Sword against pen (The Hindu)

Context

•  Journalists are facing heightened threats around the globe, according to the 2019 World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), covering 180 countries and territories.
•  It notes that the number of countries regarded as safe for journalists is on the decline; this should be a wake-up call.
•  Hatred of journalists has degenerated into violence in many places, and India is no exception.

Key highlights of the report

•  In 2018, at least six Indian journalists were killed in the line of their work, the report said.
•  India’s rank fell by two places to 140 from 138 in 2016 it was 133 and in 2017 it was 136. In 2014 India’s ranking was 140, but this year’s setback is qualitatively different.
•  The report notes that organised campaigns by supporters of Hindutva “to purge all manifestations of ‘anti-national’ thought from the national debate” is putting journalists in danger.
•  Women journalists are particularly at the receiving end, and covering sensitive but important topics of public interest such as separatism in Jammu and Kashmir and Maoist insurgency has become more difficult.
•  Authorities use anachronistic sedition laws against journalists, who also face the wrath of militants and criminal gangs.

Situation in India

•  Hostility towards the media is a defining feature of hyper-nationalist politics in many countries.
•  In India, the Centre and several State governments have not merely shown extreme intolerance towards objective and critical reporting but also taken unprecedented measures to restrict journalism.
•  The Finance Minister’s recent order barring credentialed reporters from the Ministry’s premises is a case in point but this is not an isolated measure.
•  There is a systematic attempt to limit the scope of journalism in India through physical restrictions, denial of information and hostile rhetoric against journalists by senior government functionaries.
•  The Narendra Modi government is unlikely to take the RSF report seriously.
•  While expression of concern by foreign countries or global bodies regarding human rights, religious violence or media freedom is routinely dismissed as external interference in India’s sovereignty, the government knows all too well that in a globalised world these perceptions matter.

Conclusion

•  If India is concerned about its reputation in terms of business and investment, it should be equally or even more concerned about its standing as a democratic, pluralist country with a free and dynamic press.
•  That is not so much for the inflow of investment or luring global corporations, which may care little about a destination-country’s democratic credentials but for India’s well-being.

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Balance and tilt: on Karnataka political crisis (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2 : Polity
Prelims level : Anti defection law
Mains level : Basic structure of the Indian constitution

Context

•  The Supreme Court’s interim order stating that the 15 dissident Karnataka legislators cannot be compelled to attend the House, means they are not bound by any whip relating to the trust vote moved by Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy.

What are the impacts of order?

•  This gives the numerical advantage in the House to the BJP-led Opposition. Without the support of the 15 lawmakers, the ruling coalition will be reduced to a minority.
•  The other limb of the order permits the Speaker to decide on the resignation of these MLAs in a time-frame he considers appropriate.
•  Although the court says there was an imperative necessity “to maintain the constitutional balance”, the order tilts the odds in favour of the Opposition in the vote.
•  It amounts to holding that provisions of the anti-defection law, under which parties can issue whips to their members to vote in a particular way, will not be applicable to the 15 MLAs.

To setting a dangerous precedent

•  The order raises the concern whether it does not constitute a perilous precedent for granting ad hoc judicial exceptions from constitutional provisions on defection and set the tone for future judicial intervention to suspend the operation of any whip in respect of a few.

•  Alternatively, the court, which is understandably reluctant to intervene in the Speaker’s power ahead of his decisions, could have refrained from making any orders about the legislators’ presence during the trust vote, and made it clear that any action against them arising out of their absence or manner of voting would be subject to judicial review.

Supreme Court burdened

•  To be fair to the Supreme Court, it is being burdened with the task of unravelling political knots created by amoral strategems.
•  In this case, the “political thicket” into which the court has been dragged has its origins in manoeuvres to reduce the combined strength of the Janata Dal(S) and the Congress.
•  In a bid to thwart tactical resignations, the government and the Speaker adopted the counter-strategy of not immediately accepting them, but initiating or pursuing disqualification proceedings.

Questions in litigation

•  One of the questions in the litigation is whether it is resignation or disqualification that should get priority.
•  The objective of disqualifying the MLAs rather than allowing them to quit will not save the government, but it will prevent them from taking oath as ministers in an alternative Cabinet.
•  Though the court’s order recognises the Speaker’s authority to rule whether the resignations are genuine, and fixes no time-frame, it is a Pyrrhic victory; for, their continuance as members puts them under no obligation to vote for the government in view of the allowance given to stay away during the vote.

Way forward and conclusion

•  The dissident MLAs risk nothing other than their seats, certainly not the opportunity to join the Cabinet of a successor-government.
•  When the court takes up the substantive questions of law for adjudication, it should squarely address the new-found interplay between issues of resignation and disqualification, lest it become a perennial source of political controversy.

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A moral victory (Live Mint)

Mains Paper 2: Polity
Prelims level: International Court of Justice
Mains level: Various international organizations and their role

Context

•  Kulbhushan Jadhav is still in Pakistani custody. It is only after his safe return that we can celebrate
•  The verdict of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Kulbhushan Jadhav’s case has been met with a collective sigh of relief in India.
•  Besides ruling in India’s favour by 15 votes to 1, the court has stayed Jadhav’s execution, citing Pakistan’s breach of Article 36(1) of the Vienna Convention, which stipulates that all foreign detainees be granted consular access in the country of detention.
•  The ICJ has also ordered Pakistan to review his conviction and sentence.

About the incident

•  Jadhav, a former Indian naval officer, was arrested in 2016 by Pakistani forces.
•  He was charged with espionage for India and put on death row. Securing his release has been an Indian foreign office goal since then.
•  At the Hague, India argued that a military court trial in Pakistan was out of line with global norms; also, that Islamabad had violated the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations as it did not let Indian diplomats meet Jadhav.

Way forward

•  While this part of the argument has been won, India still awaits the annulment of his death sentence.
•  He is still in Pakistani custody. It is only after his safe return that we can celebrate. For now, his being saved from the gallows should do.

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At the UNSC, a three-point agenda (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2 : International
Prelims level : United Nations Security Council
Mains level : UNSC Sanctions Committee targets

Context

•  India’s singular objective as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in 2021-22 should be to help build a stable and secure external environment.
•  India will promote its own people’s prosperity, regional and global security and growth, and a rule-based world order.
•  It could emerge a partner of choice for developing and developed countries alike.

Background

•  India’s representation in the UNSC has become rarer. It is to re-enter the Council after a gap of 10 years.
•  The previous time, in 2011-12, followed a gap of 20 years.
•  In total, India has been in the UNSC for 14 years, representing roughly a fifth of the time the United Nations (UN) has existed.
•  India must leverage this latest opportunity to project itself as a responsible nation.

Changing state of world

•  India finds itself in a troubled region between West and East Asia, a region bristling with insurgencies, terrorism, human and narcotics trafficking, and great power rivalries.
•  There has been cataclysmic dislocation in West Asia. The Gulf is in turmoil.
•  Though the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Daesh) has been defeated, Iraq and Syria are not going to be the same as before.
•  Surviving and dispersed Daesh foot soldiers are likely preparing new adventures, many in their countries of origin.
•  The turbulence in West Asia is echoed in North and South Asia, a consequence of the nuclear and missile tests by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Afghanistan’s slow but unmistakable unravelling from the support, sustenance and sanctuary provided in its contiguity to groups such as the Haqqani network, the Taliban, and al-Qaeda.
•  Other problems in Asia include strategic mistrust or misperception, unresolved borders and territorial disputes, the absence of a pan-Asia security architecture, and competition over energy and strategic minerals.

