Top News Highlights- 19 September 2024

U.S.-India Strategic Clean Energy Partnership (SCEP)

• Partnership in Renewable Energy: The SCEP ministerial meeting recently solidified cooperation under five broad pillars with a strong emphasis on renewable energy and emerging technologies.
• National Centre for Hydrogen Safety: It is a recently announced center that has to be established in the country focusing on safety via hydrogen energy, one of the cleanest sources of energy.
• Public-private Partnerships– In such a context, some of the examples include the Energy Storage Task Force and technical feasibility studies for Battery Energy Storage Systems to be conducted in Assam and Haryana, focusing on energy security and innovations.

Environmental Compensation under Battery Waste Management Rules 2022

• Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)-The guidelines of CPCB are operationalized through levying Environmental Compensation upon the manufacturers for failure to adhere to EPR targets while promoting responsible practices in battery waste management.

• EC Regimes: There are two regimes of EC imposition that seeks the compliance of practices of waste management which is a stern measure towards environmental sustainability.

Economic Disparities Among Indian States

• Regional Economic Performance: A working paper by EAC-PM said that there have been persisting economic disparities among states with southern and western states being better performers in terms of GDP contribution.
• Policy Initiatives: The Aspirational Districts Programme and increased resource flow from the Centre will help bridge the gap, and therefore will demonstrate the government’s vision of rapid balanced growth across regions.

CO2-to-Methanol Pilot Plant at Pune

• Carbon Utilization Innovation: The CO2-to-Methanol plant is a landmark in CCU technologies in the fight against greenhouse gas emissions.
• CCUS Technologies: Under this, the CCUS framework is more comprehensive and embraces technologies related to Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage which supports India’s climate goals in decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors.

India-Germany Platform for Renewable Energy Investments

• Global Renewable Initiatives: This platform was initiated at the RE-INVEST expo in the furtherance of international cooperation for increasing renewable energy capacities both in India and globally.
• Sustainable Development Goals: The scheme comes under SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) and SDG 13 (Climate Action), through which the world is toiling together for climate change.

Antitrust Actions Against E-Commerce Giants

• Regulatory Scrutiny: Investigations by the Competition Commission of India in the cases of Amazon and Flipkart demonstrate a fear regarding anti-competitive practices in e-commerce.
• Consumer Protection: E-commerce law amendments, along with the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules 2020, look to ensure fair competition as well as safeguard the consumer interest.

Key Concepts and Policies

• Strategic Clean Energy Partnership (SCEP): It is a bilateral initiative between the United States and India which focuses on supporting the mutual cooperation of both of them to enhance the cooperation in all possible spheres.
• Environmental Compensation (EC): Monetary sanctions applied as an enforcing measure to promote compliance with the environmental laws.
• Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). An environmental policy approach under which producers take major financial and/or physical responsibility for the treatment or disposal of post-consumer products.
• Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS). Technologies that capture CO2 emissions from sources, such as coal-fired power plants, and either reapply it or store it, preventing release of CO2 into atmosphere.