30.08.25

State Energy Efficiency Index (SEEI) 2024 Released: Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) launched the sixth edition, developed with Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy (AEEE), assessing performance for FY 2023-24.

Purpose: Tracks state/UT progress in energy efficiency, encourages peer learning, supports India’s net-zero vision and NDCs.

Coverage: Assesses 36 States and UTs using 66 indicators across sectors like Buildings, Industry, Transport, Agriculture, Municipal Services, DISCOMs, and Cross-Sector initiatives.

Performance Categories: States are grouped into Front Runners (>60%), Achievers (50–60%), Contenders (30–50%), and Aspirants (<30%).

Top Performers:

• Maharashtra (Group 1: >15 MToE)
• Andhra Pradesh (Group 2: 5–15 MToE)
• Assam (Group 3: 1–5 MToE)
• Tripura (Group 4: <1 MToE)

Key Reforms Highlighted:

• 24 states notified Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) 2017.
• 31 states adopted electric mobility policies.
• 13 states promote solar pumps, with Kerala leading at 74% adoption.
• All 36 States/UTs have Energy Efficiency Action Plans.
• 31 have formed State-Level Steering Committees on Energy Transition.

Significance: SEEI 2024 is a crucial policy tool to guide state actions and accelerate India’s energy efficiency and climate goals, with energy efficiency being a key driver for the net-zero by 2070 vision.

Urjit Patel Appointed to IMF Executive Board: India has appointed former RBI Governor Urjit Patel as its Executive Director at the IMF for a three-year term.

• Why it’s news: This appointment signifies India’s continued engagement and representation at a crucial international economic institution. Patel’s expertise will contribute to IMF’s decision-making.

Patel’s Constituency: Patel will represent India in a four-country constituency, including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan.

• Why it’s news: This highlights India’s role in regional economic cooperation and representation within the IMF structure.

IMF’s Role and Objectives: The IMF promotes international monetary cooperation, exchange rate stability, balanced trade, and provides financial assistance to countries facing balance of payments issues. It also aims to reduce poverty through economic growth.

• Why it’s news: This provides context on the IMF’s global importance and the significance of India’s participation in achieving these objectives.

IMF Structure and Functions: The IMF has a Board of Governors, an Executive Board overseeing operations, and a Managing Director. Its key functions include economic surveillance, financial assistance (loans), and capacity development (technical assistance). India is a founding member.

• Why it’s news: Understanding the IMF’s structure and functions is crucial for comprehending global economic governance and India’s place within it.

India’s Vulnerability: Heavy reliance on imported hydrocarbons (85% crude oil, 50% natural gas) poses a strategic risk due to geopolitical tensions and supply chain disruptions. Imported energy is increasingly a liability.

Global Shocks Highlight Fragility: Past events like the 1973 Oil Embargo, Fukushima disaster, Texas Freeze, Russia-Ukraine War, and Iberian Peninsula Blackout demonstrate the dangers of single-source dependence and the need for resilience and diversification in energy systems.

Russia-Ukraine War Impact: While discounted Russian oil has helped India’s import bill, over-reliance on one geopolitical partner is a significant vulnerability, emphasizing diversification over substitution.

Israel-Iran Tensions Show Global Risk: Proximity to conflict in June 2025 threatened massive oil flow disruptions and price spikes, underscoring the precariousness of global energy lifelines.

Energy Realism Over Blind Transition: Fossil fuels still dominate the global energy mix (over 80%), with renewables under 10%. Energy realism acknowledges this while pursuing transition, ensuring security is a survival strategy.

Energy Sovereignty Doctrine: India needs a doctrine anchored in domestic capacity, diversified technology, and resilient systems, making energy sovereignty the new “oil.”

Five Foundational Pillars for India:

• Coal Gasification: Leverage vast domestic coal reserves with new technologies to produce syngas, methanol, and hydrogen, overcoming ash content issues.
• Biofuels: Link rural development with energy security through ethanol blending and compressed biogas (CBG) for fuel and soil improvement.
• Nuclear Energy: Revive the thorium roadmap and invest in Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) for dispatchable baseload power.
• Green Hydrogen: Localize electrolyser manufacturing and storage systems for sovereign hydrogen production.
• Pumped Hydro Storage: Build critical infrastructure for grid balancing and complementing intermittent renewables.

The Goal: Secure affordable, uninterrupted, and indigenous energy for economic stability and long-term strategic independence, moving from reactive responses to proactive foresight.

• Why: This is significant for understanding the region’s biodiversity and the dragonfly’s distribution.

• Why: This resolves earlier debates about photographic evidence and highlights potential ecological interactions.

• Why: This suggests a potential migration during the Pleistocene Ice Age, offering insights into historical biogeography.

• Why: It reinforces the need for continued conservation efforts in this biodiversity hotspot.

• Simplify admissions by trusting Class 12 board exams with an eligibility threshold (e.g., 80% in PCM).
• Implement a weighted lottery system for seat allocation, incorporating existing reservations and giving higher grades more weight, ensuring fair opportunity for all eligible students.
• Reserve 50% of IIT seats for rural students and those from government schools to promote social mobility.
• Curb coaching culture by banning or nationalizing centres, with the government providing free online study materials.
• Promote student exchange programmes and professor rotation among IITs to ensure uniform standards and dismantle hierarchies.

NHAI Launches ‘Project Aarohan’: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has initiated ‘Project Aarohan’ to support the education of children of toll plaza employees.

Partnership and Implementation: The project is a collaboration with Vertis Infrastructure Trust and implemented by SMEC Trust’s Bharat Cares.

