National Efficient Cooking Programme

Recently the Union Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy unveiled the National Efficient Cooking Programme to revolutionize cooking practices in India.

• The National Efficient Cooking Programme (NECP) introduces induction-based cook-stoves, offering a cost advantage of 25-30% over traditional cooking methods.
• It aims to promote both energy savings and cost-effective cooking solutions by introducing affordable and energy-efficient induction-based cookstoves.
• It was launched by the Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), which is under Union Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy.
• By deploying 20 Lakh Induction cook-stoves across India, EESL seeks to reduce the environmental impact of cooking methods, ensuring cleaner air and improved health for citizens.
• EESL has also partnered with Modern Energy Cooking Services (MECS) for the large-scale deployment of induction cooktops.
• The deployment is expected to accelerate the acceptance and large-scale adoption of modern electric cooking devices in Indian kitchens.
• Energy Efficient Fans Programme (EEFP) – Focuses on deploying energy-efficient ceiling fans which was also launched along the NECP.
• Under EEPF, 1 crore energy-efficient fans to be distributed in initial phase.

Adaptation Gap Report 2023

Recently the Adaptation Gap Report 2023 was released by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

• The report identifies 7 ways to increase financing, including through domestic expenditure and international and private sector finance.
• The Adaptation Gap Report 2023 was released by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
• The cost of adaptation is the amount needed for planning, preparing for, facilitating and implementing measures to reduce harm or exploit beneficial opportunities arising from climate change.
• Adaptation measures such as river flood protection, infrastructure and coastal protection demand the highest adaptation costs in regions of East Asia, Pacific and Latin America and the Caribbean.
• The Climate adaptation finance flows from public multilateral (like World Bank) and bilateral sources (from a developed to a developing nation) declined by 15 % to around USD 21 billion in 2021.
• Domestic budgets seem to be the largest source of funding for adaptation in many developing countries.
• Neither domestic nor private funding sources could help bridge the adaptation finance gaps, especially in low-income countries including Least Developing Countries and Small Island Developing Nations.
• The new Loss and Damage fund will also need to move towards more innovative financing mechanisms to reach the necessary scale of investment.

Elephant Corridor Report, 2023

In the recently held standing committee meeting of the National Board for Wildlife, Raman Sukumar, an Indian ecologist and IISc professor said that multiple inconsistencies in the elephant corridor report, 2023.

• A corridor is a small patch of land that provides connectivity for elephant movement across habitats, largely within a landscape of the elephant reserve.
• According to the report there is increase of 62 ‘elephant corridors’ in the country since 2010, bringing the total to 150, an increase of 40 %.
• West Bengal has the most elephant corridors (26) that amounts to 17% of the total elephant corridors.
• Elephants have seen increased presence in Madhya Pradesh found in Sanjay Tiger reserves and Bandhavgarh.
• The decrease in corridor use is attributed to the habitat fragmentation, shrinkage and destruction.
• The elephant corridor in forest areas shall be notified under the rules mentioned under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
• The elephant corridor areas with revenue lands and private lands must be notified under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
• It is considered as eco-sensitive, for which the red-category industries is prohibited.
• Raman Sukumar stressed that the state government do not follow any standard guidelines for recommendation of the elephant corridor.

Bletchley Declaration

In the ‘AI Safety Summit 2023’ India have signed the Bletchley Declaration that addresses the risks of AI.

• Bletchley Declaration calls for Responsible Artificial Intelligence development by reducing the risks posed by frontier AI.
• India was among the 28 countries that signed the so-called Bletchley Declaration on the first day of the AI Safety Summit hosted by the UK government.
• It is the world’s first declaration for the responsible AI development.
• The declaration sets out a 2 pronged agenda focused on:
  1. Identifying risks of shared concern, building a scientific understanding of them.
  2. Developing cross-country policies to mitigate these risks.
• It encourages transparency and accountability from actors developing frontier AI technology concerning their plans to measure, monitor, and mitigate potentially harmful capabilities.

Zika Virus

Recently Karnataka has stepped up surveillance after a mosquito pool in Chickballapur was found to be positive for Zika virus.

• Zika virus is a mosquito-borne virus first identified in Uganda in 1947 in a Rhesus macaque monkey.
• Zika virus is a vector-borne flavivirus transmitted by the bite of infected Aedes mosquitoes, mainly Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus.
• Most people with Zika virus infection do not develop symptoms; those who do typically have symptoms including rash, fever, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, malaise and headache that last for 2–7 days.
• The virus during pregnancy can cause infants to be born with microcephaly and other congenital malformations as well as preterm birth and miscarriage.
• The infection is associated with Guillain-Barre syndrome, neuropathy and myelitis in adults and children.
• In February 2016, World Health Organisation (WHO) declared Zika-related microcephaly a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).
• WHO declared the end of the PHEIC of Zika virus in November of 2016.
• Although cases of Zika virus disease declined from 2017 onwards globally, transmission persists at low levels in several countries in the Americas and other endemic regions.