Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CDRI-Coalition For Disaster Resilient Infrastructure.
Mains level: Bilateral, regional and global groupings involving India and/or affecting India's interests.
Context:
Some of the most pressing issues and developmental challenges facing nations in contemporary times have a scientific and technological dimension. Science and Technology (S&T)-led innovation offers an opportunity to address these multifaceted challenges, which are now global in nature.
Role of S&T in national and international obligations:
- S&T today has a national obligation.
- For a diverse country such as India, S&T is expected to empower the common citizen, making his/her life easier and also being inclusive, which is a national obligation.
- It has to also meet the international obligation of a responsible country.
- Importance of S&T innovation in achieving the 2030 Agenda for UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)- points towards new opportunities for cross border collaboration.
- Science diplomacy, thus, is a crucial policy dimension.
- India has launched several global initiatives.
Global Innovation and Technology Alliance (GITA):
- It was launched by India a few years ago.
- GITA has provided an enabling platform for frontline techno-economic alliances.
- It is an industry-led collaboration, with the government as an equal partner.
- It is aimed at supporting the last phase of technology-based high-end, affordable product development — which can connect to both global and domestic markets.
- Under GITA, enterprises from India are tying up with their counterparts from partner countries.
- Partnering countries include Canada, Finland, Italy, Sweden, Spain, and the UK.
International Solar Alliance (ISA):
- It has more than 79 sunshine countries as signatories and nearly 121 prospective countries as partners.
- The vision and mission of the ISA are to provide a dedicated platform for cooperation among solar resource-rich countries.
- ISA can make a contribution to increasing the use of solar energy in meeting the energy needs of member countries in a safe, affordable, equitable and sustainable manner.
Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI):
- It was recently announced at the UN Climate Action Summit in New York.
- CDRI is an international partnership piloted by India in consultation with 35 countries.
- CDRI will support developed and developing nations in their efforts to build climate and disaster-resilient infrastructure.
- It will provide member countries with technical support and capacity development, research and knowledge management, and advocacy and partnerships.
- It is aimed at risk identification and assessment, urban risk and planning, and disaster risk management.
- In the next two-three years, the coalition aims to have three types of impact.
- First-impact on country’s policy framework, second-on infrastructure investments, third-reduction in economic losses from climate-related events and natural disasters.
- Through this coalition, we can mitigate the fallouts of earthquakes, tsunami, floods.
Conclusion:
- No nation alone has the capacity, infrastructure, and human resources to address the massive challenges that the earth and mankind face, threatening our very existence. It is inevitable, therefore, that science, technology, and innovation should increasingly become an intrinsic diplomatic tool for India.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Read the attached story
Mains level: Abrogation of Art. 370 and its aftermath
The Govt. in J&K has cancelled two existing public holidays and introduced a new one. This is seen by some as a move against their own assertion of their religious identity.
The three holidays
- The government order has cancelled public holidays on December 5 and July 13.
- December 5 is commemorated as the birth anniversary of Sheikh Mohd Abdullah, National Conference founder, former J&K Prime Minister, and former Chief Minister.
- July 13 is observed as Martyrs’ Day in Jammu and Kashmir. On that date in 1931, 22 Kashmiris were killed outside the Srinagar Central Jail, where they had assembled to protest against autocratic Dogra rulers.
- The new holiday is on October 26, the date in 1947 when the former state of Jammu and Kashmir acceded to the Dominion of India.
- A day later, Indian troops reached Srinagar to drive out tribal raiders. October 27 is observed as a Black Day in Kashmir, marked with a shutdown.
History & significance
- In 1846, under the Treaty of Amritsar, the British sold J&K state to the Dogra king Maharaja Gulab Singh.
- The Dogras hailed from Jammu and their rule lasted for over a century.
- In 1931, Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir rose against the autocracy of Dogra rule.
- The uprising, which led to the killing of 22 Muslims, is seen as the first assertion of Muslim identity in Jammu and Kashmir.
Implications of the move
- The move is seen as a departure from the politics of Jammu and Kashmir since 1939.
- Many people see this as an effort to erase the role of Sheikh Abdullah, and J&K’s Muslim assertion.
- They see it also as a refusal to recognise Kashmir’s popular Muslim leaders who sided with India in 1947, and leaders who continue to identify with India.
- It also raises a question mark over the revival of a political process in Jammu and Kashmir.
- The move comes when normalcy is yet to return even five months after the abrogation.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: National Infrastructure Pipeline
Mains level: $5 trillion economy: Prospects and Challenges
Union Finance Minister has unveiled Rs 102 lakh crore of infrastructure projects, under National Infrastructure Pipeline. It will be implemented in the next five years as part of the government’s spending push in the infrastructure sector.
What is the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP)?
- NIP includes economic and social infrastructure projects.
- During the fiscals 2020 to 2025, sectors such as Energy (24%), Roads (19%), Urban (16%), and Railways (13%) amount to around 70% of the projected capital expenditure in infrastructure in India.
