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[pib] Exercise Cambrian Patrol
A team from Gorkha Rifles which represented the Indian Army at the prestigious Cambrian Patrol Exercise at Brecon, Wales, UK, has been awarded a Gold medal.
Ex Cambrian Patrol
- Organized by the UK Army, this exercise is considered the ultimate test of human endurance, team spirit and is sometimes referred as the Olympics of Military Patrolling.
- The aim of The Cambrian Patrol is to provide a challenging patrols exercise in order to enhance operational capability.
- The event has evolved into a cost-effective, ready-made exercise that Commanding Officers can use to test the basic training standards of their soldiers, in preparation for future operations.
- It is mission-focused and scenario-based with role players used to enhance the training benefit.
How it is conducted?
- During the exercise, teams are assessed for their performance under harsh terrain and inclement cold weather conditions.
- They undergo various challenges in addition to the complex real-world situations painted to them so as to assess their reactions in combat settings.
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Last Few seats remianing || GET READY FOR SPRINT || MAINS MANTHAN 2021 || 40 out of 50 students got interview call in 2020 Mains || Register Now
Civil Services Examination result 2020 was released on 24th September 2021. Civilsdaily is proud to announce its toppers. In 2020, we took 50 Students for Mains exclusive one-to-one mentorship program and 80% got interview calls with 50% making it to the final list.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD TOPPER COPIES
Even Toppers of Civil services examination 2020 were impressed by the quality of questions from the Mains Test and Mentorship provided:
A personal note by Karishma Nair, AIR 14 (2020) 
Quora Review by Pranav Vijayvergiya, AIR 65 (2020) A talk with Vaibhav Rawat, AIR 25 (2020) A talk by P Srija, AIR 20(2020) Pooja Gupta AIR 42(2020) Ponmani N AIR 148(2020) This year Mains Test Series will be more Quality driven and as per the pattern of the UPSC examination. The level of Questions will be Medium to Hard level. Also, we have made sure to bring more variety in program options so, that you can choose them as per your level of preparation and comfort.
Civilsdaily is proud to announce the start of its Mains program for the UPSC examination 2021. Last year, our mains test series was able to match the themes of 90% of questions from the UPSC examination.
Here is the proof of how our Mains Test questions matches UPSC examination:
Why Civilsdaily Mains program?
1. Question Formulation
It happens under a team of experienced Civilsdaily faculty. Questions framed are from the most important UPSC relevant themes and papers are based on the latest pattern of UPSC.
2. One-to-One Discussion on checked copy
We believe in personalized individual attention. This is the biggest reason why you should join our TS. A one-to-one discussion with your Mentor will not only highlight your weaknesses but will also help in tracking your improvements over the subsequent tests.
3. Answer Checking
Our evaluation focuses on multiple dimensions and parameters like structure, flow, presentation, contextuality, relevance to question, analytical excellence, and cross-domain inter-linkages than simply on superficial, memory-based lapses.
4. Model Answers
More than just simply providing information, our model answers cover all the aspects of a question and provide enriching points to the student.
CD Innovation – Color Coding – Red marking represents essential points to be written in answers. Green marking represents innovative points that can get you extra marks.
MAINS MANTHAN 2021
Here is the list of Mains programs available:
Mains Guidance Plus
Mains Guidance Plus is a wholesome package for UPSC Aspirants. The aim behind this program is not just to provide students with Model tests, but to cover multiple needs of students. From Mentorship to current affairs, the program has all the necessary elements needed for mains 2021.
PROGRAM INCLUSION:
Sectional Tests: 8 sectional tests to cover your static portions in detail. The scope will spread over your core subjects like History, economics, and polity, etc.
Full-length tests: 12 FLTs to help you practice for the final Mains examination. These FLTs are patterned on UPSC Examination and have medium to high-quality questions. They will surely boost your preparation and test your analytical skills.
One on One Mentorship: After every test, a call with a mentor will be arranged and you can clear your doubts on the paper. This is important as with your mentor you can discuss your weakness and strategize for the next paper.
Quality Enrichment Program Notes: QEP is an intensive and holistic program for IAS Mains 2021 GS papers. We aim to cover up to 250 most relevant issues with a 360-degree view, covering all dimensions of each and every topic. Not only you’ll learn and analyze these issues but will also understand how to utilize them via Daily Answer Writing and Mains Test Series.
Mains Super 50
Mains Super 50 is a program apt for those aspirants whose focus lies on clearing Mains 2021. Those Students who have been practicing some answer writing and want to directly start with FLTs should opt for this. This program also has complete mentorship support.
PROGRAM INCLUSION:
Full-length tests: 12 FLTs to help you practice for the final Mains examination. These FLTs are patterned on UPSC Examination and have medium to high-quality questions. They will surely boost your preparation and test your analytical skills.
One on One Mentorship: After every test, a call with a mentor will be arranged and you can clear your doubts on the paper. This is important as with your mentor you can discuss your weakness and strategize for the next paper.
Weekly Zoom Call with Sukanya Ma’am: These calls will focus on paper discussion and students can as well raise their queries.
Mains Guidance Mini
Mentorship is a forte of Civilsdaily and once you experience it, you will believe it. Mains Guidance Mini is a program focused on mentorship-based improvement. You can appear in any Test series, we will provide you the mentorship on that paper.
PROGRAM INCLUSION:
10 Test Discussion: You can discuss 10 FLTs in which you have appeared recently. These tests can be from any institute. Just mail to us and we will provide you the guidance.
One on One Mentorship: After submitting a test, a call with a mentor will be arranged and you can clear your doubts on the paper. This is important as with your mentor you can discuss your weakness and strategize for the next paper.
TOPPER COPIES 2020
Download and read how their answers improved after guidance from our mentors.
Other than these programs, you can check out our test series for Mains 2022 as well.
ALL THE BEST FOR MAINS 2021!! LET THE FINAL PREPARATION BEGIN!!
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[Burning Issue] Rural Electrification
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India has achieved its long-pending goal of 100% electrification of its villages. But there is still a long way to go in providing electricity to all households in the country. According to Central Electricity Authority (CEA), a village is considered electrified only if the Gram Panchayat certifies that the basic infrastructure has been provided to the inhabited area, including Dalit hamlets, and 10% of the households are electrified.
Rural Electrification in India
- Rural electrification is considered to be the backbone of the rural economy.
- The electricity generation capacity in India is the fifth largest in the world.
- India is the sixth largest consumer of electricity and accounts for 3.4 percent of the global energy consumption.
- The year 2022, has been earmarked for achieving the target of ‘24×7 Power for All’.
Rural electrification has five major facets:
- Setting up of Rural Electricity Infrastructure
- Providing connectivity to households
- Adequate supply of desired quality of power
- Supply of electricity at affordable rates
- Providing clean, environmentally benign and sustainable power in efficient way
When a village is called an Electrified Village?