What should India aim to do?

•  There is no need for India to fritter away diplomatic goodwill in seeking an elusive permanent seat in the UNSC — it will come India’s way more by invitation and less by self-canvassing.
•  India will have to increase its financial contribution, as the apportionment of UN expenses for each of the P-5 countries is significantly larger than that for India.
•  Even Germany and Japan today contribute many times more than India. Although India has been a leading provider of peacekeepers, its assessed contribution to UN peacekeeping operations is minuscule.
•  At a time when there is a deficit of international leadership on global issues, especially on security, migrant movement, poverty, and climate change, India has an opportunity to promote well-balanced, common solutions.

Responsibility to Protect

•  As a member of the UNSC, India must help guide the Council away from the perils of invoking the principles of humanitarian interventionism or ‘Responsibility to Protect’.
•  The world has seen mayhem result from this. And yet, there are regimes in undemocratic and repressive nations where this yardstick will never be applied.
•  Given the fragile and complex international system, which can become even more unpredictable and conflictual, India should work towards a rules-based global order.
•  Sustainable development and promoting peoples’ welfare should become its new drivers.

UNSC Sanctions Committee targets

•  India should push to ensure that the UNSC Sanctions Committee targets all those individuals and entities warranting sanctions. Multilateral action by the UNSC has not been possible because of narrowly defined national interest.
•  As on May 21, 2019, 260 individuals and 84 entities are subject to UN sanctions, pursuant to Council resolutions 1267, 1989, and 2253.
•  The U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control maintains a larger list of individuals and entities subject to U.S. sanctions.
•  The European Union maintains its own sanctions list.

Maintaining good relations

•  India must lead the way by pursuing inclusion, the rule of law, constitutionalism, and rational internationalism.
•  India should once again become a consensus-builder, instead of the outlier it has progressively become.
•  A harmonised response is the sine qua non for dealing with global problems of climate change, disarmament, terrorism, trade, and development.
•  India could take on larger burdens to maintain global public goods and build new regional public goods.

Looking at polycentrism

•  A rules-based international order helps rather than hinders India, and embracing the multilateral ethic is the best way forward.
•  India will be a rich country in the future and will acquire greater military muscle, but its people will remain relatively poor.
•  India is a great nation, but not a great power. Apolarity, unipolarity, a duopoly of powers or contending super-powers — none of these suit India.
•  India has a strong motive to embrace polycentrism, which is anathema to hegemonic powers intent on carving out their exclusive spheres of influence.

Conclusion

•  India cannot stride the global stage with confidence in the absence of stable relations with its neighbours. Besides whatever else is done within the UN and the UNSC.

•  India must lift its game in South Asia and its larger neighbourhood.

•  Exclusive reliance on India’s brilliant team of officers at its New York mission is not going to be enough.

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Exam Name: CS (MAIN) EXAM:2018  ANIMAL HUSBANDRY (Paper I)
Marks: 250
Time Allowed : Three Hours

SECTION-A

 1. Answer the following questions in about 150 words each: 10x5=50 marks

(a) Describe different types of calorimetry.
(b) Define Al and mention the advantages and disadvantages of Al.
(c) Give diagrammatic representation of kidney and narrate its functions.
(d) Write BIS specifications of nutrient requirements for chicken.
(e) Mention digestive organs and their role in food digestion in monogastric animals.

2. a) Differentiate between the following: 4x5=20 marks

(i) Probiotics and Prebiotics
(ii) Fatty liver and kidney syndrome (FLKS) and fatty liver and haemorrhagic syndrome (FLHS)
(iii)Protein efficiency ratio and Net protein utilization
(iv) Green fodder and Straws
(v) Metabolic faecal nitrogen and Endogenous urinary nitrogen

(b) Write in brief on the following: 4x5=20 marks

(i) Nutrient-parasite interrelationship
(ii) The role of vitamin D in calcium absorption
(iii) Feeding schedule for breeding bulls
(iv) Blood-brain barrier
(v) Growth curve

(c) Write the causes and management of repeat breeding cases in cows. 10 marks

3.(a) Write the chemical nature, physiological functions and deficiency symptoms of vitamin A in animals. 10 marks

(b) Mention different haernatobiochemical tests in relation to disease diagnosis in animals. 20 marks

(c) Write the physicochemical properties of ejaculated semen in domestic animals. 10 marks

(d) Write in detail the factors affecting water requirements of animals 10  marks

4(a) Define balanced ration. Write desirable characteristics of ration. 15 marks

 (b) Discuss the factors affecting digestibility of feeds.  15 marks

(c) Mention different metalloenzymes and their functions in livestock  15 marks

(d) Discuss different methods of oestrus detection in animals.  15 marks

UPSC Mains General Studies Study Kit

section-B

5.Answer the following questions in about 150 words each : 10x5=50 marks

(a) Write about the structure and functions of ribosomal RNA.
(b)Discuss about modificd Mendelian ratio in monohybrid cross with examples
(c) Write a short note on stall-feeding of goats.
(d) Write about the advantages and disadvantages of DNA vaccines.
(e) Write in detail about the constraints in transfer of technology to the farmers.

6. a) Explain sex-linked inheritance and sex-influenced inheritance with suitable example.  20  marks

(b) Describe the managemental practices to be adopted during the transport of dairy cattle through rail and roads.  10 marks

c) How do systematic processes affect the gene and genotypic frequency? Explain. 20 marks

7. (a) Enumerate the theories of sex determination and explain genic balance theory.  10 marks

(b) Discuss quarantine measures to be adopted for newly purchased animals .  10 marks

(c) Write in detail about the preparation of metaphase chromosome spread through peripheral blood leucocyte culture for chromosome analysis.  20 marks

(d) What are the modern management practices for enhancing productivity of pig? 10 marks

8. (a) Write in detail about the components of variance. 15 marks

(b) Discuss various managemental practices to be adopted to ameliorate heat stress during summer for dairy cattle. 15 marks

(c) Discuss in detail about different animal husbandry programmes for rural development in India.  15 marks

(d) Write about breed characteristics of Madras Red Sheep. 5 marks

On Take Away from G20 (Live Mint)

Mains Paper 2: International
Prelims level: G 20
Mains level : Highlights of the figure depicts the dimensions of take away from G20 summit

Context

•  Prime Minister Narendra Modi held separate bilateral meetings with leaders of Indonesia, Brazil, Turkey, Australia, Singapore and Chile, and discussed a host of key issues including trade, counterterrorism, defence, maritime security and sports.
•  PM Modi’s three-day visit to Japan where he attended the G20 Summit and met with world leaders including US President Donald Trump. During his stay in Osaka, Modi took part in a series of summit sessions, bilateral and multilateral meetings.
•  This was Prime Minister Modi’s sixth G20 Summit which was held on June 28-29.
•  Overall, Prime Minister Modi, held nine bilateral meetings with the leaders of Japan, the US, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Germany, Indonesia, Brazil, Turkey and Australia; eight pull-aside meetings with Thailand, Vietnam, the World Bank, the UNSG, France, Italy, Singapore and Chile; two plurilaterals -- JAI and RIC; one multilateral meeting of BRICS and four G20 sessions and a community event.

