Indian government has set ambitious goals for the semiconductor industry but it has several challenges which needs to be addressed

• India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) is a specialized and independent Business Division within the Digital India Corporation.
• It aims to build a vibrant semiconductor and display ecosystem to enable India’s emergence as a global hub for electronics manufacturing and design.
• The Secretary of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology acts as the chairman for ISM committee.
• It operates under the guidance of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and other relevant government bodies.
• The advantage of semiconductors having a small freight-to-price ratio and a zero-custom duty regime under the Information Technology Agreement, 1996.
• Benefits - The India Semiconductor Mission focuses on:
  • Integrated Circuit (IC) design and manufacturing
  • Semiconductor packaging and assembly
  • Testing and validation of semiconductor devices
  • Skill development and human resource capacity building
• Challenges
  • High cost of setting up a semiconductor fabrication plant.
  • Lack of a strong ecosystem for chip manufacturing in India.
  • Lack of qualified engineers and technicians, and the supply chain for semiconductors ecosystem.
  • Competition in International market.

Semicon India Programme

• It is a conference organised by the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM).
• It aims to provide attractive incentive support to companies/consortia that are engaged in Semiconductor sector.
• The program will give an impetus by facilitating capital support and technological collaborations.

A recent report by International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) reveals that Himalayan glaciers could lose 80% of their volume if global warming isn’t controlled

• ICIMOD is an intergovernmental knowledge and learning centre
• It develops and shares research, information, and innovations to empower people in the eight regional member countries of the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH).
• It is based at Kathmandu, Nepal.
• Ice and snow in the Hindu Kush Himalayan ranges is an important source of water for the rivers, which flow through 16 countries in Asia.
• Ice and snow in the Hindu Kush Himalayan ranges provide fresh water to 240 million people in the mountains and another 1.65 billion downstream.
• Various earlier reports have found that the cryosphere, regions on Earth covered by snow and ice are among the worst affected by climate change.
• Himalayan glaciers disappeared 65% faster since 2010 than in the previous decade and reducing snow cover due to global warming will result in reduced fresh water for people living downstream.
• 200 glacier lakes across Hindu Kush Himalayan are deemed dangerous, and the region could see a significant spike in glacial lake outburst floods by the end of the century.

Submersibles Vs Submarine

Recently tourist who went to visit titanic wreckage in Titan submersible vessel went missing.

• Titan is a submersible capable of taking 5 people up to a depth of 4000 meters or more than 13,100 feet.
• Submersibles are small, limited range watercrafts designed for a set mission, that are built with characteristics that allow them to operate in a specific environment.
• These vessels are typically able to be fully submerged into water and cruise using their own power supply and air renewal system.
• A submersible, unlike a submarine, doesn’t have enough power to launch itself into the ocean and return on its own.
• Instead, it relies on a support ship to launch it and recover it.
• Submersibles always operate in conjunction with a mother ship.
• Also, submersible doesn’t have large propulsion systems and ballast systems like Submarine.
• Unlike submarines, submersibles also have a viewport and external cameras to view the outside space surrounding the vessel.
• The uses of Submersible include
  • Deep sea testing of hardware and software,
  • Site survey and inspection,
  • Research and data collection and
  • Film and media production.

Global Stocktake

In the recently conducted Bonn climate conference the decisions on Global Stocktake was finally taken

• The Global Stocktake is a periodic review of progress on climate action.
• It is a Party-driven process conducted in a transparent manner and with the participation of non-Party stakeholders.
• It enables countries and other stakeholders to see where they’re collectively making progress toward meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement.
• It also decides ways and means to enhance global action to bridge the adequacy gap.
• As a mandate of Paris Agreement, it must be conducted every five years starting from 2023.
• Mitigation Work Programme (MWP) is a part of Global Stocktake which was set up at COP26 in Glasgow in 2021.
• Annexure I of the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) include group of about 40 rich and industrialised countries which are hugely responsible for climate change.
• According to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change global emissions have to come down by 43% from 2019 levels by 2030 to keep alive hopes of meeting the 1.50 target.
• The loss and damage need of developing countries are assessed to be about USD 400 billion every year.
• Developing countries need as much as USD 6 trillion before 2030 just to implement their climate action plans.

C+1 Strategy

India must use the C+1 Strategy to restore its trade imbalance with china

• C+1 Strategy also known as China Plus One or just Plus One is a Strategy followed by companies to avoid investing only in China and diversify business into other countries.
• For the past few decades western countries investing heavily in China have led to overconcentration of their business interests in China.
• The driving factors C+1 Strategy includes China's cost advantage diminishing in recent years to growing geopolitical distrust between China and the West.
• China’s continuing Zero-Covid Policy led to industrial and supply chain disruption.
• Recently a grouping of 18 economies, including India, the US and the European Union, unveiled a roadmap for establishing collective supply chains that would be resilient in the long term.
• China has emerged as India’s top source of imports and the share of China in India’s total merchandise imports has steadily increased.
• While India has signed many Free Trade Agreements with different countries there has been no noticeable decline in China’s market share in India’s total imports.