Prior to October 1997
A Village should be classified as electrified if electricity is being used within its revenue area for any purpose whatsoever.
After October 1997
A village will be deemed to be electrified if the electricity is used in the inhabited locality, within the revenue boundary of the village for any purpose whatsoever.
As per the new definition, a village would be declared as electrified, if:
- Basic infrastructure such as Distribution Transformer and Distribution lines are provided in the inhabited locality as well as the Dalit Basti hamlet where it exists.
- Electricity is provided to public places like Schools, Panchayat Office, Health Centers, Dispensaries, Community centers etc.
- The number of households electrified should be at least 10% of the total number of households in the village.
What is Rural Electrification provides for?
- Increase in agriculture yield.
- Business of Small and household enterprises shall grow resulting into new avenues for employment.
- Improvement in Health, Education, Banking (ATM) services.
- Improvement in accessibility to radio, telephone, television, internet and mobile.
- Betterment in social security due to availability of electricity.
- Accessibility of electricity to schools, panchayats, hospitals and police stations.
- Rural areas shall get increased opportunities for comprehensive development.
Energy source and Percentage Share in installed capacity
National Electricity Policy 2005
- In compliance with section 3 of the Electricity Act 2003 the Central Government notified the National Electricity Policy.
- The National Electricity Policy aims at laying guidelines for accelerated development of the power sector, providing supply of electricity to all areas and protecting interests of consumers and other stakeholders keeping in view availability of energy resources, technology available to exploit these resources, economics of generation using different resources, and energy security issues.
- The National Electricity Policy was evolved in consultation with and considering views of the State Governments, Central Electricity Authority (CEA), Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) and other stakeholders.
The aims and objectives of the policy
- Access to Electricity – Available for all households in next five years
- Availability of Power – Demand to be fully met by 2012. Energy and peaking shortages to be overcome and adequate spinning reserve to be available.
- Supply of Reliable and Quality Power of specified standards in an efficient manner and at reasonable rates. Per capita availability of electricity to be increased to over 1000 units by 2012.
- Minimum lifeline consumption of 1 unit/household/day as a merit good by year 2012.
- Financial Turnaround and Commercial Viability of Electricity Sector.
- Protection of consumers’ interests.
National Rural Electrification Policy, 2006
- Goals include provision of access to electricity to all households by the year 2009, quality and reliable power supply at reasonable rates, and minimum lifeline consumption of 1 unit/household/day as a merit good by year 2012.
- For villages/habitations where grid connectivity would not be feasible or not cost effective, off-grid solutions based on stand-alone systems may be taken up for supply of electricity. Where these also are not feasible and if only alternative is to use isolated lighting technologies like solar photovoltaic, these may be adopted. However, such remote villages may not be designated as electrified.
- State government should, within 6 months, prepare and notify a rural electrification plan which should map and detail the electrification delivery mechanism. The plan may be linked to and integrated with district development plans. The plan should also be intimated to the appropriate commission.
- Gram panchayat shall issue the first certificate at the time of the village becoming eligible for declaration as electrified. Subsequently, the Gram Panchayat shall certify and confirm the electrified status of the village as on 31st March each year.
- The state government should set up a committee at the district level within 3 months, under the chairmanship of chairperson of the Zilla Panchayat and with representations from district level agencies, consumer associations, and important stakeholders with adequate representation of women.
- The district committee would coordinate and review the extension of electrification in the district and consumer satisfaction, etc.
- Panchayat Raj institutions would have a supervisory / advisory role.
- Institutional arrangements for backup services and technical support to systems based on non-conventional sources of energy will have to be created by the state government.
National policy for renewable energy-based micro and mini-grids
- Introduced by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
- It targets setting up of at least 10,000 projects with a minimum capacity of 500MW by 2021
- The draft policy proposes to extend energy services beyond lighting
Draft National Electricity Policy 2021
- NEP 2021 covers multiple areas– grid operation, power markets, regulatory process, energy efficiency, optimal generation mix, transmission, distribution and many more.
- The draft talks about the creation of Electric Vehicle charging stations, Smart meters, power markets, environment and more.
- Ministry of Power has created a committee of experts to submit suggestions to the draft NEP 2021 within two months of the release of the draft.
- The members of the committee include members from state governments, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), NITI Aayog, and the Central Electricity Authority.
Areas of improvement:
- It lacks a fair and coherent approach to energy transition from coal to renewable.
- It mentions the addition of coal capacity, despite the clear writing on the wall that thermal power is becoming unviable.
- New coal capacity should be considered only if shown essential based on rigorous modelling studies.
- Since many coal plants are going to retire, NEP should give policy directions to generating companies to take responsibility post-retirement for waste management as well as restoration of the land, water bodies and air quality in their project areas.
- Prevention of electricity accidents requires focus, the current NEP has provisions for efforts to build consumer awareness, but this is sadly missing in the new draft.
What is the actual scenario of rural electrification?
- Recently Union government announced it has achieved 100% rural electrification.
- The definition of electrification was limited to the provision of basic infrastructure such as transformers, of electricity in public places like schools and panchayats, and electrification of at least 10% households in the village.
- India continues to harbour energy poverty with 31 million rural households and about five million urban households still unconnected to the electricity grid.
- A significant portion of connected rural households are yet to get adequate quantity and quality of supply.
What are the plans of the government on electrification?
- Union government under Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) and Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) planning to provide universal electrification.
- By which it has an ambitious target of connecting all remaining households by the end of March 2019 and made budgetary allocations to cover the cost of electrification.
- As part of a Centre-State joint initiative on 24×7 ‘Power for All’, State governments have already committed to ensuring round-the-clock supply to all households from April 2019.
What are the challenges for India’s electrification target?
- Regional imbalances in electricity access is persisting in seven States namely Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, Assam, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, which account for 90% of un-electrified households.
- Coincidentally, these States are ranked poorly in social development indices and house about two-thirds of the population living below the poverty line.
- There are a range of implementation shortcomings in universal electrification by state governments due to sluggish finance structure of the union government.
- Most of the Indian power distribution companies (discoms) in these states are bankrupt and are unable to purchase power and provide it to consumers.
- As a result, discoms don’t have the capacity to sign power purchase agreements (PPAs).
- Add to this the issue of aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses, heightened by the rampant problem of power theft.
- Given the context, it is uncertain whether the goal of electrifying all ‘willing households’ by March 2019 would translate into universal access to electricity.
Related Schemes
(1) Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY)
Aim
- To ensure electrification of all the un-electrified villages by 2017 in mission mode
- The Scheme draws its inspiration from the similar pioneering scheme implemented by the Government of Gujarat
- It will enable to initiate much awaited reforms in the rural areas
Objectives
- To provide electrification to all villages
- Feeder separation to ensure sufficient power to farmers and regular supply to other consumers
- Improvement of Sub-transmission and distribution network to improve the quality and reliability of the supply
- Metering to reduce the losses
(2) Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana –“Saubhagya”
- The Saubhagya is a scheme to ensure electrification of all willing households in the country in rural as well as urban areas.