G20 nations

•  The G20 (or Group of Twenty) is an international forum for the governments and central bank governors from 19 countries and the European Union (EU). Founded in 1999 with the aim to discuss policy pertaining to the promotion of international financial stability, the G20 has expanded its agenda since 2008 and heads of government or heads of state, as well as finance ministers and foreign ministers, have periodically conferred at summits ever since. It seeks to address issues that go beyond the responsibilities of any one organization.
• The figure depicts the dimensions of take away from G20 summit Issues discussed
•  South China Sea dispute: The South China Sea disputes involve both island and maritime claims among several sovereign states within the region, namely Brunei, the People's Republic of China (PRC), the Republic of China (ROC/Taiwan), Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.
• In estimated US$3, 37 trillion worth of global trade passes through the South China Sea annually, which accounts for a third of the global maritime trade. 80 percent of China's energy imports and 39.5 percent of China's total trade passes through the South China Sea.
•  Military issues as China try to be leader of the region, maritime security and cooperation of other countries in this regard.
•  Trade- war and global economy.
•  Counter-Terrorism measures.
•  Climate Change and energy security.
•  Iran-India concern and stability of the Gulf Area.

Way forward

•  It should continue as India first policy, India strong and India Autonomous.
•  Strategic balancing should be made between China and the world as dialogue with China should be made separately.
•  We have able to clear the air on lot of things
•  For instance: Iran concerns addressed and differences are almost settled except some dialogues that left with USA in this regard.

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Right to a minimally decent life (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2 : Polity
Prelims level : Not much
Mains level : Difference between basic and fundamental rights

Context

•  The aftermath of the horrific tragedy in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, where the systemic failure of health care has killed over a hundred children.
•  Here, the failure to provide basic rights to the citizens is called into question.

Significance

•  Here, like the constitutional principle of a basic structure, it is time to consider and analyze an equally best doctrine for conforming the provisions of basic rights implied in our law of the land.
•  These basic rights must be viewed primarily as positive rights not against interference from the state (negative rights) but as the need of providing it in its terms.
•  Also, just as individuals are punished for legal violations, the government of the day must also be punished for the violation of these basic rights.
•  Defaulting governments must be held legally accountable. The systematic violation of basic rights must be treated on a par with the breakdown of constitutional machinery.
  Ideas discussed
•  A solid Necessity- When basic needs are not met, we feel vulnerable and helpless. Security and Subsistence- a right is something that is owed to us; it is not a favour. Thus, it’s providing security for maintaining Subsistence.
•  Vulnerability and Accountability-The right to make one’s vulnerability public, be informed about the acts of commission and omission of the government regarding anything that adversely affects the satisfaction of basic needs, to critically examine them and to hold state officials publicly accountable.

A solid Necessity

•  Basic rights flow from basic needs such as physical security or subsistence.
• Needs are different from wants. You may want a chocolate every morning but don’t need it. Needs depend on the way human bodies are constituted.
•  They are a solid necessity; one cannot get on without them. And, there is no substitute for it at all.
•  The state does everything at its disposal to satisfy all basic needs of its citizens, particularly of those who cannot manage to get the basics for themselves. We feel aggrieved when the state fails to take this responsibility.

Security and Subsistence

•  Basic rights are claims on the state to provide us with goods and services that satisfy our basic needs. when something is identified as a basic right, it puts the state under a duty to enable its exercise.
•  Then, the state becomes its guarantor. For instance, the right to physical security, the first basic right, is socially guaranteed when the state provides its people a well-trained, professional police force.
•  These rights are basic also because many intrinsically valuable rights can be enjoyed only once these rights are secured. When society and its government evade on its commitment to
  do so, we hold them accountable.
•  And, the right to minimum economic security and subsistence includes clean air, uncontaminated water, nutritious food, clothing and shelter.

Vulnerability and accountability

•  The right to make one’s vulnerability public, be informed about the acts of commission and omission of the government regarding anything that adversely affects the satisfaction of basic
  needs, and to critically examine them and to hold state officials publicly accountable is a basic right on a par with the right to physical security and subsistence.
•  Hence, vulnerability and, the rights are inevitably linked to each other. And, our life must not fall below a certain level of existence.
•  Here, these three basic rights can be summed up in a single phrase, the right to a minimally decent life. This is a threshold right. A society may soar, strive for great collective achievement.

Conclusion

•  Thus, the government routinely abdicate responsibility for the suffering they directly or indirectly cause. This is why we must ask why governments are not immediately and severely penalized when they undermine the exercise of these basic rights.
•  Altogether, enjoyment of basic rights should be made possible to citizens by the government involved and failing to do so by them should be made a punishment under the law.

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Creating a fair digital payments market (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 3 : Economy
Prelims level : UPI
Mains level : Digital payment infrastructure

Context

•  Since early last year, WhatsApp has busily piloted its payment system in India.
•  WhatsApp Pay relies on the Indian government’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) system to facilitate inter-bank transactions.
•  Regulatory approval that would allow its nation-wide introduction is stuck on one point: the Indian government has asked WhatsApp to localise all data processing related to payment transactions in India and not on Facebook’s servers in the U.S.
•  This is well in line with the government’s existing technology vision for the digital economy, which hinges on data localisation as the magic bullet to solve multiple problems ranging from prevention of personal data misuse to promotion of local enterprises.
•  Unfortunately, it misses a number of other issues and hidden costs of this current deal and raises broader issues on big tech’s foray into financial services, especially payments.

The case of WhatsApp Pay

•  In the case of WhatsApp Pay, its parent company, Facebook, has come under scrutiny for harmful content, lack of privacy, and data misuse in recent years.
•  The large amounts of social media data that Facebook sits on, its habit of using private user data to promote business, and its reluctance to adhere to policy have led to radical suggestions of breaking up big tech.
•  Facebook, in response, has rolled out a new plan to reinvent its business, which is to build a new privacy-focused platform that integrates WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger.
•  This will provide end-to-end encryption for consumers and business services along with direct payment options.

WhatsApp parent authority

•  The only hitch in this new business plan is that Facebook is relatively new to the digital payments market and cannot gain a foothold in the U.S., where PayPal has the largest consumer base.
•  This is where it becomes important to make WhatsApp Pay successful in India. India is WhatsApp’s largest market in the world with over 250 million monthly users.
•  Once WhatsApp Pay catches on in India, Facebook intends to introduce it in other developing countries.
•  Thus, the decision to allow WhatsApp Pay in India can catapult Facebook into the big league in the global digital payments market where companies like Alibaba’s Alipay and Tencent’s WeChat are making waves.

Digital payment scenario in India

•  India’s digital vision talks about data sovereignty and giving domestic firms an advantage.
•  The digital payments market, with 800 million mobile users in the country of which more than 430 million have Internet access, is estimated to grow to over $1 trillion by 2025.
•  If India is serious about giving local firms an advantage, it should leverage this immense opportunity.
•  With the right policy incentives, local firms could capture large shares of the digital payments market to become e-commerce players on a global scale, as China’s experience shows.
•  In China, domestic enterprises were strategically enabled to use the local market to emerge as global champions.
•  Today, WeChat combines the functional features of several online platforms including Facebook, WhatsApp, PayPal and Uber Eats. Over 300 million users worldwide use WeChat payments for everything, right from ordering food to paying hospital bills, a model that all firms want to emulate.

Advantages of WhatsApp pay

•  WhatsApp Pay a plum role in the digital payments market achieves the opposite because if the deal goes ahead, it will automatically give WhatsApp Pay a large advantage over all other Indian firms that are currently operating without the advantage of relying on a large social media and messaging base as WhatsApp does.

