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Aspects of Energy Security

• Energy security means consistent availability of sufficient energy in various forms at affordable prices.
• These conditions must prevail over a longer period of time if energy is to contribute to sustainable development.
• India is one of the world’s largest energy consumers and currently relies on importing fuels to a significant extent.

India’s energy mix

• The major fuel in India’s energy mix is coal 55%, a major portion of which is produced domestically.
• Nuclear energy makes up about 3%, and renewable energy sources about 20%.

Why focus on nuclear energy?

• There is a huge gap between energy demand and energy supply in India, due to its rapidly growing economy.
• Nuclear energy is considered by many as being the only source of energy suitable to support continuous industrialization and urbanization.

India’s Nuclear Program

• India embarked on its commercial nuclear power production in 1969 with the commissioning of two boiling water reactors (BWR) of 210 MWe capacities each.
• India’s nuclear power program was conceived to be a closed fuel cycle, to be achieved in three sequential stages.
• Dr Homi J Bhabha, who is regarded as the father of the Indian nuclear power programme, who envisioned the roadmap of the three-stage nuclear energy:

First stage: Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) will be used to produce energy from natural uranium. Besides producing energy, it will produce fissile plutonium (Pu)-239.

Second stage: It involves using the indigenous Fast Breeder Reactor technology fuelled by Pu-239 to produce energy and more of Pu-239.  By the end of the second stage of the cycle, the reactor would have produced more fissile material than it would have consumed, thus earning the name “Breeder.”

Third stage: It would involve the use of Pu-239 recovered from the second stage, in combination with thorium-232, to produce energy and U-233 — another fissile material — using Thermal Breeders. This production of U-233 from thorium-232 would complete the cycle.

Why was 3 stage program envisaged?

• These stages feed into each other in such a way that the spent fuel generated from one stage of the cycle is reprocessed and used in the next.  
• It was designed to breed fuel and to minimize the generation of nuclear waste.
• The ultimate objective is to utilize the country’s vast reserves of thorium-232. India has the world’s third-largest reserves of thorium.
• Thorium, however, cannot be used as a fuel in its natural state. It needs to be converted into its usable “fissile” form after a series of reactions.
• Hence, to eventually produce nuclear power from its thorium reserves, three-stage nuclear program was envisioned.

Nuclear Reactors in India

Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd is the public sector enterprise, under the Department of Atomic Energy, entrusted with the task of nuclear power generation in the country.

Currently, there are 22 operational nuclear reactors in India with a total installed capacity of 6780 Mwe. These are:

• Tarapur 1 & 2 (BWR) – 2X160 MW;
• Rajasthan 1 to 6 (PHWR) – 100 +200 + 4X220 MW
• Madras 1 & 2 (PHWR) – 2X220 MW;
• Kudankulam 1 & 2 (PWR) – 2X1000 MW
• Narora 1 & 2 (PHWR) – 2X220 MW;
• Tarapur 3 & 4 (PHWR) – 2X540 MW
• Kaiga 1 to 4 ((PHWR) – 4X220 MW;
• Kakrapar 1 & 2 (PHWR) – 2X220 MW

Projects under construction

Relevance of Nuclear Energy

• Non-renewable sources: Currently, India draws nearly 63 per cent of its total energy generation from thermal sources. Of this, nearly 55 per cent is met from coal and the rest from gas, with a minuscule amount from oil-fired plants.
• Import dependence: India imports a significant part of its fossil fuels which raises economic and strategic vulnerabilities.
• Emission reduction: India’s per capita carbon emissions stand at 1-1.2 tons, compared to 20 tons per capita of the US. If a growing Indian economy continues to rely on coal, carbon emissions are bound to rise.
• Limitations of Renewable Energy: Solar and wind energy generation is land-intensive. Solar plants carry a dependence on imported technology.  Another solar and wind power generation related handicap is in energy storage, which makes them unsuitable as a baseload source of electricity.

Conclusion

• India is a developing nation and its economy is dominated by the manufacturing and service sectors which are energy-intensive.
• Its power generation capacity has increased a hundred-fold since independence, and it is today the third-largest producer of electricity in the world, are applaudable developments.
• India needs to scale up electricity production to assure a reasonable quality of life for citizens.
• Such requirements make the choice for India, not between nuclear and renewable, but to include all available sources.

Topics for Today’s questions:

GS-1    The Freedom Struggle — its various stages and important contributors/contributions from different parts of the country.