- It has outlined plans to invest more than ₹102 lakh crore on infrastructure projects by 2024-25, with the Centre, States and the private sector to share the capital expenditure in a 39:39:22 formula.
Key benefits of NIP
- Economic: Well-planned NIP will enable more infra projects, grow businesses, create jobs, improve ease of living, and provide equitable access to infrastructure for all, making growth more inclusive.
- Government: Well-developed infrastructure enhances the level of economic activity, creates additional fiscal space by improving the revenue base of the government, and ensures the quality of expenditure focused in productive areas.
- Developers: Provides a better view of project supply, provides time to be better prepared for project bidding, reduces aggressive bids/ failure in project delivery, ensures enhanced access to sources of finance as a result of increased investor confidence.
- Banks/financial institutions (F1s)/investors: Builds investor confidence as identified projects are likely to be better prepared, exposures less likely to suffer stress given active project monitoring, thereby less likelihood of NPAs.
Is NIP a road to $5 trillion economy?
- Finance minister said that the Rs 102 lakh crore National Infrastructure Projects will help make India a $5 trillion economy by 2025.
- These projects are on top of Rs 51 lakh crore spent by the Centre and the states during the last six years.
- The new pipeline consists of 39 per cent projects each by the Centre and states and the balance by 22 per cent by private sector.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Registration of political parties, PPRTMS
Mains level: Not Much
In order to enable applicants to track the status of the application, the Election Commission of India has launched a “Political Parties Registration Tracking Management System (PPRTMS)”.
About PPRTMS
- The salient feature in the PPRTMS is that the applicant, who is applying for party registration from 1st January, 2020 will be able to track the progress of his/her application and will get status update through SMS and e-mail.
- The status can be tracked through the Commission’s portal at link https://pprtms.eci.gov.in/.
Back2Basics
Registration of political parties
- Registration of political parties is governed by the provisions of Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
- An association seeking registration under the said Section has to submit an application to the ECI within a period of 30 days following the date of its formation.
- These guidelines are in exercise by ECI of the powers conferred by Article 324 of the Constitution of India and Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Millimeter Spectrum
Mains level: Rolling out of 5G services in India
The DoT plans to auction the 24.75 – 27.25 gigahertz (GHz) spectrum in the 5G band in March-April 2020.
Millimeter Spectrum
- The new spectrum under the 5G band called the ‘millimeter-wave bands’ is separate from the 8,300 megahertz (MHz).
- The millimeter-wave band or extremely high-frequency frequency spectrum is mainly designed for usage in airport security scanners, closed-circuit television, scientific research, machine-to-machine communication, and military fire control.
What’s so special with this MM spectrum?
- As the wavelength becomes smaller, the cell size becomes less, which is the footprint of the relay station. This will be used more by the industry.
- If we you already have fiber connection and want to reach houses, this will be through millimeter bands.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Senna spectabilis
Mains level: Impacts of the invasive alien species
The Kerala Forest Department is planning to adopt steps to arrest the rampant growth of invasive plants, especially Senna spectabilis, in the forest areas of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve (NBR).
Senna spectabilis
- The Senna spectabilis species was planted as avenue trees in Wayanad. The vayal ecosystem (marshy land) of the forest area now has this plant in large numbers.
- The spread is posing a major threat to the forest areas of the reserve, owing to its quick growth and coppicing character.
- The tree species was found in nearly 10 sq km area of the 344.44 sq km sanctuary around five years ago.
- The plant has started to invade the adjacent Bandipur and Nagarhole tiger reserves in Karnataka and the Mudumalai tiger reserve in Tamil Nadu.
- Now, it had invaded to more than 50 sq km of the sanctuary Wayanad WLS.
- A recent study of the Ferns Nature Conservation Society recorded the presence of the plant in 78.91 sq km area of the sanctuary.
Impact
- An adult tree grows up to 15 to 20 metres in a short period of time and every year distributes thousands of seeds after gregarious flowering.
- The thick foliage arrests the growth of other indigenous tree and grass species and causes food shortage for the wildlife population, especially herbivores.
- Moreover, wildlife will not feed on the leaf of the treeas it is not palatable for them.
- The allelochemicals produced by this plant adversely affect the germination and growth of the native species.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Greem Hydrogen
Mains level: Read the attached story
The govt is planning a $2 billion incentive program for the green hydrogen industry, in a bid to cut emissions and become a major export player in the field.
What is Green Hydrogen?
- Green hydrogen is hydrogen gas produced through the electrolysis of water.
- It is an energy-intensive process for splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen— using renewable power to achieve this.
- The current cost of green hydrogen in India is ₹300 to ₹400 per kg.
Hydrogen Energy: A Backgrounder
- Hydrogen is an important source of energy since it has zero carbon content and is a non-polluting source of energy in contrast to hydrocarbons that have net carbon content in the range of 75–85 per cent.