•  This creates a ‘winner-takes-most’ dynamic that competition authorities worldwide are becoming wary of: simply because WhatsApp already has the economies of scale and network externalities.

•  It will manage to integrate it into an entirely new sector, with undue advantages that it should normally not benefit from.

•  To top it all, Facebook will also receive a cut in all WhatsApp Pay transactions conducted in India.

•  Similar concerns with market power can exist with allowing other large firms like Google Pay and Amazon Pay, but these will need to be assessed individually while making decisions for the national digital payments market.

•  What matters most is that without a level playing field, even the most well-meaning policy incentives will not safeguard the expansion of local firms in the digital payments arena, thus severely limiting the capacity of local firms to benefit from the potential of India’s own digital payments market.

Fallouts for privacy

•  The largest fallouts of granting market approval to a global player will be in the area of privacy. In the particular instance of WhatsApp Pay, the deal will give Facebook access to data on how people across countries are spending their money.
•  Even if WhatsApp agrees to set up data localisation in India, the localisation requirement of the government is limited to payments data only.
•  As a result, Facebook will still have access to metadata on all payment transactions, which can be matched with the data that the company already has access to on Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp for the same users.
•  With all of that, Facebook will be able to match user profiles on its social media websites with the user profiles that are authenticated by the UPI system in India.
•  This would not only make Facebook the second biggest identification issuer in India after the Indian government, it would also make Facebook the best repository of data covering all areas of life social and financial on all Indian users.
•  This kind of data pooling would never be allowed in the U.S. where financial privacy laws protect against such an outcome, so why should this be allowed in India?
•  Similar risks exist in the case of Google Pay or Amazon Pay, where payments data can be matched with other existing repositories with outcomes that are not desirable and may/may not be as drastic as in the case of WhatsApp Pay.

Way forward

•  In the specific case of the digital payments market, we need the elaboration of clear guidelines that enable the development of a digital payments market, going beyond requirements for storing and processing payments.
•  Data localisation is costly, and consumers not only need protection that these compliance costs will not be passed on to them by businesses, but they also need clarity on how their data will be stored, for how long, and what uses will be prohibited.
•  Local firms will need much more space and support in the digital payments market to be able to create new jobs, new prospects and digital dividends.
•  These are crucial to guarantee the rights of all Indians as we move from a cash-based to a cashless economy.

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Exam Name: CS (MAIN) EXAM:2018  AGRICULTURE (Paper II)
Marks: 250
Time Allowed : Three Hours

SECTION 'A'

Q1. Answer the following questions in about 150 words each: 10x5=50 marks

(a) What is protoplasm ? Briefly discuss its chemical composition and physical properties. 10 marks
(b) Define mass selection. Explain its applications in self-pollinated crops. 10  marks
(c) What do you mean by heterosis ? Describe the physiological bases of heterosis. 10 marks
(d) Explain seed enhancement with its merits. Describe in brief about the various practices used for seed enhancement. 10 marks
(e) Define enzyme. Give a note on the factors affecting the rate of enzymic activities in plants. 10 marks

Q2. (a) What do you mean by hybrid seed production ? Describe the different types of sterility systems to facilitate hybrid seed production. 20 marks
(b) What do you understand by chromosomal aberration ? Discuss in brief, the major types of chromosomal aberrations. 15 marks
(c) Enlist Mendel's different laws. Describe in detail about the law of segregation with suitable examples. 15 marks

Q3. (a) Enumerate the various types of seeds. Give a stepwise account of techniques associated with seed production. 20 marks
(b) What do you mean by self-incompatibility ? Discuss ways and means to overcome self-incompatibility. 15 marks
(c) Define Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs). Discuss IPRs" relevance to agriculture.15 marks

 Q4. (a) Differentiate between aneuploid, euploid and polyploid. Explain in detail the applications of allopolyploidy in crop improvement. 20 marks
(b) Give justification that "DNA fingerprinting is a vital tool for identification of the cultivars".15 marks
(c) What do you mean by Soil-Plant-Atmosphere Continuum (SPAC) ? Describe the different soil moisture constants. 15 marks

UPSC Mains General Studies Study Kit

A WASH for healthcare (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2 : Health
Prelims level : WASH scheme
Mains level : Describe the significance of the WASH scheme

Context

•  Whatever their differences, and wherever they’re located, adequate water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) amenities, including waste management and environmental cleaning services, are critical to their safe functioning.
•  When a healthcare facility lacks adequate WASH services, infection prevention and control are severely compromised.
•  This has the potential to make patients and health workers sick from avoidable infections. As a result (and in addition), efforts to improve maternal, neonatal and child health are undermined.
•  Lack of WASH facilities also results in unnecessary use of antibiotics, thereby spreading antimicrobial resistance.

Highlights of the WHO data

•  As a joint report published earlier this year by the World Health Organization and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) outlines, WASH services in many facilities across the world are missing or substandard.

•  According to data from 2016, an estimated 896 million people globally had no water service at their healthcare facility.

•  More than 1.5 billion had no sanitation service.

•  One in every six healthcare facilities was estimated to have no hygiene service (meaning it lacked hand hygiene facilities at points of care, as well as soap and water at toilets), while data on waste management and environmental cleaning was inadequate across the board.

Enhancing primary healthcare

•  In WHO’s South-East Asia region, efforts to tackle the problem and achieve related Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets are being vigorously pursued.
•  As outlined at a WHO-supported meeting in New Delhi in March, improving WASH services in healthcare facilities is crucial to accelerating progress towards each of the region’s ‘flagship priorities’, especially the achievement of universal health coverage.
•  Notably, improving WASH services was deemed essential to enhancing the quality of primary healthcare services, increasing equity and bridging the rural-urban divide.
•  A World Health Assembly Resolution passed in May is hoping to catalyse domestic and external investments to help reach the global targets.
•  These include ensuring at least 60% of all healthcare facilities have basic WASH services by 2022; at least 80% have the same by 2025; and 100% of all facilities provide basic WASH services by 2030.

WHO and UNICEF recommended practical steps

•  The health authorities should conduct in-depth assessments and establish national standards and accountability mechanisms.
•  Across the region, and the world, a lack of quality baseline data limits authorities’ understanding of the problem.
•  As this is done, and national road-maps to improve WASH services are developed, health authorities should create clear and measurable benchmarks that can be used to improve and maintain infrastructure and ensure that facilities are ‘fit to serve’.

Educating the health workers

•  The health authorities should increase engagement and work to instil a culture of cleanliness and safety in all healthcare facilities.
•  Alongside information campaigns that target facility administrators, all workers in the health system from doctors and nurses to midwives and cleaners should be made aware of, and made to practise, current WASH and infection prevention and control procedures (IPC).
•  To help do this, modules on WASH services and IPC should be included in pre-service training and as part of ongoing professional development.

Promote demand for WASH services

•  In addition, authorities should work more closely with communities, especially in rural areas, to promote demand for WASH services.
•  The authorities should ensure that collection of data on key WASH indicators becomes routine.
•  Doing so will help accelerate progress by promoting continued action and accountability.
•  It will also help spur innovation by documenting the links between policies and outcomes.
•  To make that happen, WHO is working with member states as well as key partners to develop a data dashboard that brings together and tracks indicators on health facilities, including WASH services, with a focus on the primary care level.

Conclusion

•  As member states strive to achieve the ‘flagship priorities’ and work towards the SDG targets, that outcome is crucial.
•  Indeed, whatever the healthcare facility, whoever the provider, and wherever it is located, securing safe health services is an objective member states must boldly pursue.