GS-2   Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and Agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

GS-3    Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.

GS-4    Attitude: Content, Structure, Function; its Influence and Relation with Thought and Behaviour; Moral and Political Attitudes; Social Influence and Persuasion.

Questions:

Question 1)

 

Q.1 Examine how press started by prominent Indians both in English and vernacular languages influenced the freedom struggle. Also, discuss the British reaction to this new form of Indian expression. (15 Marks)

 

Question 2)

Q.2 Eurasia involves the recalibration of India’s continental strategy. India has certainly dealt with Eurasia’s constituent spaces separately over the decades. What Delhi now needs is an integrated approach to Eurasia. In the context of this, examine the challenges in India’s engagement with Eurasia and suggest the elements that should form part of India’s strategy towards Eurasia. (10 Marks)

Question 3)

Q.3 How Gati Shakti National Master Plan aims to upgrade India’s national infrastructure and multimodal connectivity? What are its various components? (10 Marks)

Question 4)  

Q.4 The greatest discovery of all time is that a person can change his future by merely changing his attitude. What is the importance of attitude in one’s life? What important role does attitude play in one’s success? Elaborate. (10 Marks)

 

HOW TO ATTEMPT ANSWERS IN DAILY ANSWER WRITING ENHANCEMENT(AWE)?

1. Daily 4 questions from General studies 1, 2, 3, and 4 will be provided to you.

2. A Mentor’s Comment will be available for all answers. This can be used as a guidance tool but we encourage you to write original answers.

3. You can write your answer on an A4 sheet and scan/click pictures of the same.

4.  Upload the scanned answer in the comment section of the same question.

5. Along with the scanned answer, please share your Razor payment ID, so that paid members are given priority.

6. If you upload the answer on the same day like the answer of 11th  October is uploaded on 11th October then your answer will be checked within 72 hours. Also, reviews will be in the order of submission- First come first serve basis

7. If you are writing answers late, for example, 11th October is uploaded on 13th October, then these answers will be evaluated as per the mentor’s schedule.

8. We encourage you to write answers on the same day. However, if you are uploading an answer late then tag the mentor like @Staff so that the mentor is notified about your answer.

*In case your answer is not reviewed, reply to your answer saying *NOT CHECKED*. 

For the philosophy of AWE and payment: 

Topics for Today’s questions:

GS-1    The Freedom Struggle — its various stages and important contributors/contributions from different parts of the country.

GS-2    Effect of Policies and Politics of Developed and Developing Countries on India’s interests, Indian Diaspora.

GS-3    Conservation, Environmental Pollution and Degradation, Environmental Impact Assessment.

GS-4    Attitude: Content, Structure, Function; its Influence and Relation with Thought and Behaviour; Moral and Political Attitudes; Social Influence and Persuasion.

Questions:

Question 1)

 

Q.1 Many voices had strengthened and enriched the nationalist movement during the Gandhian Phase. Elaborate. (15 Marks)

 

Question 2)

Q.2 The real choice for the world is not just navigating between China and the United States. It is fundamentally between an orientation that is committed to global problem-solving rather than just preserving national supremacy. Comment. (10 Marks)

Question 3)

Q.3 Assess the suitability of the current laws in India to deal with the challenge of climate change? Do you agree with the view that India needs a climate law? (10 Marks)

Question 4)  

Q.4 Our attitudes towards life, work, other people and society are generally shaped unconsciously by the family and the social surroundings in which we grow up. Some of these unconsciously acquired attitudes and values are often undesirable in the citizens of a modern democratic and egalitarian society. (a) Discuss such undesirable values prevalent in today’s educated Indians. (b) How can such undesirable attitudes be changed and socio-ethical values considered necessary in public services be cultivated in the aspiring and serving civil servants? (10 Marks)

 

HOW TO ATTEMPT ANSWERS IN DAILY ANSWER WRITING ENHANCEMENT(AWE)?

1. Daily 4 questions from General studies 1, 2, 3, and 4 will be provided to you.

2. A Mentor’s Comment will be available for all answers. This can be used as a guidance tool but we encourage you to write original answers.

3. You can write your answer on an A4 sheet and scan/click pictures of the same.

4.  Upload the scanned answer in the comment section of the same question.

5. Along with the scanned answer, please share your Razor payment ID, so that paid members are given priority.

6. If you upload the answer on the same day like the answer of 11th  October is uploaded on 11th October then your answer will be checked within 72 hours. Also, reviews will be in the order of submission- First come first serve basis

7. If you are writing answers late, for example, 11th October is uploaded on 13th October, then these answers will be evaluated as per the mentor’s schedule.