- It was launched in September 2017.
- The Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (REC) is the nodal agency for the operationalization of the scheme throughout the country.
Objective
- To provide energy access to all by last mile connectivity and electricity connections to all remaining un-electrified households in rural as well as urban areas
- To achieve universal household electrification in the country
Beneficiaries of the project
- The beneficiaries for free electricity connections would be identified using Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011 data.
- However, un-electrified households not covered under the SECC data would also be provided electricity connections under the scheme on payment of Rs. 500 which shall be recovered by DISCOMs in 10 installments through electricity bill.
- The solar power packs of 200 to 300 Wp with battery bank for un-electrified households located in remote and inaccessible areas, comprises Five LED lights, One DC fan, One DC power plug.
- It also includes Repair and Maintenance (R&M) for 5 years.
Expected outcomes of the scheme
What are the issues involved?
- Definition: Only 1 in 10 households need to have electricity supply for the village to be officially electrified. According to 2011 census, only 55.3% of all rural households had access to electricity
- Quality: Around 67% of electrified villages suffer from erratic and unreliable power supply. Low voltage was widely reported.
- The distribution transformers catering to villages had the capacity to support the load of only 10% of the households and thus the instances of overloading and transformer breakdowns are significant.
- Only 7%–10% rural locations receive supply during the full evening hours (5 pm to 11 pm).
- In Bihar, Jharkhand and UP, more than one-third of electrified households received less than four hours of supply during the day and voltage fluctuations are also common.
- Metering: More than 28% electrified villages reported overcharging and ad-hoc billing. One-time connection charges also differed from village to village.
- There are also instances of billing delays, particularly in issuing the first bill after connection. This increases the likelihood of payment defaults leading to disconnection of supply.
- Accountability: 52% villages face issues with contractors, repair persons and power distribution companies. Either no one turns up to address complaints or repairs are done after paying bribes or residents get repairs done at their own cost.
- Inaccessibility: Geographical terrain is posing a problem to grid expansion in at least 13% of all villages.
- NPA: Banks do not lend to mini-grid developers due to poor recovery of loans
- Kerosene dependence: Despite having electricity connection.
- Affordability: Among the most energy deprived states, while most villages and more than two-thirds of the households had electricity connections, less than 40 per cent had meaningful access to electricity.
- Financial Issues: High upfront cost is the major reason behind consumer disinterest in taking up and sustaining an electricity connection.
- Implementation and operational roadblocks: Network investments for rural electrification have been slower than planned. Lack of timely network investments jeopardizes the provision of reliable, affordable power supply.
- Operational issues: In the first phase of RGGVY, rural franchisees were expected to manage distribution operations in newly electrified areas. However, most of them are not operational and DDUGJY does not envisage such franchisees.
Way forward
- Metering and data management using ICT: Use information technology to monitor metering at feeder and distribution transformer levels to allow proper auditing of power supply.
- Parameters such as DT failure rate, hours of supply (especially during evening hours), metering and billing information, information on consumer disconnections, new connections for entrepreneurial use, electrification of rural institutions., could be tracked and reported on the national dashboards on a monthly basis for every district or division.
- With usage technology to monitor hours of supply, the duration of supply and interruptions can be recorded without manual intervention and tracked at a disaggregated level. This information can be used by SERCs and consumers to make DISCOMs more accountable for power supply.
- Expansion:
- The first step towards the target would be to provide new connections to un-electrified households and legalising existing illegal connections.
- Improving uptake of connections by addressing financial hurdles and awareness barriers is to be taken up.
- Financial constraint: While BPL households already receive a free connection under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY), APL families could be given a low-cost EMI based connection.
- Awareness: Empowering and encouraging local authorities to organise awareness campaigns and enrolment camps in habitations exhibiting limited awareness are also essential.
- Best practice: Bihar has currently evolved a good model both awareness campaigns subsidy for APL families.
- Supply situation: Improving the supply situation for already electrified households is to be done.
- DISCOM reforms: DISCOMs need to better plan for their infrastructure, factoring in near-term increase in demand, strengthening maintenance, and improving supply.
- Innovative Business: As managing rural customers, particularly in remote areas, is a challenge innovative business models need to be explored.
- Accountability: There is a need to hold DISCOMs accountable for monitoring of supply quality and operation and maintenance efforts in rural areas in order to ensure uninterrupted supply.
- Tariff changes:
- In many states, small industrial and commercial consumers pay tariff rates comparable to large industrial units and commercial complexes. There needs to be innovation in tariff design to encourage home-based or small enterprises in newly electrified villages
- Currently, supply of one unit of power costs the DISCOMs about Rs. 7 and this cost will most likely increase at a rate of more than 4% per unit in the coming years. As such costs will be unaffordable for many consumers, and with the contribution of cross-subsidies reducing, substantial subsidy support will be necessary.
- Research:
- Even after the targets of connections are met, there is a need for a national institution, with rural electrification as its key focus.
- Its mandate need not be to operate the rural distribution businesses but to provide knowledge and financial support to DISCOMs for maintaining and strengthening the rural network and ensuring supply.
- Success mainly depends on curbing DISCOM losses and ensuring consumer honesty. It is hoped that electrification would lead to improved consumer satisfaction, as electricity truly becomes an enabler of prosperity in rural India.
- Concerted efforts to monitor supply hours for rural, remote and newly electrified households are needed.
Discuss how the rural electrification has the potential to become a driver of rural economic growth. (250 words)
Post your answers in comments below.
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The coal crisis and role of CIL in mitigation
Context
In India, coal-based power plants have witnessed rapid depletion of coal stocks from a comfortable 28 days at the end of March to a precarious level of four days by the end of September. Coal India Ltd (CIL) has been unfairly attacked, even as it gears up to play a crucial role in fighting the power crisis.
Reasons for crisis
- The reasons for the crisis are structural as well as operational.
- The Coal Mines Nationalisation Act (CMNA) in 1993 enabled the government to take away 200 coal blocks of 28 billion tons from CIL and allocate them to end-users for the captive mining of coal.
- These end-users, mostly in the private sector, failed to produce any significant quantity of coal.
- The cancellation of 214 blocks by the Supreme Court added to the problem.
- Commensurate to the captive mines allocated to the end-user industries, the coal production today should have been at least 500 million tonnes per annum (mtpa).
- In reality, this has never exceeded 60 mtpa.
- On the operational side, power plants are required by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) to maintain a minimum stock of 15 to 30 days of normative coal consumption.
- The compliance with this directive by power plants has been severely lacking.
- This enhances the vulnerability of power plants.
- The persistent non-payment of coal sale dues by power plants to coal companies has created a serious strain on their working capital position.
- A spurt in imported coal prices, mainly due to a major increase in coal imports by China, acted as a brake on imports of coal.