  Online Coaching for UPSC PRE Exam

Exam Name: CS (MAIN) EXAM:2018  AGRICULTURE (Paper I)
Marks: 250
Time Allowed : Three Hours

SECTION ‘A’

Q1.Describe the following in about 150 words each : 10x5=50 marks

1.(a) Global warming and its impact on crop productivity. 10 marks
1.(b) Contingency planning in dry land rain fed agriculture. 10 marks
1.(c) Role of hybrids/high yielding varieties to meet national goal of food security. 10 marks
1.(d) Precise water saving irrigation practices to enhance water use efficiency. 10 marks
1.(e) Initiatives for improving agricultural marketing in India. 10 marks
2.(a) Discuss the importance and method of water harvesting under different agro-ecosystems.20 marks
2.(b) Explain the factors affecting soil organic matter content. Describe the techniques to increase soil organic matter.20 marks
2.(c) What is role of Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) and Self Help Groups in technology dissemination for agricultural development ? 10 marks
3.(a) Describe the comparative package of practices for direct seeded aerobic rice and S.R.I. 20 marks
3.(b) What are the mandates of Krishi Vigyan Kendras ? How KVKs are helping in dissemination of agricultural technologies and upliftment of socio-economic conditions of farmers ? 20 marks
3.(c) Discuss the utility of Remote Sensing in context of Indian Agriculture. 10 marks
4.(a) What changes occur in rice puddled soil ? Describe the fate of nitrogen and practices for enhancing nitrogen use efficiency in such soils. 20 marks
4.(b) Describe the types and benefits of non-conventional forestry systems. State the characteristics of suitable tree species for non-conventional forestry. 20 marks
4.(c) What is the phenomenon of herbicide resistance in weeds ? Discuss the factors responsible for development of herbicide resistance. 10 marks

UPSC Mains General Studies Study Kit

(The Gist of Kurukshetra)  REVIVAL OF TRADITIONAL RAINWATER HARVESTING STRUCTURES IN RAJASTHAN  [JUNE-2019]

REVIVAL OF TRADITIONAL RAINWATER HARVESTING STRUCTURES IN RAJASTHAN

Introduction

•  Rajasthan for state more by area, than Is India’s IQ accounting percent largest of the country's geographical area While the state supports about 5 per cent of the human population and 20 per cent of the livestock, it possesses just 1.2 percent of the total surface water and only 1,7 per cent of the groundwater available In India.
•  The state is heavily dependent on groundwater for drinking water and Irrigation. About 90 per cent of the drinking water and 60 per cent of the irrigation water is sourced from groundwater supplies. During the 1970s and 1980s, the era of Green Revolution in India, there was widespread use of groundwater in Rajasthan and the pressure on groundwater is further increasing due to population growth and an increased number of industries.
•  About 80 per cent area of the state has witnessed groundwater depletion and many towns and villages have experienced a shortage of drinking water, particularly in summer months. Importance of water resource management
•  The importance of water resource management has been recognised since ancient times. While water is a renewable resource, its availability is largely determined by climatic conditions and technology that permits its exploitation and also by the efficiency with which it is conserved and used.
•  Rainwater, which is the purest form of water, has been collected and stored for later use for centuries.
•  If collected properly, it would not only provide the supply of safe drinking water but also help in combating water borne diseases to a great extent,

Traditional Rainwater Harvesting (TRH) Structures:

•  Hundreds of years ago, the rulers of princely states in Rajasthan had created structures for rainwater harvesting, now called traditional rainwater harvesting (TRH) structures These structures catered to the local needs utilized local resources and were based on the wisdom and knowledge handed down from generation to generation.
•  They were replenished each year with monsoon rain and served the people all round the year. Many community TRH structures also had temples or religious associations with them and became centres of pilgrimage. Many were built with royal patronage or rich businessmen. The main TRH structures in Rajasthan, namely, kundi, kui/beri, baori/ber, jhalara, nadi, toba, tanka, khadin, johad and anicut are described below in brief.
•  A kundi is essentially a circular underground well with a saucer-shaped catchment area that gently slopes towards the centre where the well is situated. A wire-mesh across water inlets prevents debris from falling into the well pit. The sides of the well-pit are covered with lime and ash. Most wells have a dome-shaped cover for protection.
•  A kui/beri is a 10-12 meter deep pit dug near tanks to collect the seepage. It is used to harvest rainwater in areas with meager rainfall. The month of the pit Is made narrow to prevent the

Study Material for UPSC General Studies Pre Cum Mains

(GIST OF YOJANA)  Energy Efficiency is the Key for Sustainable Development

[JUNE-2019]

Forests and Water-Conservation and Sustainable Development

Introduction

•  The earth’s ecosystems with the services they provide, such as food, water, climate regulation, spiritual fulfillment and the aesthetic environment sustain human life on planet earth (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005). Streams, rivers and floodplains are among the most dynamic ecosystems on Earth. However, most of' these ecosystems have significantly been impaired during the past few decades due to unequal distribution and a sharp rise in global freshwater demand driven by industry. Most of the world’s  large river-floodplain ecosystems have been altered by human activities.
•  Though nearly 70 per cent of the world is covered by water, only about 2.5 per cent of it is freshwater and less than 1 per cent of the freshwater is actually accessible in lakes and rivers. Freshwater has been vital renewable natural resources in the form of rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, groundwater, cave water, springs, floodplains and wetlands ( bogs, marshes, and swamps) for sustaining life and establishing civilisations throughout history . Nearly 70 percent of the freshwater used humans goes to agriculture. Technically, today, there is sufficient amount of freshwater on a global scale.

Water Crisis

•  Water scarcity is the most critical issue of our lifetime and future generations. The increasing world population, improving living standards, changing consumption patterns and expansion of irrigated agriculture are the main driving forces for the rising global demand for water. Climate change, deforestation, pollution, greenhouse gases and wasteful use may result in insufficient supply. Extensive degradation because of urbanisation has threatened the forests that nurture the water regime in the ground.
•  Similarly, expansion of road network in higher reaches or upstream areas has caused extensive landslides and erosion and has caused irreparable damage to the perennial water streams. These factors have influenced the ecological functioning of the world’s major water bodies and in turn destroyed the various freshwater systems.
•  Consequently, about two billion of world's population is going through water stress which is expected to increase with time. In fad, extent of availability of clean water could prove to be the stepping-stone to development. Issues pertaining to water accessibility, quantity and quality are major global concerns. India is no exception as it is home to one sixth of the world’s total population but has only 4 per cent of the water resources sustaining the economy in terms of agriculture, power and biological productivity.
•  Values of per capita surface water availability lave continuously declined and in the per future the country is expected to become ‘water stressed’ Water crisis will also lead to health crisis, and women unduly while taking away their considerable time from work, family care and causes loss of economic opportunities.

