UPSC EXAM QUIZ 14.11.2024

Explanation:

• Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has recently changed the time for release of Consumer Price Index and Index of Industrial Production data from 5:30 pm to 4 pm.
• The change is aimed at giving more time to analyse these data and to align it with the closing time of major financial markets in IndiA.

Consumer Price Index

• Definition: CPI is a measure of retail inflation based on the prices of goods and services consumed by the country's population.
• Publication: It is released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) and includes rural, urban, and combined (national) data at the all-India level.
• Base year: Currently, CPI is calculated taking 2012 as the base year.
• Categories: CPI includes various categories such as food and beverages, clothing, housing, fuel and light, and recreation. Currently, CPI is calculated taking into account 299 items.

Explanation:

• United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has released the Adaptation Gap Report 2024. This report provides an assessment of annual progress in adaptation planning, implementation and finance.
• The report defines the adaptation gap as the difference between actual implemented adaptation and societal goals, with the impact of resource limitations and priorities.

Key findings

• Adaptation gap: US$187-359 billion per year.
• Adaptation progress: International adaptation finance in developing countries increased to US$27.5 billion in 2022. This marks progress towards the goal of doubling adaptation finance by 2025 under the Glasgow Climate AccorD.
• Importance of adaptation: Ambitious adaptation can halve global climate risk. For example, annual investment of US$16 billion in agriculture could prevent 78 million people from climate change-related hunger.

Explanation:

• Prepared by Centre for Research and Planning, the research wing of the Supreme Court of India, this report examines the complexities of the Indian prison system and measures for improvement.
• The main objective of the report is to focus on the possibilities of reforms through technology-driven solutions.

Highlights of the report on prisons in India

• Stereotyping: Prison manuals often adopt a “demeaning” or “degrading” approach to labour, thereby perpetuating a hierarchical approach to prison functions. This negatively impacts the cleanliness and cleanliness of the functions.
• Bail denial: The denial rate of bail applications is very high. Bail is denied in 3% of cases in Sessions Courts and 16.2% of cases in Magistrate Courts, reflecting delays in judicial processes.
• Slow trials: Over 52% of cases in 2023, where the accused were in custody for more than a year, were still pending at the evidence stage, leading to overcrowding in prisons.
• Other problems: The practice of manual scavenging still continues in prisons, which has been deemed unconstitutional (as in the Sukanya Shanta case). In addition, caste-based division of prison functions and underutilisation of open prisons have also been mentioned in the report.

Explanation:

• India ranked among global top 10 for patents, trademarks and designs.
• In the World Intellectual Property Indicators 2024 report, India has ranked among the global top 10 countries in patents, trademarks and industrial designs.
• The report reveals significant growth in patent, trademark and industrial design applications in the top economies.
• India is consolidating its position as a global leader in the intellectual property and IP landscape, making substantial progress and setting new milestones in IP activity.
• India ranks sixth globally for patents with 64,480 applications, with more than half of the total submissions filed locally.
• In 2023, the patent office granted 149.4% more patents than the previous year, underlining the country's rapidly evolving IP ecosystem.
• The report indicates a steady growth of 36.4% in India's industrial design applications, in line with the increasing emphasis on product design, manufacturing and creative industries in IndiA.
• The top three sectors – Textiles and Accessories, Tools and Machines, and Health and Cosmetics – account for nearly half of all design filings.

Explanation:

• India's renewable energy capacity increased by 13.5% to 203 gigawatts since October 2023.
• India's total renewable energy capacity grew by 13.5%, or 24.2 gigawatts, in a year to reach 203.18 gigawatts in October 2024, from 178.98 gigawatts in October 2023.
• A statement issued by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy said that this increase is in line with India's ambitious targets in the renewable energy sector.
• It said total non-fossil fuel capacity, including nuclear power, increased to 211.36 GW in 2024, from 186.46 GW in 2023.
• The solar sector witnessed a significant increase of 20.1 GW (27.9 per cent), from 72.02 GW in October 2023 to 92.12 GW in October 2024.
• The combined total solar capacity, including under-implementation and tendered projects, now stands at 250.57 GW, a significant increase from last year's 166.49 GW.
• The total capacity in the pipeline for wind power projects has now reached 72.35 GW.
• India added 12.6 GW of renewable energy capacity from April to October 2024.
• 1.72 GW was installed in October 2024 alone, reflecting an accelerated shift towards renewable energy.