- This escalated the demand for domestic coal.
- The spurt in demand for coal is being linked to the post-Covid economic recovery.
CIL’s role in mitigating the shortage crisis
- Growth in production in short duration: Despite many constraining factors, it is to the credit of CIL that it has achieved a growth of 14 million tonnes (mt) or 5.8 per cent in coal production during the first half of 2021-22.
- Yet, the offtake was higher than the preceding year by 52 mt or 20.6 per cent.
- This was possible by drawing down on the opening inventory of coal from 100 mt to 42 mt during April to September.
- With the monsoons behind us and the onset of a good productive season, CIL has already stepped up coal offtake to more than 1.5 mt per day.
- With efforts on the part of the railways in moving the coal, the crisis should dissipate in the near future, at least for power plants that pay timely for coal supplies.
- Besides meeting the growing coal demand of power plants, CIL has been able to significantly replace the import of highly expensive thermal coal.
- Cheaper coal: Even after bearing the highest tax and transport cost globally, the landed cost of CIL coal continues to be much cheaper than imported coal at almost all destinations.
- Saving of foreign exchange: The resultant benefits are savings of foreign exchange, and generation of power at affordable tariffs.
- The coal price charged by CIL, expressed in energy units, is at a deep discount of 60-70 per cent of imported coal.
Conclusion
In brief, CIL has been unfairly blamed for the coal crisis. It has played a stellar role, standing like a solid rock between light and darkness. It is striving to build comfortable stocks at the power plants, not in default of payment.
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Issues with RBI’s microfinance proposals
Context
In June 2021, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) published a “Consultative Document on Regulation of Microfinance”. The likely impact of the recommendations is unfavourable to the poor.
Background of microfinance in India
- Microfinance lending has been in place since the 1990s.
- In the 1990s, microcredit was given by scheduled commercial banks either directly or via non-governmental organisations to women’s self-help groups.
- But given the lack of regulation and scope for high returns, several for-profit financial agencies such as NBFCs and MFIs emerged.
- The microfinance crisis of Andhra Pradesh led the RBI to review the matter, and based on the recommendations of the Malegam Committee, a new regulatory framework for NBFC-MFIs was introduced in December 2011.
- A few years later, the RBI permitted a new type of private lender, Small Finance Banks (SFBs), with the objective of taking banking activities to the “unserved and underserved” sections of the population.
- Today, as the RBI’s consultative document notes, 31% of microfinance is provided by NBFC-MFIs, and another 19% by SFBs and 9% by NBFCs.
- These private financial institutions have grown exponentially over the last few years.
What are the recommendations in the document?
- The consultative document recommends that the current ceiling on rate of interest charged by non-banking finance company-microfinance institutions (NBFC-MFIs) or regulated private microfinance companies needs to be done away with.
- The paper argues that the interest rate ceiling is biased against one lender (NBFC-MFIs) among the many: commercial banks, small finance banks, and NBFCs.
- It proposes that the rate of interest be determined by the governing board of each agency, and assumes that “competitive forces” will bring down interest rates.
Comparison of rate of interest
- According to current guidelines, the ‘maximum rate of the interest rate charged by an NBFC-MFI shall be the lower of the following: the cost of funds plus a margin of 10% for larger MFIs (a loan portfolio of over ₹100 crores) and 12% for others; or the average base rate of the five largest commercial banks multiplied by 2.75’.
- A quick look at the website of some Small Finance Banks (SFBs) and NBFC-MFIs showed that the “official” rate of interest on microfinance was between 22% and 26% — roughly three times the base rate.
- How does this compare with credit from public sector banks and cooperatives?
- Crop loans from Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) in Tamil Nadu had a nil or zero interest charge if repaid in eight months.
- Kisan credit card loans from banks were charged 4% per annum (9% with an interest subvention of 5%) if paid in 12 months (or a penalty rate of 11%).
- Other types of loans from scheduled commercial banks carried an interest rate of 9%-12% a year.
- As even the RBI now recognises, the rate of interest charged by private agencies on microfinance is the maximum permissible, a rate of interest that is a far cry from any notion of cheap credit.
- The actual cost of microfinance loans is even higher for several reasons.
- An “official” flat rate of interest used to calculate equal monthly instalments actually implies a rising effective rate of interest over time.
- In addition, a processing fee of 1% is added and the insurance premium is deducted from the principal.
Violations of RBI guidelines
- In line with RBI regulations, all borrowers had a repayment card with the monthly repayment schedules.
- This does not mean that borrowers understood the charges.
- Further, contrary to the RBI guideline of “no recovery at the borrower’s residence”, the collection was at the doorstep.
Conclusion
The proposals in the RBI’s consultative document will lead to further privatisation of rural credit, reducing the share of direct and cheap credit from banks and leaving poor borrowers at the mercy of private financial agencies. This is beyond comprehension at a time of widespread post-pandemic distress among the working poor.
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Not clearing prelims is tough BUT don’t let that stop you from chasing your dream
Prelims is the most brutal stage of the UPSC Examination. Lakhs of students out of the race in one go. Lakhs of dreams shattered in one go!!
Not clearing prelims can be tough. A whole one year of preparation suddenly seems like a waste. The worst is when you start questioning your own capability – What good I am when I could not clear even the first stage of the UPSC exam? Should I start considering option B? What am I doing wrong?……
STOP Get out of this Loop FAST
Questioning your abilities is never the solution to any problem, let alone not clearing prelims. Even ranker holders like Swati Sharma AIR 17(2019) consider Prelims to be scary because let’s face it – it is a dicey game.
So, don’t get into this philosophical loop like what will I do with my life now that I have failed prelims. “Just buckle up, and deal with it. Prepare harder and prepare better”. Seems like tough love advice but we are here to help you out.Pranav Vijay AIR 65(2020) didn’t get disheartened after not clearing prelims 2 times in a row. He identified his issues, prepared smarter, and excelled with flying colors.
CHECK YOUR ISSUES:
Revise the paper: Go through the prelims 2021 paper again, you can’t chart out your future strategy without knowing where you messed up in the first place. While you do this, gather data on how many were careless mistakes, random guesses, or wrong because you did not properly revise.
Identify your weakness/strengths: Mark the subjects where you feel you don’t have a proper holdover. Weakness can be even in strategy, time management, or lack of revisions. In order to improve knowing your weakness is important. Strength can be a subject or the art of intelligent guessing in prelims, you have to make sure you retain that for the next prelims.
Start preparing comprehensively: The ultimate aim is not just clearing prelims but getting your name in that final pdf. In order to achieve that you have to make sure that you start both your prelims and mains preparation together.WHAT CAN CIVILSDAILY DO FOR YOU?
Make your preparation more structured and rational: Clearing prelims and mains are completely different skills. Toppers like Tina Dabi were great at the mains stage but barely passed the prelims examination. This is where your mentor comes into play who can ensure your preparation is a balanced approach to fulfill the requirements of both examinations.
