Wildlife Institute of India in Dehradun developed a 260-crore cheetah reintroduction project.
• The Kuno National Park in Sheopur and Morena districts of Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior-Chambal region is set to reintroduce cheetahs.
• This could be the first intercontinental cheetah translocation experiment in the world.
• Extinction reasons include:
• All of the reasons for extinction may be traced back to human intervention. Human-wildlife conflict, habitat loss and prey decline, and illegal trafficking have all contributed to their extinction.
• Climate change and increasing human populations have only exacerbated these issues.
• Because there is less available territory for wildlife, species that require a large home range, such as the cheetah, are forced to compete with other animals and humans for limited habitat.
• What did the Supreme Court have to say about it:
• The Supreme Court halted attempts to bring African cheetahs into India, specifically in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno national park, in 2013.
• When the site (Kuno) that they have identified already has a resident population of leopards, transient tigers, and is also the site for the translocation of Asiatic lions as authorized by the Supreme Court, African cheetahs are not necessary to play the function of top predator in these environments.
• The Supreme Court lifted a seven-year hold on a request to bring African Cheetahs from Namibia into Indian habitat last year (2021).
• Source – The Hindu

4 – ABOUT THE FOREST ELEPHANT:

Prelims Specific Topic

• Due to habitat loss, poaching, and human-wildlife conflict, numbers of both forest and savanna African elephants have been dropping across the continent.
• Forest elephants are classified as “Critically Endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, a designation reserved for animals that have fallen by more than 80% in three generations.
• It has also designated savanna elephants as “Endangered,” signifying a 50 percent reduction in three generations.
• Elephants of the forest:
• It’s found in West Africa’s humid woodlands and the Congo Basin.
• It is the tiniest of the three living elephant species, standing only 2.4 meters tall at the shoulder (7 ft 10 in).

• Source – The Hindu