Target Beneficiaries: It focuses on children from economically weaker sections, prioritizing girls, first-generation learners, and those from marginalized communities (SC, ST, OBC, minority).

Financial Support: The initiative provides annual scholarships of Rs. 12,000 to 500 students from Class 11 to undergraduate level, and Rs. 50,000 each to 50 postgraduate students.

Holistic Development: Project Aarohan includes mentorship, skill development, and career guidance to prepare students for future opportunities.

Objective: The aim is to remove financial barriers, ensure equal access to quality education, bridge socio-economic disparities, and nurture talent.

Initial Fund Allocation: The first phase, spanning July 2025 to March 2026, has a fund allocation of Rs. 1 Crore.

Significance: It promotes educational equity, fosters inclusive growth by supporting vulnerable groups, and develops human capital for national development.

The “USD 125.8 billion by 2032” Figure: This figure is not directly explained or referenced in the provided text regarding Project Aarohan. It appears to be a separate data point or a potential future projection for a different sector, unrelated to the details of this specific educational initiative.

Why in News: Two Indian aquanauts recently dived into the Atlantic Ocean as part of preparations for the Samudrayaan Project.

What is Samudrayaan Project:

• India’s first human deep-sea mission.
• A key component of the Deep Ocean Mission.
• Aims to send three humans in a manned submersible to 6,000 meters depth by 2027.
• Will join an elite group of countries with manned deep-sea capability.

Key Objectives:

• Develop technologies for deep-sea mining, submersibles, and ocean robotics.
• Conduct surveys for mineral deposits, particularly polymetallic nodules (containing nickel, cobalt, rare earths).
• Develop an ocean climate change advisory service.
• Explore and conserve deep-sea biodiversity.
• Develop technologies for energy and freshwater from the ocean.
• Establish an advanced marine station for ocean biology and engineering.

Matsya-6000:

• India’s first self-propelled manned submersible.
• Carries three aquanauts for 12 hours, with emergency support for up to 96 hours.
• Made of titanium alloy with a spherical personnel sphere.
• Designed to withstand extreme pressure (600 bar) and low temperatures.
• Equipped with life-support, acoustic communication, and health monitoring systems.
• Developed collaboratively by NIOT, MoES, and ISRO.

Challenges:

• Vessel Development: Fabricating the titanium sphere with precise dimensions using electron beam welding.
• Maintaining Environment: Ensuring adequate life support within the submersible.
• Aquanaut Health: Physical fitness and managing personal needs during missions.
• Acoustic Communication: Developing reliable deep-water communication systems.

• Why: The court observed that social media influencers “commercialise free speech” and their content can harm the dignity of vulnerable groups (disabled, women, children, minorities). This is seen as an overlap of commercial and prohibited speech.

• Why: The court emphasized that criticism of jokes targeting disabled persons undermines efforts to integrate them into mainstream society. Guidelines should ensure consequences for violations proportionate to the harm.

• Why: Influencers commercializing free speech should be mindful of not hurting societal sentiments. The government’s objective for guidelines is sensitizing users and ensuring accountability for violations.

• Why: These frameworks provide “safe harbour” for intermediaries but also allow the government to block content and mandate platforms to ensure user safety and remove unlawful content.

• Why: These rulings establish the boundaries of free speech and privacy, influencing the need for regulations that respect these rights while addressing harmful content.

Supreme Court Regains Full Strength: The Supreme Court now has its sanctioned strength of 34 judges following the swearing-in of Justices Alok Aradhe and Vipul M. Pancholi.

• Why it’s news: This restores the apex court to its complete judicial capacity, potentially aiding in faster case disposal.

Justice Pancholi’s Future Role: Justice Vipul M. Pancholi is positioned to become Chief Justice of India in 2031.

• Why it’s news: This highlights a future leadership succession within the highest judicial body.

Collegium Appointment with Dissent: The appointments were made by a 4:1 majority of the Collegium, with Justice B.V. Nagarathna dissenting due to seniority concerns.

• Why it’s news: It demonstrates internal deliberation within the Collegium and points to potential ongoing discussions about appointment criteria and seniority.

Constitutional Basis for Appointments: The appointments are governed by Article 124(2) of the Constitution, which involves presidential appointment after consultation with judges.

• Why it’s news: Reinforces the constitutional framework for judicial appointments and the role of the Collegium system.

Three Joint Doctrines Released: The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) has released three new joint doctrines for the Indian Armed Forces.

• Why: To improve integration, interoperability, and operational effectiveness across all domains (land, sea, air, space, cyber). This is a significant step towards the ongoing drive for jointness and the planned theaterisation of the forces.

Joint Doctrine for Special Forces (SF) Operations:

• Focus: Enhances interoperability between Army Para SF, Navy MARCOS, and IAF Garuds.
• Key Recommendations: Establishment of Joint Service Training Institutes (JsSTIs) as Centres of Excellence for advanced joint training in areas like night operations, adverse weather, electronic warfare, and precision-guided munitions.

Joint Doctrine for Airborne and Heliborne Operations:

• Focus: Emphasizes integration of advanced technology, joint service training, and tactical synergy.
• Goal: To ensure readiness for operations from peacetime engagements to high-intensity conflicts.

Multi-Domain Operations (MDO) Doctrine:

• Focus: Covers integration across land, sea, air, space, cyber, and cognitive domains.
• Aim: To empower decision-making and improve battlefield responsiveness.

Role of CDS: General Anil Chauhan, as CDS, is the principal military advisor to the Defence Minister and heads the Department of Military Affairs, promoting tri-service jointness.