. No.	Topic Name	Prelims/Mains
1.	About the Forest Fires	Prelims & Mains
2.	Details of the Eco Sensitive Zones	Prelims & Mains
3.	About the Non Performing Assets	Prelims & Mains
4.	Details of the Defence Exports in India	Prelims Specific Topic

 

1 – About the Forest Fires:GS III

Topic à Environment Conservation

·       About:

·       Any unregulated and uncontrolled combustion or burning of plants that consumes the available fuels and spreads based on environmental factors is known as a wildfire in a natural context, such as a forest, grassland, brush land, or tundra. Other names for it include blazing, wildfire, and grass fire (e.g., wind, topography).

·       Forest fires can be started by human activity like clearing land for development, protracted droughts, or, in rare cases, lightning.

·       A wildfire needs three things to start burning: fuel, oxygen, and heat.

 

·       India’s Potential for Forest Fires:

·       According to the Forest Survey of India (FSI), Dehradun’s India State of Forest Report 2019 (ISFR), as of 2019, more than 21.67 percent (7,12,249 sq km) of the nation’s geographic area is categorised as forest.

·       Trees cover 2.89 percent more land now (95, 027 sq km).

·       According to historical fire incidents and data, the forests in the Northeast and central India regions are the most vulnerable to forest fires.

·       Forested areas in Assam, Mizoram, and Tripura have been noted as being “especially prone.”

·       The states deemed to be “very highly prone” are Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Maharashtra, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh. Significant wooded areas can be found in several states.

·       According to the MoEFCC’s 2020–2021 annual report, Western Maharashtra, Southern Chhattisgarh, parts of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, along with central Odisha, are all developing into “extremely prone” forest fire hotspots.

·       As “very prone” or “moderately prone” areas, 1,72,374 square kilometres, or roughly 26.2 percent of the whole forest cover, fall into these categories.

 

·       Reasons of forest fires:

·       The bulk of big fires in India are mostly the result of human activity, despite the fact that there are numerous diverse natural causes of forest fires.

·       Recent studies have connected climate change to an increase in fires, especially the destructive Amazon forest fires that have ravaged large sections of Brazil and Australia during the past two years.

·       There is a correlation between climate change and the intensity, length, frequency, and highly flammable character of fires.

·       In India, forest fires are most frequently reported in the months of March and April because there is an abundance of dried wood, logs, dead leaves, stumps, dry grass, and weeds that are easily lit by a spark.

·       Another major issue in Uttarakhand is the arid soil. The monsoon seasons of 2019 and 2020 saw rainfall that was 18 and 20% below seasonal average, respectively.

·       Most fires are started by individuals, sometimes even on purpose. It is common knowledge that peasants in Odisha, which last month suffered a large fire in the Simlipal forest, set dry leaves on fire in order to gather mahua flowers, which are used to make a local beverage.

 

·       Results of forest fires:

·       Forest fires have a negative effect on the soil, tree growth, vegetation, and overall flora and fauna.

·       A fire can burn over multiple hectares of forest, and the ash it leaves behind prevents any vegetation from regrowing.

·       The heat of a fire destroys animal habitats.

·       The quality of the soil decreases when soil components are different.

·       Additionally affected are soil moisture and fertility.

·       The size of forests may decrease.

·       Trees that survive a fire typically have drastically reduced growth.

 

·       Why forests are crucial:

·       Forests are essential for both slowing down and adapting to climate change.

·       They act as a reservoir, sink, and supplier of carbon.

·       A healthy forest has the potential to store and sequester more carbon than any other terrestrial ecosystem.

·       In India, where 1.70 lakh villages are located near woods, many people rely on fuelwood, bamboo, fodder, and small amounts of lumber for their survival (Census 2011).

 

·       Efforts to avoid forest fires:

·       In order to track forest fires in real-time, the FSI (Forest Survey of India) developed the Forest Fire Alert System in 2004.

·       The system’s updated version, which became accessible in January 2019, now makes use of satellite data obtained from NASA and ISRO.

·       The 2018 National Action Plan on Forest Fires and the Forest Fire Prevention and Management Scheme (NAPFF).

Source à The Down To Earth Magazine

 

2 – Details of the Eco Sensitive Zones:GS III

Topic à Environment Conservation

·       What are eco-sensitive zones?