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Tapping forest Catchment Potential

• A few of the country's pioneer efforts to tap forest catchment potential to augment water supplies to major cities and drier regions are highlighted as below:
•  Construction of Mullaperiyar dam on Periyar River in Kerala so as to divert water eastwards to the arid rain shadow region of Madurai under the then Madras Presidency and creating a large lake (26 km2 ). Forests surrounding the lake and the entire Jake area now constitute the Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR).
•  Diverted water augmented the small flow of Vaigai River and brought notable changes in the thirsty area and ensured sustainable livelihoods by way of agriculture production.
•  Protection to high altitude oligotrophic lake, Marsar and diverse forests (500 km) in the mid slopes constituting the catchment of Dagwan River so as to ensure clean water supply for the city of Srinagar.
•  Similar initiative was taken to provide ensured water supply to Shimla town during the colonial time.
•  A small forest patch ( 10.15 km2 ) located 8 km east of Shimla constituted an important forested catchment with dense Deodar forests and Oak forests w as leased to Shimla Municipal Committee
  in 1878. Ever since, the water supply to Shimla town is from the catchment forests.
•  The forest was declared a Protected Forest and finally notified as Shimla Water Catchment Wildlife Sanctuary.
•  Likewise, the water distribution system in Mumbai metropolis is more than 150 years old; Water  is brought into the metropolis from various reservoirs. Tansa dam on Tansa River in Thane district was opened in 1892.
•  Forests and varied natural water resources (surface water and ground water) are complex and dynamic in nature. In India, there has been a long history of management of forests as well as adequately documented traditional systems of water harvesting and water use, practiced in drylands.

Way forward

•  Development Goals which reflect complex and interrelated nature of social, economic and ecological wellbeing parameters. In recent past, India has directed its development pathway to meet its priorities of food, water and energy security; economic growth: disaster resilience and poverty alleviation while maintaining the natural capital and adopt transparent and robust governance along democratic lines SDGs related to water ( SDG 6) and land (SDG15) explicitly acknowledge the linkages between forests and water.
•  Further, SDG 6 and SDG 15 have strong interconnections with targets of other SDGs and thus, approaches adopted towards ecosystem management, sustainable forest management, biodiversity conservation, effective and efficient use of water resources would not only contribute to other SDGs but would ensure sustainable overall development and fulfillment of global commitments.

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(GIST OF YOJANA)  Biogas

[JUNE-2019]

Biogas

•  India generates about 1,45,128 tonne of waste daily (or around 53 million tonne annually) and on an average 46 per cent of it is processed daily, according to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).
•  For a country like India that is heavily dependent on expensive imported oil and gas imports as well as coal for meeting its energy requirements, it definitely makes more sense to look at alternative resources. And this is where the Waste to Energy programme propagated to recover energy in the form of Biogas/ BioCNG/ Power from urban, industrial and agricultural wastes gains importance. Besides, it also promotes off grid connectivity.

Background

•  About 184 Waste to Energy plants based on urban , industrial and agricultural wastes have been set up in private sector with an aggregate capacity of 315,24 MWeq. However, there are still many challenges remaining to promote this programme as it also means undoing a social mindset.
•  It also needs to be ensured that Waste to Energy plants themselves do not violate any environmental norms particularly for municipal solid wastes. Marketing of the concept is another uphill task which requires governmental involvement as well as financial support is needed in setting up a plant, which is not cheap.
•  Biogas ran be used for transport fuel. In fact, oil refining and marketing companies have got into action to make it a reality. What is Compressed Biogas (CBG) and how does it work? According to experts, it has the potential to boost availability of more affordable transport fuels, better use of agricultural residue, and cattle dung, as well as to provide an additional revenue source to farmers.

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Key benefits

•  There are multiple benefits of converting agricultural residue and cattle dung into CBG on a commercial scale:
•  Responsible waste management reduction in carbon emissions and pollution.
•  Additional revenues sources for farmers.
•  Boost to entrepreneurship, rural economy and employment.
•  Support to national commitments in achieving climate change goals. Reduction in import of natural gas and crude oil.
•  Buffer against crude oil, gas price fluctuations.

Way forward

•  But, a lot depends on pricing as India is a price sensitive market. The Working Group on Biofuels is in the process of finalising a pan-India pricing model for CBG. Besides, according to the proposal, the entrepreneurs would be able to separately market the other by products from these plants, including bio-manure, carbon-dioxide, etc. to enhance returns on investment.
•  While solar and wind did develop a glam quotient, they can only be intermittent to coal or other fossil fuel What can actually work in favour of India is biogas. Yes, there are challenges like CBG quality and marketing.
•  Biogas cannot succeed without governmental support as it is still at a very nascent stage here. But once it takes off, the government can play the role of a facilitator and allow private sector to run the business.

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(GIST OF YOJANA) Highlights of India's Climate Actions

[JUNE-2019]

Highlights of India's Climate Actions

•  Total annual GHG emissions have increased from 2.136 .8 million tonnes (Mt) of CO2e (1,884,3 Mi with 1 and List, Lund Use Change and Forestry (EULUCF)) in 2010 to 2,607.5 Mt of C02e in 2014 (2,306,3 Mt with LULUCF).
•  Emission intensity of India’s GDP has reduced by 21 per cent over the period of 2005-2014.
•  Solar installed capacity has increased by about 9 times from 2.63GW to 23.28 GW between March 2014 and August 2018.
•  The share of non-fossil sources in installed capacity of electricity generation increased from 30.5 percent in March 201 5 to 35.5 percent in June 2018.
•  Supercritical thermal power units have risen from 40 (27,48 GW in 2015 ) to 66 (45.55 GW in 2018 ) with avoided emissions amounting to 7 MtC02 in 2016-17.
•  A total of 170 old thermal generation units having a higher heat rate and a cumulative capacity of 10.64 GW, have been retired till March 2018.
•  Forest and tree cover increased from 24.01 per cent of the total geographical area as reported in India State of Forest Report (TSFR) 2013 to 24.39 per cent as reported in ISFR 2017.

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•  Perform Achieve and Trade ( PAT) scheme for energy efficiency in industries and other energy-intensive sectors, covering 478 designated consumers, avoided emissions of 31 MtCO2 in cycle I ( April 2012 to March 2015), In total, 846 DCs from 13 sectors are undergoing implementation of PAT cycle II, III and IV with a Total targeted energy savings of 19 Mtoe.
•  India in partnership with France launched the International Solar Alliance at the UN Climate Summit ill Paris 2015. The alliance is an effort to bring countries, particularly developing ones, together to
  harnessing the untapped potential of solar energy to provide universal energy access at affordable rates. Thu International Solar Alliance is treaty-based intergovernmental organisation headquartered in India.
•  India is partnering 22 member countries and the European Union in the ‘Mission Innovation’ on clean energy, and is a co- lead in small grid, off-grid and sustainable biofuels innovation challenges.

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(The Gist of Kurukshetra) GLOBAL SITUATION ON DRINKING WATER AVAILABILITY, 2015

 [JUNE-2019]

GLOBAL SITUATION ON DRINKING WATER AVAILABILITY, 2015

•  In 2015, nearly 72% of the world population or 520 Crore (5.2 billion) people used safely managed drinking-water services -they used improved water sources located on premises, available when needed, and free from contamination.
•  The remaining 210 Crore (2.1 billion or 28%) people were living without safely managed drinking water services. The distribution of these people
•  130 Crore (1.3 billion; 18%) people were living with basic services, meaning an improved water source located within a round trip of 30 minutes
•  26.3 Crore (263 million; 3.6%) people were living with limited services, or an improved water source requiring more than 30 minutes to collect water
•  42.3 Crore (423 million; 5.8%) people taking water from unprotected wells and springs
•  15.9 Crore (159 million; 2.2%) people were collecting untreated surface water from lakes, ponds, rivers and streams.

