Published on Feb 23, 2018

IASbaba's Daily Current Affairs

IASbaba's Daily Current Affairs [Prelims + Mains Focus] - 23rd February 2018

IASbaba's Daily Current Affairs (Prelims + Mains Focus)- 23rd February 2018

(PRELIMS+MAINS FOCUS)

'Founding Conference' of International Solar Alliance

Part of: Mains GS Paper III- Energy Security

Key pointers:

As as many as 50 solar projects are expected to be committed at the ‘founding conference’ of the International Solar Alliance.
The conference will be held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi, where heads of States of most of the member countries of the alliance will meet for the first time ever.

About ISA:

The ISA was India’s idea, joined in by France, and was first announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) meeting held in Paris in December 2015.
The Alliance is to be a coalition of 121 countries whose territories lie between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn — the ‘sunshine countries’.
So far, 21 governments have ratified the Alliance and the others are expected to do so in the coming months.
ISA intends to reuse degraded land by putting up solar plants on them
The Alliance is also helping member-countries develop their own solar policies.

Article link: Click here

India's rank slips in corruption index

Part of: Mains GS Paper II- Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability

Key pointers:

Despite numerous measures taken by the government to clean the system, India’s ranking in the global Corruption Perceptions Index, released by Transparency International, slipped two places to the 81st rank in 2017.
The report also terms India as one of the “worst offenders” in the Asia-Pacific region in terms of corruption and press freedom.
In 2016, it was ranked 79 among 176 countries in the index. In 2017, India’s ranking stood at 81 with a score of 40 among 180 countries.
This year, New Zealand and Denmark were ranked least corrupt with scores of 89 and 88, respectively.

About the index:

The index, which ranks countries and regions on their perceived levels of public sector corruption, uses a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean.

Article link: Click here

(MAINS FOCUS)

NATIONAL

TOPIC:

General Studies 2:

Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

General Studies 3:

Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment
Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life
Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology

Adopting Electric vehicle(EVs): Challenges & Way ahead

Background:

Acknowledging the challenge of rising vehicular pollution in Indian cities, Piyush Goyal, then Union Minister for Power, said that from 2030, India would completely shift to using electric vehicles (EVs). The push for electric mobility was backed by the government think-tank, NITI Aayog, which has estimated that the nation can save up to Rs. 4 lakh crore by rapidly adopting EVs.

Benefits:

While transitioning from an internal combustion engine (ICE)-based regime to an EV-based one is challenging, the long-term benefits could outweigh the hardships significantly in the wake of India’s ambitious renewable energy plans.

Jobs and the economic impact- India is the world’s fourth largest fifth auto market, where over 25 million motor vehicles are produced. The sector is estimated to provide direct and indirect employment to about three crore people and accounts for 7.1% of the nation’s GDP. The industry is estimated to grow to $300 billion in annual revenue by 2026, creating 65 million additional jobs, and contributing over 12% to the GDP.
In October 2017, the Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health, attributed to air pollution an estimated 6.5 million premature deaths globally, with 1.1 million being from India. The database also placed 10 Indian cities in the 20-worst list. EVs will help check this vehicular pollution.

Addressing fundamental issues:

Ensuring coordination among stakeholders: EVs, unlike ICE vehicles, involve several actors at the national, State and city levels, respectively. In the first, it needs multiple ministries such as Road Transport and Highways, Housing and Urban Affairs, Heavy Industries, Power, New and Renewable Energy, External Affairs as well as national institutes such as NITI Aayog. State and city-level players need to be involved so as to address several technical and infrastructural needs. Coordination between all three is crucial in driving the EV agenda.

Figuring out the best mode forward:

China has focussed on the use of electric buses as a catalyst for EV penetration. It is the largest electric bus manufacturer in the world, with most in use in the country. In 2016 alone, about 80,000 electric buses were added to China’s roads.
The Netherlands, on the other hand, has captured the EV market using a simple yet well-crafted strategy of creating charging infrastructure and encouraging investment in charging technology by providing incentives to EV buyers. Today, it has the densest charging infrastructure in the world and is a major exporter of this technology.

These two case studies show that sustained growth is possible only due to positive economic impacts of EVs.

Solving the battery challenge:

The assumption that anyone who controls the battery will control electric mobility is true in the current scenario. India does not produce lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries currently, and companies making battery packs are dependent almost exclusively on imports from China. This is a cost-saving strategy as setting up a cell manufacturing unit in India would be expensive.

Solution:

Accelerating EV use in India should be linked to the “Make in India” goal and domestic battery production. Investment is required for research and development in battery-making and exploring alternative technologies.