·       The National Animal Action Plan (2002-2016) of the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change required state governments to designate land as eco-fragile zones or eco-sensitive zones (ESZs) within 10 kilometres of the borders of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. This was needed by the Environmental (Protection) Act of 1986. (MoEFCC).

 

·       Purpose:

·       To serve as a kind of “shock absorber” for the natural landscape, ESZs are built around protected areas such as national parks, forests, and wildlife sanctuaries.

·       Between regions with high security and those with less protection, these areas would act as a transition.

·       Commercial wood use, industrial mining, sawmills, businesses that produce substantial amounts of HEPs, and businesses that create pollutants are all prohibited.

·       Hot air ballooning in a national park, discharging effluents or other solid waste, or producing hazardous materials are a few examples of tourism-related activities.

·       Cutting down trees, constructing hotels and resorts, exploiting natural water for commercial purposes, putting up electricity lines, substantially altering agriculture through the use of heavy gear, insecticides, etc., and constructing new roads are all activities that are subject to regulation.

·       Activities like regular horticultural or agricultural practises, the use of green technology, the exploitation of renewable energy sources, and organic farming are all permitted.

 

·       Significance:

·       the detrimental effects of development activities are reduced.

·       To decrease the effects of urbanisation and other development activities, regions close to protected areas have been classified as Eco-Sensitive Zones.

·       In-situ conservation refers to the protection of a threatened species in its native environment. One example of this is the protection of the One-horned Rhino at Kaziranga National Park in Assam.

·       Reduce the amount of logging and human-animal conflict.

·       Ecosensitive areas lessen human-animal conflict and stop the destruction of forests.

·       The core and buffer strategy of management, which benefits and safeguards the neighbouring communities as well, serves as the basis for the development of protected areas.

 

·       What obstacles must Eco-Sensitive Zones overcome?

·       Development projects: Activities that include building in the ESZ, such as building roads, dams, and other types of infrastructure for the urban and rural areas, interact with the ecosystem, harm it, and disturb the natural order.

·       new regulations and policies:

·       The Environmental Protection Act of 1986 and the Animal Protection Act of 1972, both of which do nothing to discourage wildlife poaching, disregard the rights of forest people. This is carried out to support ESZs’ development initiatives.

·       Tourism: In order to accommodate the rising demand for eco-tourism, the land surrounding parks and sanctuaries is being taken away through deforestation, the expulsion of communities, etc.

·       Introduction of a foreign species Plantations of Acacia auricularis and Eucalyptus, among others, are pressuring the area’s native forests.

·       In the ESZs, climate change has a detrimental effect on the land, water, and ecosystem. For instance, Kaziranga National Park’s biodiversity and ecology have suffered greatly as a result of the Assam floods and recurrent forest fires.

·       Local communities: Some of the pressures on protected areas include changing farming practises, an ageing population, and a growth in the demand for firewood and other forest products.

 

·       How to Proceed:

·       The States should act as a trustee for the benefit of the general public in relation to natural resources in order to promote long-term sustainable development.

·       The government shouldn’t quickly boost the state’s fortunes by restricting its role to that of an economic booster.

·       It is feasible to boost carbon footprints, repair degraded forests, and bring back extinct habitats.

·       promoting conservation efforts and educating people about the consequences of resource overuse.

 

Source à The Down To Earth Magazine

 

3 – About the Non Performing Assets:GS III

Topic à Economy related issues

·       The definition of a non-performing asset (NPA) is:

·       You may have observed that one of a bank’s assets is considered to be its loans. As a result, an asset would be considered a non-performing asset if a loan’s principle, interest, or both components were not being paid back to the lender (a bank) (NPA).

·       Any asset that ceases to provide returns for its investors for a fixed period of time is considered non-performing (NPA).

·       That period of time is normally 90 days in the majority of countries and among the several lending organisations. The terms and circumstances that the borrower and the financial institution agree upon may cause it to vary, as they are not a defined standard.

 

·       An example of NPA:

·       Let’s imagine that a business is given a loan by the State Bank of India (SBI) for Rs. 10 crores (Eg: Kingfisher Airlines). Think about the agreed-upon interest rate of, say, 10% annually. Let’s assume that initially everything proceeded without a hitch and that the airline industry was favoured by market forces, allowing Kingfisher to pay the interest because of this. Let’s imagine that later on, for whatever reason—administrative, technological, or corporate—the company is unable to pay the interest rates for 90 days. Because of this, a loan made to Kingfisher Airlines is a good candidate to be labelled as a non-performing asset (NPA).

