Privatisation of Electricity Production

Government is encouraging development of power sector through combined efforts of public and private sector. The Electricity Act, 2003 promotes competition and creates a conducive environment for investment in all segments of the electricity industry, both for public and private sector.  Out of the total installed generation capacity of 243030 MW as on 31.3.2014, 82715 MW is in the private sector. This was stated by Sh. Piyush Goyal, Minister of state for Power, Coal & New and Renewable Energy (Independent Charge) in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.             The Minister further stated that to meet the increasing demand of electricity and to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, Government is laying emphasis on the development of hydel, nuclear, solar and wind energy for power generation. However, for meeting the total demand for power in the country electricity generation is encouraged from all sources such as hydel, nuclear, solar and wind energy as well as coal based stations (including imported coal based at coastal locations).  The share of power generation from various sources as on 31.3.2014 is as follows: i.        Thermal                                               :                       69.23% ii.      Hydel (Renewables)                           :                       16.68% iii.    Other Renewables Energy Sources     :                       12.12% iv.    Nuclear                                                :                         1.97%

introduction of Bio-Compressed Natural Gas

All the 12 projects on production of Bio-Compressed Natural Gas (Bio-CNG) from biogas set up under the Programmes of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy are operational. This was stated by Sh. Piyush Goyal, Minister of state for Power, Coal & New and Renewable Energy (Independent Charge) in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today The total production of Bio-CNG from the 12 projects set up so far is estimated to be about 17,200 kg/day. The Minister pointed out that these projects are setup in the States of Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab and Rajasthan. Setting up of Biogas Plants The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is promoting setting up of Biogas plants in all the States and Union Territories of the country. This was stated by Sh. Piyush Goyal, Minister of state for Power, Coal & New and Renewable Energy (Independent Charge) in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today. He said biogas plants are being promoted under three Central Sector Schemes namely; i. National Biogas and Manure Management Programme, for setting up of family type biogas plants. ii. Biogas Power Generation Programme, for setting up of biogas plants for generation of electricity in the capacity range of 3KW to 250 KW, and iii. Programme on Energy Recovery from urban, industrial and agricultural wastes for setting up of large size biogas plants for production of biogas or bio-CNG or for generation of power. However , the Minister informed that the Government has no proposal to set up any Bio-fuel plant. He further added that over 4.75 million family type biogas plants and about 350 large plants for power generation based on cattle dung and other wastes and residues installed in the country are estimated to be generating over 51 lakh cubic meter biogas per day. Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission The Government has launched a scheme under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission to encourage installation of Solar Water Heaters. This was stated by Sh. Piyush Goyal, Minister of state for Power, Coal & New and Renewable Energy (Independent Charge) in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today. The Targets set under the scheme are in Phase Manner (Phase - I, II, III), and the details are given below: Phase Period Cumulative Target (m2) Phase – I 2010-13 7 Million Phase – II 2013-17 15 Million Phase – III 2017-22 20 Million Phase – I of the Mission has been completed and achievements made by end of Phase – I are 7.001 Million M2  . The Minister further said that the tariff of solar power as fixed by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) is Rs. 7.72 per KWh for PV based power plants and Rs. 11.88 per KWh for solar thermal based power plants.

MALABAR – 2014

Exercise Malabar is a complex, high-end operational exercise that has grown in scope and complexity over the years. Malabar 2014 is the latest in a continuing series of exercises conducted to enhance multinational maritime relationships and mutual security issues. The exercise will feature both ashore and at-sea training. Whilst ashore at Port Sasebo, Japan from 24 to 26 Jul, the interactions will include subject matter expert and professional exchanges on Carrier Strike Group operations, maritime patrol and reconnaissance operations, anti piracy operations and Visit, Board, Search and Seizure (VBSS) operations. Three ships of Indian Navy viz. INS Ranvijay (guided missile destroyer), INS Shivalik (stealth frigate) and INS Shakti (fleet tanker) have already entered Port Sasebo, Japan on 23 Jul 14 for participating in the exercise. The sea phase of the exercise is scheduled from 27 to 30 Jul 14 and will be conducted in the Western Pacific Ocean. Exercises planned during this phase include search and rescue exercises, helicopter cross-deck landings, underway replenishments, gunnery and anti-submarine warfare exercises, Visit, Board, Search and Seize operations (VBSS) and Liaison officer exchange and embarkation. Designed to enhance maritime cooperation among the navies of the participating nations, these exercises further hone individual capacity to conduct operations in a multi-national environment. The Indian, Japanese and U.S. navies have a common understanding and knowledge of a shared working environment at sea. This exercise would further help advance the level of understanding among the navies. Two destroyers along with a P3C Orion and a sea-plane (US-2) are participating from the Japanese Navy. From the US Navy one submarine (SSN), two destroyers, one tanker along with one MR aircraft would be participating. One US Carrier Strike group (CSG) is likely to join for the sea phase of the exercise.