Retrospect on your previous preparation to prepare the future plan: If you are a beginner then your strategy would be different from a person who has written mains 2 times. Personalize attention is necessary to cater to the demands of each and every student. Our mentors are up for any challenge that students face in their preparation journey.
Mentor at every step: At Civilsdaily, we believe that one bad result is not the real judge of your abilities. The very first thing that our mentors do is building up your confidence and your faith in yourself. Mentors here will be your friend, philosopher, and guide in the real sense.
Prelims is over but this does not have to be the end to your dream. Connect with us and let us help you out in planning a better and efficient strategy for the future.
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Master essay writing to score 150+|Step-by-step learning| 1:1 Teaching| For Mains 2021 and 2022
Essay FLT Programme 2021
The essay must be prepared first if you are appearing 2021 Main Exam. This is also the right time to start essay for those who will appear in 2022. The importance of essays for the exam cannot be overstated.
While the performance of students is more or less the same in GS papers (especially 1,2,3), but in the case of essays, the variation of marks is rather huge (from 60s to 160s). Yes, a single Essay paper can create a gulf of 100 marks. Obviously, this can’t be filled!
Writing a good essay can be very challenging and confusing. Time and again we’ve received many queries from students like:
- Reviews provide additional points but don’t address the inherent shortcomings and deficiency in my skills.
- Will reading ready-made sample essays help me prepare for essays?
- Don’t know how to start an essay, how to organize one.
- Can we do well in essays without practicing by re-using our GS paper knowledge alone?
- Is there a universal format that I can stick to?
- Content related- some suffer from information overload other from information deficit.
- Importance of rough work for essays.
- Difficulty in balancing time and quality in both topics.
That’s why we’ve invested a great deal of energy to create a program the likes of which are offered by no one else.
What is the Essay Full-Length Tests Programme 2021?
What makes the program distinctive is – its process-driven approach. The process may have some common minimum steps for all but your individuality in the form of your essay writing is paramount. Here comes the role of a mentor with whom a reliable one-to-one discussion will certainly be a game-changer.
What are we offering and how is it unique?
Not information-centric, rather analytical and critical style of Essay writing. Our focus is on personalized attention in evaluation, execution, and course correction.
CEP Methodology:
- Orientation Session – brainstorming, thesis statement, types of introduction, way to conclude, main body arguments and their organisation in your essay.
- Pre-test discussion on the theme for building the arguments and content.
- Post-test one-on-one discussion with evaluated copy.
Highly relevant, precise, and thoughtful topic selection
Our research tells us there are 8 broad themes of essays being asked since 2010 – Economy, Polity, Women Issues, Education, Science & Tech, Philosophy, IR, Miscellaneous.
- Social Issues- Women Issues, Social Movements, Class, Caste, Youth, Geriatric
- Economy,
- Political System and Governance
- Human Development- Health, Education, Employment
- Science & Technology- IT/ITeS, AI
- Ethical, Abstract or Philosophical,
- IR
- Miscellaneous
An innovative methodology for reviews
Our biggest innovation lies in our review methodology. Specific portions of your essay will be highlighted with symbols to indicate issues in essay writing:
- FUNDAMENTAL FLAWS like judgments/strong postures which need to be avoided at all costs.
- APPRECIATION for uniqueness.
- STRUCTURE is not maintained. Issues with Language and expression.
- GENERAL SUGGESTIONS for candidates.
Along with this, Arpit sir will also leave specific reviews on strengths and weaknesses.
We don’t want to merely suggest additional points that can be googled by the student themselves or point out superficial flaws like not ‘sticking to the topic’. They don’t necessarily highlight the shortcomings in the essay. This adds very little value to students. We go much beyond that and help students fix major flaws in their essays.
10 parameters on which your essays are going to get evaluated
- Comprehension of the topic
- Language and Expression
- Structure and Organisation of thought.
- Objectivity and Biases. Balance of perception
- Attitude whether a learner or judgmental
- Focus and attention
- Content and Source matter, Knowledge and information processing capability
- Ability to forge links in an interdisciplinary manner
- The simplicity of disposition
- Observational Skills
Model essays with indicative structure and good essay copies
You will be provided with good essay copies to serve as sample answers. This is a better alternative than sample answers which are hastily written and at times not updated with the latest figures.
Students have an incorrect impression that going through a sample essay will somehow help them write better essays. This is absolutely incorrect.
To develop your competency in tackling different topics, you have to be able to come up with appropriate structures. This aspect of the program addresses this issue.
The expectation from you would be that you study the solutions in detail and try to address the shortcomings in your essays. Should doubts still persist, we’re here to help.
One-to-one Mentorship and CivilsDaily’s handholding
This component of the program is the most important. Post-evaluation of your essay test you will get on a one-to-one discussion with Arpit sir. He will discuss the topic in considerable depth, appropriate structure, pitfalls to avoid, etc.
Along with that, Sir will also discuss copies presenting different styles in which the essays could be attempted.
Membership to an exclusive group on Habitat
Habitat is our learning platform, here you’ll be given membership to an exclusive Essay group. This group will be administered by Arpit sir, Sajal sir, in-service officers, rankers, and other mentors.
For essays, you need multiple perspectives to understand a topic or an issue in its entirety. You need discussions; arguments; confluence, confrontation, and integration of ideas. Here, discussions will be facilitated by mentors and enriched by different viewpoints by peers. Moreover, you can ask and discuss any of your doubts with peers and Arpit sir.
Besides these, you will receive the following
- Any additional material that we release for essays.
- Notes and reference material including good articles, essays, etc. on Habitat group.
Program inclusion
- 6 FLTs
- Detailed orientation for beginners
- Process building Sessions
- Content/Approach Building Sessions
- Model essays
- One-to-one mentorship
- Membership to exclusive Essay group on Habitat
- Notes and references on Habitat
- Topic-wise arranged PYQs
Time-table Essay Full-Length Tests:
Test 1 31st October 2021 Test 2 10th November 2021 Test 3 20th November 2021 Test 4 30th November 2021 Test 5 10th December 2021 Test 6 20th December 2021 About Arpit Sir:
Arpit sir is an Engineer by qualification and a teacher by inclination. He has experience of all the stages of UPSC and is in the coaching industry for about 8 years with diverse exposure. For him, process is more important than instant gratification as once learnt then it is the Process that will ensure exam outcome.
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Samachar Manthan Yearly 2022 Batch 2
From 1st October 2021 till 1st October 2022
Here is how we will guide you till Mains 2022
Note- There are two variants of Samachar Manthan – Till Prelims and Till Mains
Current affairs are indispensable for every stage of the UPSC exam. Understanding the importance of current affairs is just one part of the UPSC puzzle. For solving the whole puzzle, we have Samachar Manthan.
Importance in Interview
In Personality Tests often your opinions are asked on various issues. Current Affairs make you aware of the surroundings and allow you to give practical answers to the problems faced by the country.