 

·       What could be the possible causes of NPAs?

·       Investing cash in shady or unrelated businesses.

·       Losses incurred by businesses as a result of regulatory environment changes.

·       Particularly after government loan forgiveness programmes, morale is low.

·       Companies’ profit margins contract as a result of global, regional, or national financial crises, placing pressure on their balance sheets and ultimately preventing them from paying loan and interest payments. the general slowing of the entire economy, like in the case of India after 2011, which led to NPAs rising more swiftly (for instance, the global financial crisis of 2008).

·       Businesses there suffer as a result of the slump in a specific industrial sector, and some may even fail.

·       NPAs are the result of loans that were first accepted at cheap rates but later serviced at high rates, as well as unplanned corporate house expansion during the boom period.

·       due to poor management in the workplace, including intentional incompetence and defaulters.

·       Poor governance and policy paralysis cause loans to become non-performing assets (NPAs), which slow down projects’ timelines and rates of progress. using the infrastructure sector as an illustration.

·       ferocious competition in any given commercial industry. Consider the telecom sector in India as an illustration.

·       Due to social, political, cultural, and environmental factors, land acquisition is being delayed.

·       a dishonest lending strategy that entails secretive loan transactions.

·       due to natural catastrophes like earthquakes, tsunamis, disease outbreaks, floods, and droughts, among others.

·       Dumping results in inexpensive imports, which damage domestic companies. Consider the steel industry in India.

 

·       What results do NPAs produce?

·       Profit margins for lenders are diminished.

·       Stress in the banking sector reduces the amount of money available to fund other projects, which has a negative impact on the entire national economy.

·       Interest rates were raised by banks to maintain their profit margin.

·       moving funds from advantageous initiatives to unfavourable ones.

·       It’s possible that unemployment occurred as a result of stagnant investments.

·       Poor performance by the public sector banks diminishes shareholder returns, which lowers the amount of dividends paid to the Indian government. As a result, it may slow down the distribution of funding for social and infrastructural development, which would have negative social and political repercussions.

·       The proper rewards are not given to investors.

·       Investment-led development is halted by the balance sheet syndrome with Indian characteristics, which is characterised by stressed balance sheets in both the banking and corporate sectors.

·       Cases involving NPAs put more strain on the judiciary’s already-heavy caseload.

 

·       Which strategies are being used to tackle NPAs?

·       The GOI has made numerous attempts to improve the judicial, financial, and policy environment. However, India’s experience with NPAs is not a recent one. To address NPAs, the Narsimham Committee issued a number of reform suggestions in 1991. Some of them were used in actual situations.

 

·       The DRTs (Debt Recovery Tribunals) of 1993:

·       to hasten the case-resolution process. They are covered by the Recovery of Debt Due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act of 1993. However, there aren’t enough of them, thus in many regions cases frequently drag on for longer than two to three years.

 

·       The Credit Information Bureau of 2000:

·       A good information system is required to avoid loans from falling into the wrong hands and, as a result, NPAs. It helps banks by maintaining and disseminating information on particular defaulters and willful defaulters.

 

·       The Lok Adalats of 2001:

·       They are helpful in handling and recovering small loans, but are only allowed for loans up to 5 lakh rupees, under RBI standards published in 2001. They are helpful since fewer cases are consequently brought before the courts.

 

·       The SARFAESI Act of 2002:

·       The Securitization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (SARFAESI) Act of 2002 The Act permits banks and other financial institutions to recover their non-performing assets (NPAs) without the help of a court by buying and selling the secured assets in NPA accounts with an outstanding value of Rs. 1 lakh or more. Banks are required to first post a notice. Then, in the event that the borrower defaults, they may:

 

·       Corporate Debt Restructuring in 2005:

·       It tries to decrease the burden of debts on the business by reducing the rates paid and stretching the time the company has to repay the obligation.

 

·       5:25 rule – 2014:

·       Also known as Flexible Structuring of Long Term Project Loans to Infrastructure and Core Industries Because the project schedule is prolonged and they do not receive the money back into their books for a sizable amount of time, it was suggested that loans every 5-7 years and refinancing for long-term projects be needed in order to protect the cash flow of such enterprises.