Space Projects Initiated/Pending Completion

The space projects initiated by Department of Space (DOS) in the last three years include – development of three communication satellites viz. GSAT-14, GSAT-15 and GSAT-16; two remote sensing satellites viz. Resourcesat-2A and Cartosat-2E and India’s first interplanetary mission to Mars namely Mars Orbiter Mission. Out of these projects, launch of GSAT-14 and Mars Orbiter Mission have been completed. The projects in progress and pending completion include GSAT-15, GSAT-16, Resourcesat-2A and Cartosat-2E. The details of amount allocated, disbursed and utilized for these projects project-wise are given below:                                                                                                        [` in Crore] Sl No Project Amount Allocated Amount Disbursed (including BE 2014-15) Actuals till 31.3.2014 1 GSAT-14 45.00 42.49 41.19 2 GSAT-15 (including launch services) 859.50 515.42 246.37 3 GSAT-16 (including launch services) 865.50 839.87 296.87 4 Resourcesat-2A 200.00 70.43 20.43 5 Cartosat-2E 160.00 25.00 0.00 6 Mars Orbiter Mission 450.00 420.90 349.90 The details of total amount for space programme left unutilized in the last three years and the amount returned for Department of Space are given below:                                                                                                                              [` in Crore] Financial Year Budget Estimates Amount Returned (Surrendered) Amount left unutilized 2011-12 6626.00 2194.00 647.77 2012-13 6715.00 1835.00 23.75 2013-14 6792.00 1620.00 3.05 New projects initiated in the last two years are development of two communication satellites viz. GSAT-15 and GSAT-16; two remote sensing satellites viz. Resourcesat-2A and Cartosat-2E and India’s first interplanetary mission to Mars namely Mars Orbiter Mission. Problem of Waste Deposits in Space India has done studies related to waste deposits in space referred as Space Debris and successfully developed methodologies and software tools. ISRO performs Space Object Proximity Analysis for its operational Low Orbit spacecrafts on a regular basis to assess the collision risk and determine risk mitigation strategies in advance. Collision Avoidance analysis is also carried out to identify the safe lift-off time for launching of satellites from Sriharikota. The growing space debris poses threat to present and future space activities, globally, in terms of collision risk. ISRO has taken mitigation measures like passivation of spent upper stage of launch vehicles and de-orbiting of non-functional satellites to avoid creation of space debris. ISRO has also undertaken collaborative studies with other space agencies to control and restrict this outer space contamination. India is a active member of Inter Agency Space Debris Co-ordination Committee (IADC) and played a key role in evolving space debris mitigation guidelines formulated by IADC and United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS).