What is Samachar Manthan?
Samachar Manthan is our flagship program designed to help you develop a solid command on your newspaper reading and current affairs analyzing skills. We’re are also going to focus on imparting skills required to utilize current affairs. Since it builds your core, it is important for both Prelims and Mains.
Program inclusion
1. Weekly 3+ hours video lecture
2. High-quality Notes and reference material
3. Membership to Samachar Manthan Habitat club – doubts, discussion, and mentorship session.
4. Weekly Current Affairs based Mains Test (10 Questions) and Evaluation
5. Current Affairs Monthly Prelims Test package
6. Marathon Revision sessions on Habitat before Prelims and Mains
7. Frequent Google meet Sessions to check on Student’s Preparation status
8. Micro notes to help you make your notes.
Duration of the program:
This program will continue till UPSC Mains 2022
About the faculty leading this program:
Sajal Singh
Sajal sir is known to make Economics and IR as easy as a cakewalk. He scored one of the highest marks in GS in the 2017 UPSC exam. Under his guidance, more than 80 percent of Students qualified for UPSC interview 2020 in Smash mains Program.
Sudhanshu Mishra
Sudhanshu sir has firsthand experience of 3 mains and two interviews of UPSC. He has served in the defense ministry for 10 years with keen interests in regional and global geopolitics and has ample experience of various other competitive exams as well.
Why Samachar Manthan?
5 stage structure of Lecture-Notes-Testing-Review-Mentoring
Our unique five-stage methodology helps ensure maximum retention and rock-solid preparation. Each component has been meticulously crafted which repeated every week creates a virtuous cycle.
Diversified and Comprehensive coverage
We let news develop over a week, and a team under Sajal Sir daily covers it from various sources which include newspapers (The Hindu, The Indian Express, LiveMint, etc.), magazines (Yojana, Kurukshetra, EPW, Down to Earth), important websites (PIB, PRS, govt ministries, IDSA, etc.).
UPSC is a generalist exam. It’s important to cover more issues than to cover a few, in more depth. Samachar Manthan ensures a fine balance of comprehensive news coverage and detailed discussion on the most important topics.
Videos and Notes
Carefully selected relevant news is analyzed and delivered in a weekly lecture spanning over 3 hours.
You will be getting high-quality, well-designed notes. They are detailed with proper categorization of news into the Mains and Prelims category.
Our focus is on conceptual clarity, simplicity, relevance, and making interlinkages between current affairs and basic/static part of the syllabus.
Samachar Manthan Weekly Notes (Click to download)
Samachar Manthan Micro-notes (click to download)
Samachar Manthan will also help you understand how to utilize current affairs in all your Prelims and Mains papers. A part of which is done by tests.
Weekly Mains Test and Evaluation
Because learning is not enough, you must apply. Every week a 10 question UPSC level current affairs test follows with video and notes. The focus here is on Mains answer writing skills and practice.
It’s a skill that is learned, honed, and perfected gradually. And this is why it should be done regularly. Our team of subject experts evaluates your answers and provides you with feedback. Answer enhancement is one of the objectives of this exercise.
Evaluated answer sheet – 1 (Click to download)
Evaluated answer sheet – 2 (Click to download)
Current Affairs Monthly Prelims Test package
This was a feedback that we had received from our students. Now every month we provide a Current Affairs prelims test package.
All this completes a study loop and enhances your retention.
Civilsdaily Handholding and mentoring:
Our team led by Sajal sir is there to provide handholding support all through your UPSC journey. Increased interaction with the faculty and teachers from Civilsdaily will help you align your preparation and make it more relevant. You can reach out to Sajal sir and other teachers on Habitat.
Google meet sessions
Another important component we have added this year is Google meet sessions. These sessions will be conducted on a regular basis with the aspirants.
Samachar Manthan 2022 -Habitat club
Habitat is where everything comes together learning, doubt clearing, notes, references, mentors, and a focussed community. You’re going to learn and discuss like never before.
How will your queries be resolved?
- The moment you have a query, you post it in the group. At 11PM, 3AM, doesn’t matter. No need to schedule a call, or drop an email. Just drop a chat. Once our team is up, it will be resolved.
- More often than not, your peers will take part in your doubt discussions adding a lot of value.
Besides doubts, what else is there on Habitat?
- #DDS sessions – We have dedicated sessions every day to resolve doubts in real-time. Never keep a doubt to yourself.
- An ecosystem for co-learning and active learning.
- A highly motivated community to bring flexibility and consistency to your preparation.
Marathon revision sessions before Prelims and Mains
To consolidate your coverage and revision we take revision sessions on Habitat.
This is what our students have to say about Samachar Manthan and Sajal Sir.
Feedback from our students. 
From answers posted in Quora. Read more here. MODE OF PAYMENT
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What the low rank on the Global Hunger Index means for India
Context
This year’s Global Hunger Index (GHI) ranks India 101 out of 116 countries for which reliable and comparable data exist.
Government’s stand
- Is India’s performance on hunger as dismal as denoted by the index or is it partly a statistical artefact?
- This question assumes immediacy, especially since the government has questioned the methodology and claimed that the ranking does not represent the ground reality.
- This calls for careful scrutiny of the methodology, especially of the GHI’s components.
Understanding the GHI methodology
- The GHI has four components.
- The first — insufficient calorie intake — is applicable for all age groups.
- The data on deficiency in calorie intake, accorded 33% weight, is sourced from the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Suite of Food Security Indicators (2021).
- The remaining three — wasting (low weight for height), stunting (low height for age) and mortality — are confined to children under five years.
- The data on child wasting and stunting (2016-2020), each accounting for 16.6% of weight, are from the World Health Organization, UNICEF and World Bank, complemented with the latest data from the Demographic and Health Surveys.
- Under-five mortality data are for 2019 from the UN Inter-Agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation.
Issues with GHI
- The GHI is largely children-oriented with a higher emphasis on undernutrition than on hunger and its hidden forms, including micronutrient deficiencies.
- The first component — calorie insufficiency — is problematic for many reasons.
- The lower calorie intake, which does not necessarily mean deficiency, may also stem from reduced physical activity, better social infrastructure (road, transport and healthcare) and access to energy-saving appliances at home, among others.
- For a vast and diverse country like India, using a uniform calorie norm to arrive at deficiency prevalence means failing to recognise the huge regional imbalances in factors that may lead to differentiated calorie requirements at the State level.
Understanding the connection between stunting and wasting and ways to tackling them
- India’s wasting prevalence (17.3%) is one among the highest in the world.
- Its performance in stunting, when compared to wasting, is not that dismal, though.
- Child stunting in India declined from 54.2% in 1998–2002 to 34.7% in 2016-2020, whereas child wasting remains around 17% throughout the two decades of the 21st century.
- Stunting is a chronic, long-term measure of undernutrition, while wasting is an acute, short-term measure.