 

·       Joint Lenders Forum 2014:

·       It was brought about by include all PSBs with stressed loans. It exists to stop loans from several banks from going to the same individual or company. It was established to prevent instances in which someone would borrow money from one bank and then lend it to another.

 

·       Mission Indradhanush 2015:

·       The Indradhanush framework for transforming PSBs has been the most substantial reform project implemented by ABCDEFG to modernise PSBs and improve their general performance since banking was nationalised in 1970.

 

·       Strategic debt restructuring (SDR) in 2015:

·       According to this idea, banks that have loaned money to corporate borrowers have the choice to convert all or a portion of that money into equity stakes in the company that they lent it to. Its principal objective is to give banks better capabilities for initiating a change of ownership when necessary and to ensure that promoters have a larger share in recovering stressed accounts.

 

·       The Bankruptcy and Insolvency Code of 2016:

·       It was developed in response to the Chakravyuaha Challenge (Economic Survey) of the exit conundrum in India. This law aims to encourage entrepreneurship, credit availability, and a balance between the interests of all stakeholders by consolidating and amending the laws relating to the reorganisation and insolvency resolution of corporate persons, partnership firms, and individuals in a timely manner and for the maximisation of value of such persons’ assets.

 

·       In 2017, private ARC against public ARC:

·       The bad banks of 2017:

 

·       Another subject highlighted in Economic Survey 16-17 is the establishment of a bad bank that will take on all stressed loans and manage them in accordance with adaptable regulations and methods. It will make it simpler for PSBs to manage their balance sheets, enabling them to fund more development initiatives and launch new ones.

 

Source à The Economic Times

4 – Details of the Defence Exports of India:GS III

Topic à Internal Security related issues

·       What key points are there?

·       Exports were produced by 20% of public sector enterprises and 70% of private sector companies.

·       90% of the economy used to be in the private sector, but more public sector organisations are now involved in the armed forces.

·       Indian enterprises are progressively becoming a part of the supply chains of American defence corporations, despite the fact that India’s imports of defence equipment from the US have increased dramatically in recent years.

·       What recent initiatives have been made to increase the export of defence goods?

·       India and the Philippines reached an agreement in January 2022 for the sale of three batteries of the shore-based BrahMos supersonic cruise missile for USD 374.96 million.

·       Over the previous two years, India steadily outlawed the import of 310 various weapons and systems, which increased export.

·       Over the next five to six years, these weapons and systems will be domestically produced in increasingly large quantities.

·       A improved understanding of the private sector has led to a sharp rise in defence exports.

 

·       How are India’s defence exports doing?

·       The government’s plan to achieve self-sufficiency in the production of defence components includes defence exports as a key component.

·       Italy, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Russia, France, Nepal, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Israel, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Bhutan, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines, Poland, Spain, and Chile are a few of the nations that more than 30 Indian defence corporations have shipped weapons and equipment to.

·       Avionics packages, radio and radar systems, offshore patrol boats, engineering equipment, cutting-edge light helicopters, and defence electronics are a few of the exports.

·       Meanwhile, India’s defence exports continue to fall short of projections.

·       Between 2015 and 2019, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute classified India as the 23rd largest exporter of weapons (SIPRI).

·       India only contributes 0.17 percent of the world’s arms exports, nevertheless.

·       Due to a lack of a specific organisation within the Ministry of Defense to promote exports, India’s defence exports have a dismal track record.

·       India hopes to export $5 billion worth of defence products by 2024.

 

·       What defense-related programmes exist?

·       The DPEPP 2020 (Defense Production and Export Promotion Policy):

·       The DPEPP 2020 is meant to act as a comprehensive road plan for the nation’s defence production capabilities, giving them a focused, organised, and major drive for exports and independence.

·       Giving the private sector more power is the aim of the changes.

·       Indian IDDM (Indigenously Designed, Developed, and Manufactured) is a brand-new category for the DPP 2016. If any Indian firms choose it, Indian IDDM received preference over all other categories.

·       Strategic Collaboration:

·       Through a strategic partnership approach, Indian enterprises can work with foreign original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to obtain technology transfer, the capacity to build and produce in India, and the capability to maintain those projects in India.

·       Currently in use is the first conventional submarine RFP.

 

Source à The Press Information Bureau