Preparation of Nuclear and Radiation Safety Policy

The mission of AERB is to ensure that the use of ionizing radiation and nuclear energy in India does not cause unacceptable impact on the health of workers and the members of the public and on the environment. The safety policies concerning the activities that are regulated by AERB are enshrined in the high level documents of AERB, namely the Radiation Protection Rules-2004, the AERB mission statement and the ‘Safety Codes & Guides’ of AERB. AERB has been developing Safety documents (codes & guides) over the years and their number currently stands at 144. No need was felt for a separate ‘Safety Policy’ document, as these are well defined in the existing documents. As mentioned before, AERB has already published 144 regulatory documents concerning different aspects of regulation as well as safety aspects covering siting, design, construction, commissioning, operation and decommissioning of the different types of nuclear power plants of the facilities it regulates. AERB’s approach with respect to identifying and prioritising for preparation of specific regulatory documents is a dynamic and ongoing process and takes into account a number of factors such as urgency of the need for guidance, coverage of the intent of a particular document by one or more other documents, new developments etc. With developments and/or availability of new experience, there is a possibility that documents identified at one point of time might not be found necessary to be pursued later for publication. In a few cases, separate documents as identified at one point of time could be combined within the scope of a one or more documents identified later. Similarly new documents may also be identified based on the reviews for effective regulation of safety. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) did highlight the issue of development of safety policy document and the issue of some of the regulatory documents identified in the safety guide AERB/SG/G-6 (2001) being still under development. The following actions were taken: i. Detailed responses to explain the position of AERB and the status/ progress of development of the documents were submitted to CAG and Public Accounts Committee (PAC). ii AERB has agreed to the suggestion of Comptroller and Auditor General of India, to the extent of consolidating the existing policy objectives and higher level principles as brought out in various codes and other documents into a separate `Safety Policy` document. iii. Among the twenty seven documents referred in the question, AERB has already published three documents. After detailed review of the scope and the contents of seven documents, it was decided that they need not be brought out separately. Remaining seventeen documents have been incorporated in the document development plan of AERB in accordance with their assigned priorities.  Rare Earths in Kollam                         The mineral monazite, occurring in beach sand and inland placer deposits along the coastal tracts of India, is the major resource of rare earths in the country.  Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD), a constituent unit of Department of Atomic Energy, has estimated 0.892 million tonnes of monazite resources in Kollam district, Kerala. The details are given below:  Area In situ Resources of Monazite (Million Tonnes) Chavara 0.819 Kannimelsery-Neendakara 0.023 Edava-Kollam 0.050 Total 0.892                         The beach sand minerals found in the Kollam district of Kerala contain, at different locations, monazite content ranging from   0.058 % to 0.734 %.  The mineral monazite, typically contains about 55 – 60% total Rare Earth Oxides and about 9 – 10% Thorium Oxide.                            Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL), a Public Sector Undertaking under DAE, has set up a Monazite Processing Plant at Orissa Sands Complex (OSCOM), Odisha to process 10,000 tons per annum of monazite to produce mixed rare earth chloride.                Further, IREL has already commissioned its High Pure Rare Earths plant at Rare Earths Division, Aluva, in Kerala to process mixed rare earth chloride RCL and produce high pure separated rare earths.                   Besides, IREL has entered into a memorandum of understanding with Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory (DMRL) and International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy & New Materials (ARCI) for development of rare earths permanent magnet rings Production of Atomic Energy in Gujarat                                    The states where nuclear power is presently being generated in the country with their locations are given in the table below: State Location Units Capacity Maharashtra Tarapur Tarapur Atomic Power Station(TAPS) Units1 to 4 1400 Rajasthan Rawatbhata Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS) Units 2 to 6 1080 Tamil Nadu Kalpakkam Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS) Units 1&2 440 Kudankulam Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) Unit -1 1000* Uttar Pradesh Narora NaroraAtomic Power Station (NAPS) Units 1&2 440 Gujarat Kakrapar Kakrapar Atomic Power Station (KAPS) Units 1&2 440 Karnataka Kaiga KaigaGeneratingStation (KGS) Units 1 to 4 880 *KKNPP-1(1000 MW) is currently generating infirm power.             There are two units of Pressurizsed Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) of 220 MW capacity each, in operation at Kakrapar in Gujarat. Two more PHWR units of 700 MW capacity each are under construction at the same site. In addition, the XII Five Year Plan proposals envisage start of work on 2 Units of Light Water Reactors of 1100 MW each at ChhayaMithiVirdi in Bhavnagar district of Gujarat, to be set up in technical cooperation with the USA.

UPSCCALENDER 2015

IAS 2015 PRELIMS on  23RD AUGUST
AND
MAINS FROM 18-12-2015.

UPSC uploads hallticket for Civil services exam-2014, No change in exam date or structure

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