Charging infrastructure:

EV charging is more than just using electricity. It involves exchange of information requiring a communication protocol. There is no unique or single-charging technology for EVs. The three major EV users, China, Japan and the European Union, have their own charging technologies which are often conflicting and not interchangeable. The absence of a standard global infrastructure is a major deterrent for EV penetration in India, as creating infrastructure can be cost-intensive.

Solution:

For this, the government needs to select or develop appropriate charging technology that avoids multiplicity and reduces the cost of infrastructure, while making it convenient and safe for users.

Conclusion:

EVs have the potential to disrupt the mobility ecosystem, and, if implemented well, could have a positive impact on the economy as well as the urban environment. India, however, needs a road map, with timelines, processes, well-researched impact studies, bold initiatives and robust investments in technological research to turn its EV dream into reality.

Connecting the dots:

While adopting Electric Vehicle(EVs), India is surely to face multiple challenges. What are these challenges and what is the way out?

NATIONAL

TOPIC:

General Studies 1:

Poverty and developmental issues, urbanization, their problems and their remedies

General Studies 2:

Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

General Studies 3:

Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment

Generating energy and wealth from waste: The "GOBAR-Dhan" Initiative

Introduction:

In the latest budget, the finance minister announced the launch of “GOBAR-Dhan” (Galvanising Organic Bio-Agro Resources-Dhan).

About the GOBAR-Dhan initiative:

The initiative is expected to pilot similar opportunities to convert cattle dung and other organic waste to compost, biogas and even larger scale bio-CNG units. This programme, expected to be launched in April, aims at the collection and aggregation of cattle dung and solid waste across clusters of villages for sale to entrepreneurs to produce organic manure, biogas/bio-CNG. The initiative has two objectives: To make villages clean and generate wealth and energy from cattle and other waste.

Making villages clean: The 19th Livestock Census (2012) estimates India’s cattle population at 300 million, putting the production of dung at about 3 million tonnes per day.
Generating energy: Some European countries and China use animal dung and other organic waste to generate energy. But India has yet to tap the full economic potential of such waste.

With the largest cattle population in the world, rural India has the potential to leverage huge quantities of gobar into wealth and energy.

Swachh Bharat and the GOBAR-Dhan initiative:

While the core mission of Swachh Bharat is to make India open defecation free (ODF), it also aims to make the country clean, both its urban and rural areas. Good progress has been made on the ODF front through massive behaviour change mobilisation, with rural sanitation coverage increasing from 39 per cent in October 2014 to over 78 per cent today, and about 3,20,000 villages becoming ODF. Usage of toilets has also been found through third party surveys to be over 90 per cent. A major thrust is now underway to promote general cleanliness and effective solid and liquid waste management in rural India. The challenge is adding value to the utilisation of gobar and incentivising farmers to think of their cattle waste as a source of income and, in the process, also keep their communities swachh. Cattle dung, kitchen waste and agricultural waste can be tapped to create biogas-based energy.

Benefits:

According to a 2014 ILO study, the productive use of dung could support 1.5 million jobs nationally.
For the farmer, there is a significant potential of greater income from the sale of cow dung.
The study also reports that the value of one kg of cow dung multiplies over 10 times, depending on whether the end product is fresh dung (sale price of Rs 0.13) or as input for a one megawatt biogas plant along with compost output (Rs 1.6).

Challenge:

One of the challenges for operating biogas plants, and even related higher value chain operations like bio-CNG plants, is the aggregation of cattle waste and maintaining a regular supply to plant operators.

Case Studies:

The Lambra Kangri Multipurpose Cooperative Service Society in Hoshiarpur, Punjab, generates energy from waste by aggregating cattle dung and other organic waste to run the biogas plant and providing metered cooking gas to members.
The Gram Vikas Trust started the Gobar Bank initiative in Surat, Gujarat, where members bring fresh cow dung to the community biogas plant. The dung is weighed and accounted for in their passbooks. In return, they get cheap cooking gas as well as bio-slurry, the residue from the biogas plant, which is used for vermicomposting and organic farming.

What needs to be done?

Generating wealth from waste in rural areas will require the involvement of all actors and sectors.

Investments from the private sector and local entrepreneurs will be needed.
Panchayats and village communities will have to play key roles to leverage the animal and organic waste that goes into water bodies, dumping sites and landfills.
Informal sanitation service providers can be integrated into the system by training and licencing them.

Conclusion:

With appropriate policies and practices, the waste to energy generation in rural areas can be scaled up into opportunities for growth, leading to increased incomes, long-term livelihoods and, of course, more Swachh villages. The GOBAR-Dhan initiative is thus a step in right direction.

Connecting the dots:

Discuss the objectives of the GOBAR-Dhan initiative. Also suggests what needs to be done to ensure effective implementation of the scheme.