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(The Gist of Kurukshetra) WATER SECURITY AND SUSTAINED DRINKING WATER SUPPLY

 [JUNE-2019]

WATER SECURITY AND SUSTAINED DRINKING WATER SUPPLY

Introduction

•  As India is a vast country the challenges related to drinking water in rural regions would be unique for different regions. India receives an average annual rainfall of around 1100 mm but there is a huge regional and temporal variation in the distribution of rainfall.
•  The country receives more than 80 per cent of the rainfall from June to September. The unequal spatial distribution could be easily observed by the fact that the Brahmaputra and Barak basin, with only 7.3 per cent of the geographical area and 4.2 per cent of the country's population, have 31 per cent of the annual water resources (CPCB (2014) States of Water Quality in India). Across the year, it could be found that one region is facing floods while some other region is having drought at the same time.
•  This shows the diversity in rainfall pattern across the country. Also, the same region might experience floods followed by droughts during different months in a year. Over-reliance on centralised systems and insufficient attention towards traditional water harvesting systems and disconnect of the community from water management is one of the major cause of such situation.
•  Groundwater (GW) which is currently the lifeline of Rural India, as it supports more than 85 per cent drinking water requirements in rural areas, is depleting at an unprecedented rate. Overall, India in real sense is mining groundwater and is way ahead, in terms of total groundwater withdrawal, of various countries.

Drinking Water Situation in Rural India

•  Rural regions in India, which primarily have agricultural and domestic water requirements, suffer from many challenges such as water pollution and decreasing groundwater availability, etc. Arsenic and Fluoride contamination is very high in some of the regions of the country. National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP):
•  It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme launched in April, 2009 aimed at providing every person in rural India with adequate safe water for drinking,  cooking and other domestic basic needs on a sustainable basis.
•  Historically, communities in India managed water and had their unique mechanism of fighting climate extremes. Due to different topography and agro-climatic conditions, various regions in India had different structures to utilize and conserve water. Broadly these practices could be classified into the following three categories:

1. Obstructing/diverting the flow of stream/river: In this practice, the natural flow of the stream/river Is obstructed and water is stored by using gully bunds/check dams/gabion structures etc. Prominently built in hilly regions, these structures in addition to water conservation and groundwater recharge, also act as soil trap.
2. Storage in wells/step wells/below ground level storage structure: Mainly used to meet domestic water requirements, such structures could be found in western arid regions of India. The step-wells traps rainwater and because of no direct exposure to sunlight and surface temperatures it reduces evaporation losses. These were treated as auspicious as temples in Gujarat and Rajasthan.
3. Collection and use of rainwater on surface: Commonly found across India, these structures are constructed in the flow of a seasonal stream or the excess runoff is diverted into this. Some examples of such structures include nodis, kundis, talabs, jaldhar, farm ponds etc. The bottom of the surface is generally pervious but it could be made impervious using plastic sheets to prevent GW recharge.

Drinking Water Treatment

•  While the quantity of water is generally considered as the parameter to define access to water, however, understanding the quality of water would be necessary to provide clean and safe water to rural households. The choice of treatment technologies would be largely determined by the quality of raw water and the nature of demand. Few of the basic water treatment technologies/methods are discussed below:
•  Slow sand filters (SSF) - SSF is one of the most recommended methods of water treatment for rural areas. If designed properly, it purifies the water efficiently by reducing turbidity and bacterial contamination and it does not require highly skilled labour for operation and maintenance.
•  Chlorination - Disinfection using chlorine has been a common practice in various water supply systems. Being a strong oxidant, chlorine is used to remove taste and odour, as well as biological contamination. It can be used for community water supply system as well as at the individual household level.
•  Solar Disinfection (SODIS) - The SODIS method utilizes solar energy for water disinfection at the household level. A clean and transparent PET plastic bottle (preferably below 2 litres) is filled with water and kept in direct sunlight for 6 hours during noon on sunny days and two days if the sky is more than 50 per cent clouded. It has no chemical and external energy requirements thus making it an affordable choice. As reported, it removes 99.9 per cent of micro-organisms. The major limitations are that the raw water should not have turbidity more than 30 NTU and there is sufficient sunlight available.

1. Policy Recommendations
2. Better data
3. Basin/Sub-basin level water management
4. Water source improvement
5. Integrated water and waste management
6. Supply and access augmentation
7. Demand side management
8. Capacity building
9. Institutional and legislative reforms
10. Revival of traditional wisdom
11. Preparedness for disasters.

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(GIST OF YOJANA) Geo-Thermal and Ocean Energy Technologies

[JUNE-2019]

Geo-Thermal and Ocean Energy Technologies

Introduction

• Accordingly, an ambitious target has been set of installing 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022.
• This includes 100 GW from solar, 60 GW from wind, 10 GW from bio power and 5 GW from small hydro power. As on date, around 77 GW of renewable energy capacity has been installed in the country with major share coming from solar and wind power technologies.
• The possibility of venturing into new emerging renewable energy technologies, such as Floating Solar. Offshore wind, solar wind hybrid, energy storage, etc is also being explored.
• However, renewable energy technologies such as geo-thermal and ocean energy still remain at a nascent stage in India.

Ocean Energy

• Oceans occupy more than 70 per cent of earth’s surface and are an inexhaustible source of renewable energy. Ocean energy is the energy harnessed from ocean waves, tidal range (rise and fall) and tidal streams, temperature gradients and salinity gradients. Only few commercial ocean energy power plants have been commissioned till date. Around 536 MW of installed ocean energy capacity is in operation at the. end of 2016, with major share of two large scale tidal barrage plants i.e., the 254 MW Sihwa plant in the South Korea (completed in 2011 ) and the 240 MW La Rance tidal power station in France (completed in 1966 ) Apart from tidal barrage plants which use established tidal turbine technology, other ocean energy technologies are still largely in pre-commercial development stages.

World Scenario

• Leading countries in Ocean Energy technology are UK, USA, Sweden, Canada, France, South Korea. Examples of few large scale Tidal (Barrage) Plants are 254 MW at South Korea (2011), 240 MW at France (1966), 20 MW at Canada, etc. Ocean Technology, such as Tidal (Current), Wave, Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) are still at pre R&D stage/ Kilo Watt level.

Indian Scenario

• As per study conducted by IIT Madras, Theoretical Potential for tidal Energy in India is 12500 MW. Promising locations are Gulf of Khambhat and Gulf of Kutch (GJ). Sunderbans (WB), Western Ghats (MH), etc , Theoretical Potential for Wave Energy in India is 41.000 MW , Promising locations are, Western coast of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Kanyakumari, Southern tip of India, etc. However, resource survey at target locations i.e., Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats, etc, may be undertaken to assess validate actual potential.
  Technology

Tidal Energy

• The tidal cycle occurs every 12 hours due to the gravitational pull of the moon. The difference in water level from low tide and high tide is potential energy that can be harnessed. Similar to hydropower generated from dams, tidal water is captured in a barrage across an estuary during high tide and forced through a turbine during low tide.
• The capital cost for tidal energy power plants is very high due to high civil construction that results in high power tariff. In order to harness power from the tidal energy, the height of high tide must be at least five meters (16 feet) greater than low tide.

Wave Energy

• Wave energy is generated by the movement of a device either floating on the surface of the ocean or moored to the ocean floor by the force generated by the ocean waves. Many different techniques for convening wave energy to electric power have been developed, Wave conversion devices floats on the surface have joints hinged together that moves with the waves. The kinetic energy pumps fluid through turbines and generates electric power Moored wave energy conversion devices use pressure fluctuations produced in long tubes from the waves moving up and down. This wave motion drives a turbine. Current Energy
• Ocean current is ocean water moving in one direction. This ocean current is also known as the Gulf Stream Kinetic energy can be captured from the Gulf Stream and other tidal currents with submerged turbines that are very similar in appearance to miniature wind turbines. Similar to wind turbines, the movement of the marine current moves the rotor blades to generate electric power.

