DIAS - GS

In Historic Kigali Agreement, India Agrees To 'Freeze' Use Of Air Conditioning Gas :

India on Saturday was among the 197 nations to sign a binding agreement in Rwanda's capital Kigali to phase out the use of hydrofluorocarbon or (HFC) gases, primarily found in air conditioners. The deal comes two weeks after India ratified the Paris agreement on climate change.

In the landmark step, the nations have struck a legally-binding deal after intense negotiations to phase down hydrofluorocarbons.

Unlike other heat trapping gases like carbon dioxide, HFC gases are considered to be more potent in their ability to trap heat and cause global climate change.

While India had all along said that it wanted to be a part of a global effort to combat climate change, it had also maintained that a switch over to alternate gases would be expensive.

Terming the deal as historic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the countries for coming together for contributing to a greener Earth and said it would provide a mechanism for countries like India to access and develop technologies that leave a low carbon footprint.

Indian officials led by Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave had conducted two rounds of meetings with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Kigali before signing of the agreement.

The agreement binds India to reduce the use of HFC gasses by 10 per cent by 2032, while developed countries have to start making reductions by 2019. In exchange to this, India has agreed to a 'freeze year' of 2028 by when its HFC use cannot grow any further.

It has however said that it will review the technology available in 2022 to determine if it can meet the 2028 deadline for a freeze year or push it by 2030.

"Agreement will lead to a reduction of 0.5 degree in global temp by the end of the century & enable us to achieve the goals set in Paris," PM Modi said.

Scientists have warned that unless drastic steps are taken to prevent temperature rise, the world will witness more intense weather phenomenon like hurricanes, rainfall and expected to have far reaching and irreversible changes across the planet.

India-Russia 17th Annual Summit held in Goa :

India and Russia will review strategies to boost bilateral trade and investment, while committing to improve ease of doing business, including liberalising travel regime, in their countries.

It was issued after the meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the ongoing summit of the BRICS group, comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

The year 2017 marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, a number of commemorative celebrations marking the important milestone is planned.India and Russia have finalised a general framework agreement for unit 5 and 6 of Kudankulam nuclear plant.

Russia had last month revealed that the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) in Tamil Nadu could, in the near future, be operating on the newer generation TVS-2M fuel assembly, which offers increased uranium capacity, improved heat reliability and enhanced operational safety.

The first two 1,000 MW units are operational at the Russian-built nuclear plant while four more are in the pipeline. Russia has offered India a new range of reactor units — the VVER-Toi (typical optimised, enhanced information) design — for the third and fourth units of the Kudankulam project.

The most strategically important decision is the inter-governmental agreement for the purchase of S-400 ‘Triumf’ long-range air defence missile system which has the capability to destroy incoming hostile aircraft, missiles and even drones at ranges of up to 400 km.

It is capable of firing three types of missiles, creating a layered defence, and simultaneously engaging 36 targets. If India signs the deal, it would be the second customer of the prized missile system after China which had struck a $3 billion contract last year.

India and Russia announced plans to set up a joint venture to build helicopters in India, which will also buy surface-to-air missile systems from its former Cold War ally, as the two tighten their military relationship.

The pacts were signed after summit talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India’s western resort state of Goa, where leaders from the BRICS group of emerging nations are meeting.

Indian military officials have the plan is for the joint venture to build at least 200 Kamov helicopters required by the country’s defence forces, and is part of Modi’s drive to build a defence industrial base in the south Asian nation.

India and Russia on October 15 signed 16 agreements across multiple sectors following delegation-level talks co-chairedd by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Goa.

Among the agreements signed were,
Procurement of the S-400 air defence system and construction of four Admiral Grigorovich-class (Project 11356) guided-missile stealth frigate in India.

Another agreement was signed to set up a joint venture to manufacture 200 Kamov 226T helicopters.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed for setting up an investment fund of $1 billion.

Agreements were also signed for developing smart cities in Andhra Pradesh and Haryana, and for developing transport logistics systems for such cities.

Another important agreement was signed for the joint study of a gas pipeline to India from Russia.