- Quite possibly, several episodes of wasting without much time to recoup can translate into stunting.
- Effectively countering episodes of wasting resulting from such sporadic adversities is key to making sustained and quick progress in child nutrition.
- Way forward: If India can tackle wasting by effectively monitoring regions that are more vulnerable to socioeconomic and environmental crises, it can possibly improve wasting and stunting simultaneously.
Low child mortality
- India’s relatively better performance in the other component of GHI — child mortality — merits a mention.
- Studies suggest that child undernutrition and mortality are usually closely related, as child undernutrition plays an important facilitating role in child mortality.
- However, India appears to be an exception in this regard.
- This implies that though India was not able to ensure better nutritional security for all children under five years, it was able to save many lives due to the availability of and access to better health facilities.
Conclusion
The low ranking does not mean that India fares uniformly poor in every aspect. This ranking should prompt us to look at our policy focus and interventions and ensure that they can effectively address the concerns raised by the GHI, especially against pandemic-induced nutrition insecurity.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
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18th October 2021| Daily Answer Writing Enhancement(AWE)
Topics for Today’s questions:
GS-1 Population and associated issues, poverty, and developmental issues
GS-2 Statutory, Regulatory and various Quasi-judicial Bodies.
GS-3 Money laundering and its prevention
GS-4 Contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers
from India and world.Questions:
Question 1)
Q.1 Tribal population has fared poorly in various health indicators at the national level. In this context, highlighting various reasons for poor health of tribals and suggest suitable steps that need to be taken to address the same. (10 Marks)
Question 2)
Q.2 What are the issues with the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) being the sole and mandatory requirement for medical admission? Suggest the way forward to deal with the issues. (10 Marks)
Question 3)
Q.3 What are the consequences of illicit financial flows to the economies? What are the challenges in curbing illicit financial flows? (10 Marks)
Question 4)
Q.4 “Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value”- Albert Einstein. Bring out what this statement means to you in the present context. (10 Marks)
HOW TO ATTEMPT ANSWERS IN DAILY ANSWER WRITING ENHANCEMENT(AWE)?
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Daily 4 questions from General studies 1, 2, 3, and 4 will be provided to you.
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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.
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You can write your answer on an A4 sheet and scan/click pictures of the same.
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Upload the scanned answer in the comment section of the same question.
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Along with the scanned answer, please share your Razor payment ID, so that paid members are given priority.
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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
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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.
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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:
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Q.4 “Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value”- Albert Einstein. Bring out what this statement means to you in the present context. (10 Marks)
Mentor’s Comments-
- Briefly explain what you understand by the quote.
- Highlight the relationship between success and values and substantiate it with examples.
- Conclude accordingly.
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Q.3 What are the consequences of illicit financial flows to the economies? What are the challenges in curbing illicit financial flows? (10 Marks)
Mentor’s comment-- https://www.thehindu.com/
opinion/lead/taking-the-lid- off-illicit-financial-flows/ article36974015.ece - In the intro, mention the recent publication of Pandora Papers exposing once again the illegal activities of the rich across the world.
- In the body, mention the effects of illicit financial flows like impact on government revenue due to tax evasion, lowering of tax rates by the governments to attract the capital leading to race to the bottom, moving money out of the reach of the creditors, terrorist financing etc. In the difficulties mention loopholes in the laws, lack of intent on the part of rich countries as these countries are the beneficiaries of these fund movements, actions of the perpetrators are sometimes outside the purview of Indian tax authorities.
- Conclude by mentioning the need for a global minimum tax rate and ending the banking secrecy.
- https://www.thehindu.com/
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Q.2 What are the issues with the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) being the sole and mandatory requirement for medical admission? Suggest the way forward to deal with the issues. (10 Marks)
Mentor’s comment-- https://indianexpress.com/
article/opinion/columns/neet- equality-of-opportunity-tamil- nadu-7573999/ - In the intro, mention the act passes by the Tamil Nadu government and awaiting presidential nod seeking exemption from NEET.
- In the body, mention the issues raised by the Justice A K Rajan committee such as favouring students from a privileged background and bias towards CBSE, issue of equality of opportunity etc. In the suggestion mention role of NEP 2020.
- Conclude by mentioning the need to consider the diverse nature of the country and the different socio-economic conditions of the students.
- https://indianexpress.com/
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Q.1 Tribal population has fared poorly in various health indicators at the national level. In this context, highlighting various reasons for poor health of tribals and suggest suitable steps that need to be taken to address the same. (10 Marks)
Mentor’s Comments-
- In the introduction, give some statistics about tribal health in India.
- In the body, list down the reasons for poor tribal health in India.
- Suggest some measures to improve the situation.
- Conclude by mentioning some of the steps taken in this regard.Also mention that there is a lot of scope for improvement.
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Only 1 in 100 Aspirants clear Prelims||Not clearing prelims is tough BUT don’t let that stop you from chasing your dream
Prelims is the most brutal stage of the UPSC Examination. Lakhs of students out of the race in one go. Lakhs of dreams shattered in one go!!
Not clearing prelims can be tough. A whole one year of preparation suddenly seems like a waste. The worst is when you start questioning your own capability – What good I am when I could not clear even the first stage of the UPSC exam? Should I start considering option B? What am I doing wrong?……
STOP Get out of this Loop FAST
Questioning your abilities is never the solution to any problem, let alone not clearing prelims. Even ranker holders like Swati Sharma AIR 17(2019) consider Prelims to be scary because let’s face it – it is a dicey game.
So, don’t get into this philosophical loop like what will I do with my life now that I have failed prelims. “Just buckle up, and deal with it. Prepare harder and prepare better”. Seems like tough love advice but we are here to help you out.Pranav Vijay AIR 65(2020) didn’t get disheartened after not clearing prelims 2 times in a row. He identified his issues, prepared smarter, and excelled with flying colors.
CHECK YOUR ISSUES:
Revise the paper: Go through the prelims 2021 paper again, you can’t chart out your future strategy without knowing where you messed up in the first place. While you do this, gather data on how many were careless mistakes, random guesses, or wrong because you did not properly revise.
Identify your weakness/strengths: Mark the subjects where you feel you don’t have a proper holdover. Weakness can be even in strategy, time management, or lack of revisions. In order to improve knowing your weakness is important. Strength can be a subject or the art of intelligent guessing in prelims, you have to make sure you retain that for the next prelims.
Start preparing comprehensively: The ultimate aim is not just clearing prelims but getting your name in that final pdf. In order to achieve that you have to make sure that you start both your prelims and mains preparation together.WHAT CAN CIVILSDAILY DO FOR YOU?
Make your preparation more structured and rational: Clearing prelims and mains are completely different skills. Toppers like Tina Dabi were great at the mains stage but barely passed the prelims examination. This is where your mentor comes into play who can ensure your preparation is a balanced approach to fulfill the requirements of both examinations.