- Hydrogen energy is expected to reduce carbon emissions that are set to jump by 1.5 billion tons in 2021.
- It has the highest energy content by weight and lowest energy content by volume.
- As per International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Hydrogen shall make up 6 per cent of total energy consumption by 2050.
- Hydrogen energy is currently at a nascent stage of development, but has considerable potential for aiding the process of energy transition from hydrocarbons to renewable.
Why hydrogen?
- Better properties: At standard temperature and pressure, hydrogen is a nontoxic, nonmetallic, odourless, tasteless, colourless, and highly combustible diatomic gas.
- Clean fuel: Hydrogen fuel is a zero-emission fuel when burned with oxygen. It can be used in fuel cells or internal combustion engines. It is also used as a fuel for spacecraft propulsion.
- Ample sources: Hydrogen can be sourced from natural gas, nuclear power, biomass, and renewable power like solar and wind.
- Phasing out carbon: India remains committed to environmental and climate causes with a massive thrust on deploying renewable energy and energy efficiency measures.
- Diversification of our energy basket: This would be the key lever enabling this transition. That’s why the emergence of hydrogen at the centre stage is a welcome development.
How Hydrogen can be produced?
Commercially viable Hydrogen can be produced from –
- Hydrocarbons including natural gas, oil and coal through processes like steam methane reforming, partial oxidation and coal gasification
- Renewables like water, sunlight and wind through electrolysis and photolysis and other thermo-chemical processes.
How is Green Hydrogen produced?
- For source material, green hydrogen today is typically generated from water through a process known as electrolysis, which uses an electric current to split water into its component molecules of hydrogen and oxygen.
- This is done using a device called an electrolyzer, which utilizes a cathode and an anode (positively and negatively charged electrodes).
- This process produces only oxygen – or steam – as a byproduct.
- As for energy supply, to qualify as “green hydrogen,” the source of electricity used for electrolysis must derive from renewable power, such as wind or solar energy.
- Currently the production of green hydrogen is two or three times more expensive than blue hydrogen.
How can green hydrogen be used?
Hydrogen can be used in broadly two ways. It can be burnt to produce heat or fed into a fuel cell to make electricity.
- Fuel-cell Mobility: Hydrogen electric cars and trucks
- Container ships powered by liquid ammonia made from hydrogen
- “Green steel” refineries burning hydrogen as a heat source rather than coal
- Hydrogen-powered electricity turbines that can generate electricity at times of peak demand to help firm the electricity grid
Challenges in producing Green Hydrogen
India’s transition towards a green hydrogen economy (GHE) can only happen once certain key issues are addressed.
- Supply-Chain Issues: GHE hinges upon the creation of a supply chain, starting from the manufacture of electrolysers to the production of green hydrogen, using electricity from a renewable energy source.
- Technology: Green hydrogen needs electrolysers to be built on a scale larger than we’ve yet seen.
- Storage: Either very high pressures or very high temperatures are required, both with their own technical difficulties.
- Explosion Hazard: It is hazardous because of its low ignition energy and high combustion energy.
- Risk to use: Automotive fuels are highly inflammable, but a vehicle laden with hydrogen is likely to be more vulnerable in case of a major accident.
- High Cost of Production: To become competitive, the price per kilogram of green hydrogen has to reduce to a benchmark of $2/kg. At these prices, green hydrogen can compete with natural gas.
- Energy intensivity: Creating green hydrogen needs a huge amount of electricity, which means an enormous increase in the amount of wind and solar power to meet global targets.
- Lack of proper infrastructure, only 500 Hydrogen stations exist globally. Only countable manufacturers are involved as market players in this technology.
- Others: Low user acceptance and social awareness. Developing after-sales service for hydrogen technology.
Policy and Economic Challenges
- Economic sustainability: One of the biggest challenges faced by the industry for using hydrogen commercially is the economic sustainability of extracting green or blue hydrogen.
- Technological challenges: The technology used in production and use of hydrogen like Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and hydrogen fuel cell technology are at nascent stage.
- Cost Factor: These technologies are expensive which in turn increases the cost of production of hydrogen and will require a lot of investment which in turn add fiscal pressure on government.
- Higher Maintenance costs: Maintenance costs for fuel cells post-completion of a plant can be costly.
- Need for legal and administrative adherence: Certification mechanisms, recommendations, and regulations for different components of the system.
Way forward
- Hydrogen energy is at a nascent stage of development but has significant potential for realizing the energy transition in India.
- The new policy is a futuristic vision that can help the country not only cut down its carbon emissions but also diversify its energy basket and reduce external reliance.
- India’s transition can be a testament to the world on the achievement of energy security, without compromising the goal of sustainable development.
- The GoI must strongly pursue the objective of creating a GHE to make India a global manufacturing hub and place itself at the top of the green hydrogen export market.
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