8. We encourage you to write answers on the same day. However, if you are uploading an answer late then tag the mentor like @Staff so that the mentor is notified about your answer.

*In case your answer is not reviewed, reply to your answer saying *NOT CHECKED*. 

For the philosophy of AWE and payment: 

UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

One97 Communications-owned Paytm will launch its initial public offering for subscription in the coming week.

This is the largest-ever public issue in the history of Indian capital markets.  Before this, state-run coal mining company Coal India had the biggest IPO of more than Rs 15,000 crore in October 2010.

Context

• Driven by excess liquidity and a rising stock market, Indian companies has already raised approximately 72000 Crore rupees through IPOs this year, the highest amount over the last 20 years.
• With several more IPOs of companies such as Paytm and Policybazaar, the overall figure is likely to cross 1 Lakh crore by the end of this year.

In this article, we shall discuss the reason behind the IPO Boom’ this year, how are these issues performing on the market after listing and what kind of value addition do they bring to the table.

What is an IPO?

• Every company needs money to grow and expand.
• They do this by borrowing or by issuing shares.
• If the company decides to opt for the second route of issuing shares, it must invite public investors to buy its shares.
• This is its first public invitation in the stock market and is called the Initial Public Offering (IPO).

Do you know?

The Dutch are credited with conducting the first modern IPO by offering shares of the Dutch East India Company to the general public.

What does it mean for investors to buy shares?

• When one buys such shares, he/she makes an IPO investment.
• He/she gets ownership in the company, proportionate to the value of your shares.
• These shares then get listed on the stock exchange.
• The stock exchange is where you can sell your existing shares in the company or buy more.

How does an IPO work?

• The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) regulates the entire process of investment via an IPO in India.
• A company intending to issue shares through IPOs first registers with SEBI.
• SEBI scrutinises the documents submitted, and only then approves it.

Who can hold IPOs?

• It could be a new, young company or an old company which decides to be listed on an exchange and hence goes public.

Trading of shares

• The company which offers its shares, known as an ‘issuer’, does so with the help of investment banks.
• After IPO, the company’s shares are traded in an open market.
• Those shares can be further sold by investors through secondary market trading.

Why are IPOs held?

Some of the main motivations for undertaking an IPO include:

• Raising capital from the sale of the shares
• Providing liquidity to company founders and early investors and
• Taking advantage of a higher valuation

Benefits offered by IPO

• Cheaper avenues of raising capital
• More exposure, prestige and enhanced public image
• Creating multiple financing opportunity through equity, convertible debt etc

Limitations of IPO

• Disclosure of sensitive financial and business information
• Risk of company performance in future
• Risk of litigation by investors
• Market pressure
• Cost of trading (transaction cost) borne by the investors

Why is there a boom of IPOs in India?

There are multiple reasons for the spike IPOs:

• Monetary push: In in a bid to boost the economy, central banks and governments over the world have been pumping money into the economy.
• Liquidity: This money with people is finding its way into the stock markets.
• Lower interest rates: As long as the interest rates remain low, investor enthusiasm remains and investors keep making listing gains on the last few issues.
• Retailers’ entry: Besides big institutional investors, recent months have seen a hoard of first-time retail investors entering the markets.
• Regulatory boosts: Positive changes in the regulatory environment are also forging IPOs as a sustainable path for scaled companies. The SEBI has been highly proactive in this regard.

Ever since the release of a web series on the stock market, every other person/aspirant is seen talking about share markets. This seems to be the rising awareness and sensation created among young investors in the stock market.

Concerns raised

• The RBI has warned that there is a disconnect between Indian stock markets and the economy, which could pose a risk to the country’s financial stability.
• There is a question of sustainability of the spike in stock market.

Conclusion

• As a growing economy, India offers tremendous opportunities for entrepreneurs to build global companies.
• A very active early-stage VC ecosystem enables entrepreneurs to take that risk in the early stages, and a buoyant private equity market enables strong early-stage businesses to access growth capital.
• It is only natural to see a lot more IPOs in the future as these companies scale up.
• A knowledgeable and active public market ecosystem with active retail participation alongside FIIs is expected to make the country a solid story for the years to come.