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC)

• Ocean thermal energy conversion, or OTEC, uses ocean temperature differences from the surface to depths lower than 1,000 meters, to harness energy. A temperature difference of even 20°C can yield energy efficiently Research focuses are on two types of OTEC technologies to extract thermal energy and convert it to electric power closed cycle and open cycle.

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Technology

• Power Generation: Hot water and steam from deep underground can be piped up through underground wells and used to generate electricity in a power plant. There are three types of geothermal power plants:
• Dry Steam Plants which use geothermal steam directly. Dry steam power plants use very hot (>235 °C) steam from the geothermal reservoir. The steam goes directly through a pipe to a turbine to spin a generator that produces electricity.
• Flash Steam Plants which use high pressure hot water to produce steam . Flash steam power plants use hot water (> 182 °C) from the geothermal reservoir. When the water is pumped to the generator, it is released from the pressure of the deep reservoir, The sudden drop in pressure causes some of the water to vaporize to steam, which spins a turbine to generate electricity. Hot water not flashed into steam is returned to the geothermal reservoir through injection wells.
• Binary Cycle Plants which use moderate temperature water (107 to 182°C) from the geothermal reservoir. In binary systems, hot geothermal fluids are passed through one side of a heat exchanger to heat a working fluid in a separate adjacent pipe. The working fluid, usually an organic compound with a low boiling point such as Iso-butane or Iso- pentane, is vaporized and passed through a turbine to generate electricity.

Other thermal applications:

• Apart from geothermal power generation , this renewable source can be utilized directly for thermal applications through these technologies:-
• Space/District Heating: in areas where hot springs or geothermal reservoirs are near the Earth's surface, hot water can be piped in directly to heat homes or office buildings.
• Geothermal water is pumped through a heat exchanger, which transfers the heat from the water into the building’s heating system. The  used water is injected back down a well into the reservoir to be reheated and used again.
• Geothermal Heat Pump/Ground Source Heat Pumps: A few feet under the ground, the soil or water remain a constant 50 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit (10-15 degrees Celsius) year-round. In this method , geothermal heat pumps use a system of buried pipes linked to a heat exchanger and ductwork into buildings In winter the relatively warm earth transfers heat into the buildings and in summer the buildings transfer heat to the ground or uses some of it to heat water. These heat pumps function as both air-conditioning and heating systems.
• Fluid circulates through a series of pipes under the ground or beneath the water of a pond or lake and into a building. An electric compressor and heat exchanger pull the heat from the pipes and send it via a duct system throughout the building. In the summer the process is reversed. The pipes draw heat away from the house and carry it to the ground or water outside where it is absorbed.

Way forward

• Industry led, applied R and D proposals to harness geothermal energy under Research, Design, Development and Demonstration (RDDandD) policy are necessary for this renewable energy source to become operational.
• Plans should be made to develop Demonstration projects initially each tor geothermal electricity' production & direct heat use applications. PSUs may undertake resource assessment with support from leading countries as geothermal expert.
• Projects for space cooling and industrial process heating using GSHP technology may be supported through subsidy, preferential tariff front power companies as technology is energy water efficient.

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(GIST OF YOJANA) Steps to Achieve India's Solar Potential

[JUNE-2019]

Steps to Achieve India's Solar Potential

Introduction

• The needs of India’s burgeoning population are rising. However, the status quo of resources might not be adequate to fulfill the growing demands of a fast-paced economy. Take for example the power sector.
• India must also honor its global commitments on curbing greenhouse gas emissions, as per the Paris Agreement, implying we need to move away from a fossil fuel driven growth path. Clearly, we need to look at alternate solutions so we can address our energy security in a sustainable fashion, with a progressive reduction in carbon levels. Evidence from several developed countries points towards renewable energy adoption as the only way forward.
• Here are five areas that need more attention and focus, to take the Indian solar power industry to the next level.

Technology

• While solar is becoming important contributor to energy needs in India, there is still a huge gap to be filled. Rooftop solar solutions, for example, can add large capacities but certainly
  need a push from respective state governments.
• Newer advancements in the field like floating solar (solar panels mounted on structures that float on water bodies), and BIPV (wherein the conventional materials used for facades and roofs of buildings are replaced by photovoltaic's systems) can play a vital role in increasing capacity.
• Considering the huge potential in the sector, both the government and private entities jurist emphasise and support R and D and adoption of latest technology and innovations in this area. This will not only help shape the future course but also yield benefits in the form of reduced costs in turn facilitating adoption.

Policy Push

• Thanks to technology evolution and government policy, solar power tariffs have decreased over the past few years making solar energy more accessible to the common man . However, tariff margins discovered in reverse auctions have been pushed lower in recent years leading to a squeeze in profit margins.
• Considering that tariffs are now significantly lower than other sources of energy, we need to move towards healthier tariffs to help private players work with sustainable business models, and attract a higher capital inflow. This will eventually lead to augmented supply and further lowering of prices for the common people. Respective state governments should also accentuate the rate of solar power generation with regular capacity addition.

Discom health

• Despite the government’s initiatives to reinvigorate power distributing companies, the health of state discerns has not improved much over the years. These distribution companies form
  a crucial link in the cycle of energy generation and have an impact on the overall process.
• Hence, maintaining discoms in good shape forms an extremely important link on the road to 2022. The healthier the distribution companies, the more power they can purchase and supply. Steps should be taken to strengthen the discoms such that they are able to support higher tariffs, honour RROs and settle power providers' dues on time.
• The government should also bring in policies to operationalise ancillary and capacity markets to extract the total value of renewable energy technologies.

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Financial Reforms

• Reforms in banking systems will go a long way in assisting the renew able energy sector As of now, sectoral categorisation of banks sees renewables as part of the power sector, due to which, for most banks, the loan limit is majorly consumed by thermal plants and only a small fraction of the fund remains available for the renewables sector. Reality is that the renewables sector has clocked exponential growth and contributed handsome revenues to the exchequer.
• Considering the above, renewables should be categorized as a separate sector. This will help widen access to funds and simplify the process of loan procurement for companies. The government can also consider according priority sector status to renewables, given its strategic importance. Deeper and diverse bond markets will help in securing affordable finance for clean energy projects in the future.
• The government should continue its mission of cleansing the banking system and help them regularise bad loans while also reviewing lending norms so they are less stringent. A healthy banking system will be able to provide more funds at a competitive cost to propel the renewable sector.
  Enabling the ease of doing business
• The government’s pursuit of reforms has created a more conducive environment for investments in India reflected in our steady rise in Ease of Doing Business rankings over the
  past couple of years. However, faster processing of approvals for project implementation across the value chain, especially conversion approvals of land in different states would be of
  great help to the renewables sector. It has been seen that lack of proper power evacuation infrastructure has resulted in investor disinterest in the past. Considering this, the government should work on building more robust transmission systems. This will not only increase investor faith in the overall process but will also ensure no MW loss leakage during power distribution.

Conclusion

• Achieving the ambitious target of 100 GW solar power capacity by 2022 needs a collaborative effort from all the stakeholders, including the central and state governments’ financers, discerns and private players.
• The government has a key role to play not only by providing the required policy support but also acting as a central coordinator guiding and synchronising efforts from various stakeholders, to catalyze the solar industry's growth.

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