The Hindu Analysis

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The G-20 summit that was held in Delhi (September 9-10) agreed on tripling renewable energy capacity and a voluntary doubling of the rate of energy efficiency improvement by 2030.
However, this Delhi Declaration on the climate question did not find consensus on the most contentious issue, which is the root cause of the climate crisis — of the phasing out of fossil fuels.
Any energy transition initiative must embrace two normative ideals: first, internalising cost requires those who emit greenhouse gases to pay the social and environmental costs. Second, climate justice requires compensation for those who are harmed.
Often, those who contribute to climate change are not the ones who are affected by it.
The climate-induced problems and droughts have compounded the agrarian crisis and allied economic activities. Variations in rainfall, temperature and extreme climate events directly impact agricultural productivity, compounding farmers' income loss. Rising temperature in the ocean ecosystem has already begun squeezing fish stocks in parts of the country, hurting fishing communities.
While the relationship between inequality and carbon emissions is complex, it is clear that addressing both environmental and socio- economic inequalities simultaneously is essential for sustainable and equitable development.
Regions heavily reliant on coal production may lose revenues and livelihoods.

World Food Day (October 16)
On the nutrition front, India faces a double burden of malnutrition. At one end, despite making great progress over the years, a sizable proportion of Indians exhibit nutrient deficiencies. As in the National Family Health Survey, 2019-21, 35% of children are stunted, and 57% of women and 25%of men are anaemic. At the other end, due to imbalanced diets and sedentary lifestyles, 24% of adult women and 23% of adult men are now obese.
On the production side, farm incomes are insufficient to meet the ends of marginal and small farmers. According to a report by the Transforming Rural India Foundation, more than 68% of marginal farmers supplement their incomes with non-farm activities.
Further, depleting natural resources and changing climate are making India's food production highly vulnerable.
First, consumer demand needs to be shifted towards healthy and sustainable diets. We need to shift to a food plate that is healthier for people and the planet.
Second, to ensure resilient incomes, we must support farmers' transition towards remunerative and regenerative agricultural practices.
A critical approach to enhance rural (farm) incomes is to enable more value addition of agricultural produce in rural areas.

The Finance Commission decides not only on how much should be devoted from the Centre to the States, but also on distribution of these proceeds among the States.
One, the State's share in the total population; and two, the income distance ratio, that is, how far the State's per capita income is higher or lower than the national average.
The weightage given to the population in determining the share of States has come down from 27.5% in the 14th Finance Commission to 15% in the 15th Finance Commission.
Article 81 of the Constitution says that each State should have seats in proportion to the population and that constituencies should roughly have the same population.

Union Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra said here on Thursday that the Centre had taken adequate measures, including extension of restrictions on exports of sugar, wheat, and rice, to ensure that the prices of these essential items did not increase further and remained stable during the festival season.
On wheat, he said the Centre had decided to offload 50 lakh tonnes under the Open Market Sale Scheme (domestic) through e-auction.
FCI sells surplus stocks of wheat and rice at predetermined prices through e-auction in the open market from time to time to enhance the supply of food grains.
The purpose of OMSS is to dispose of surplus stocks of wheat and rice held by FCI, and to regulate the prices of wheat in the open market.

Chinese President Xi Jinping told Egypt's Prime Minister on Thursday that their countries should work together to bring "more stability" to West Asia, as the Israel-Hamas war casts a shadow over the region.
two-state solution