Retrospect on your previous preparation to prepare the future plan: If you are a beginner then your strategy would be different from a person who has written mains 2 times. Personalize attention is necessary to cater to the demands of each and every student. Our mentors are up for any challenge that students face in their preparation journey.
Mentor at every step: At Civilsdaily, we believe that one bad result is not the real judge of your abilities. The very first thing that our mentors do is building up your confidence and your faith in yourself. Mentors here will be your friend, philosopher, and guide in the real sense.
Prelims is over but this does not have to be the end to your dream. Connect with us and let us help you out in planning a better and efficient strategy for the future.
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Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2020
Context
Most discoms are deep into the red as high aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses are chipping into their revenues. Against this backdrop, the Electricity (Amendment) Bill of 2020 is a game-changing reform.
Why the Electricity (Amendment) Bill of 2020 is a game-changing reform
- De-licensing power distribution: This will provide the consumers with an option of choosing the service provider, switch their power supplier and enable the entry of private companies in distribution, thereby resulting in increased competition.
- In fact, privatisation of discoms in Delhi has reduced AT&C losses significantly from 55% in 2002 to 9% in 2020.
- Open access for purchasing power: Open access for purchasing power from the open market should be implemented across States and barriers in the form of cross-subsidy surcharge, additional surcharge and electricity duty being applied by States should be reviewed.
- Issue of tariff revision: The question of tariffs needs to be revisited if the power sector is to be strengthened.
- Tariffs ought to be reflective of the average cost of supply to begin with and eventually move to customer category-wise cost of supply in a defined time frame.
- This will facilitate a reduction in cross-subsidies.
- Inclusion in GST: Electrical energy should be covered under GST, with a lower rate of GST, as this will make it possible for power generator/transmission/distribution utilities to get a refund of input credit, which in turn will reduce the cost of power.
- Use of smart meters: Technology solutions such as installation of smart meters and smart grids which will reduce AT&C losses and restore financial viability of the sector.
- The impetus to renewable energy: The impetus to renewable energy, which will help us mitigate the impact of climate change, is much needed.
- Despite its inherent benefits, the segment has shown relatively slow progress with an estimated installed capacity of 5-6 GW as on date, well short of the 2022 target.
- The Bill also underpins the importance of green energy by proposing a penalty for non-compliance with the renewable energy purchase obligations which mandate States and power distribution companies to purchase a specified quantity of electricity from renewable and hydro sources
- Strengthening the regulatory architecture: This will be done by appointing a member with a legal background in every electricity regulatory commission and strengthening the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity.
- This will ensure faster resolution of long-pending issues and reduce legal hassles.
- Authority for contractual obligation: Provision in the Bill such as the creation of an Electricity Contract Enforcement Authority to supervise the fulfillment of contractual obligations under power purchase agreement, cost reflective tariffs and provision of subsidy through DBT are commendable.
Conclusion
Early passage of the Bill is critical as it will help unleash a path-breaking reform for bringing efficiency and profitability to the distribution sector.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
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Bhutan-China Border Agreement
In a step towards resolving their boundary disputes, Bhutan and China signed an agreement on a three-Step roadmap to help speed up talks to “break the deadlock” in negotiations.
Bhutan-China Border Issues
Bhutan shares an over 400-km-long border with China.
- Doklam: China wants to exchange the valleys to the north of Bhutan with the pasture land to the west (including Doklam), totalling 269 square kilometres.
- Jakarlung and Pasamlung valleys: located near Tibet to Bhutan’s North, which measure 495 sq. kms.
- Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary Project: China claims this area (near to Arunachal Pradesh) in eastern Bhutan as its own.
What is the recent agreement?
- The roadmap “for Expediting the Bhutan-China Boundary Negotiations”, is expected to progress on the boundary talks process that has been delayed for five years.
- It was stalled due to the Doklam standoff in 2017, and then by the Covid Pandemic.
- Although China and Bhutan do not have official diplomatic relations they have engaged in 24 rounds of ministerial-level talks to resolve their border dispute.
Implications for India
The boundary issue between China and Bhutan is special because it not only relates to Bhutan but also has become a negative factor for China-India ties.
- China control much of the Doklam: Since the 2017 stand-off with India, Beijing has already strengthened its de facto control over much of the Doklam plateau, located strategically along the India-China-Bhutan trijunction.
- Bhutan supports it: This agreement has been equally endorsed and appreciated by Bhutan and China.
- Deadlock at LAC talks: Its timing is particularly significant New, given India-China border talks on their 17-month-old standoff at the Line of Actual Control appear to have hit an deadlock.
- India’s strategic risks: This has big implications for India, since the Doklam swap would have given China access to the strategically sensitive “chicken neck” of the Siliguri corridor.
India’s interest
(a) Doklam
- The Doklam plateau remains hugely critical for India due to the Siliguri Corridor that lies to the south of Doklam.
- The corridor, also known as the ‘Chicken’s Neck’, is a 22-km wide major arterial road connecting mainland India with its northeastern states and thus it is a highly sensitive area for China.
(b) Sakteng: the hotspot
- The Sakteng sanctuary adjoins West Kameng district and Tawang disticts in India’s Arunachal Pradesh state.
- Its strategic value lies in its proximity to Arunachal Pradesh, where China claims around 90,000 sq km of Indian territory.
- Tawang, the major bone of contention between India and China in the eastern sector of their border dispute, lies to the northeast of the Sakteng.
Conclusion
- Bhutan has to balance its ties with India as well as China.
- We need to explore channels that India can activate with Bhutan when it comes to the highly sensitive matter of settling the boundary dispute between them and China.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
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COP26 Climate Conference and Why it is important
The UK will host the COP 26 UN Climate Change Conference from October 31 to November 12.
Conference of Parties (CoP): A Backgrounder
- The CoP comes under the United Nations Climate Change Framework Convention (UNFCCC) which was formed in 1994.
- The UNFCCC was established to work towards “stabilisation of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.”
- It laid out a list of responsibilities for the member states which included:
- Formulating measures to mitigate climate change
- Cooperating in preparing for adaptation to the impact of climate change
- Promoting education, training and public awareness related to climate change
- The UNFCCC has 198 parties including India, China and the USA. COP members have been meeting every year since 1995.
COP1 to COP25: Key takeaways
COP1: The first conference was held in 1995 in Berlin.
COP3: It was held in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997, the famous Kyoto Protocol (w.e.f. 2005) was adopted. It commits the member states to pursue limitation or reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
COP8: India hosted the eighth COP in 2002 in New Delhi. It laid out several measures including, ‘strengthening of technology transfer… in all relevant sectors, including energy, transport and R&D, and the strengthening of institutions for sustainable development.
COP21: it is one of the most important that took place in 2015, in Paris, France. Here countries agreed to work together to ‘limit global warming to well below 2, preferably at 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.’
Significance of COP26
- The event will see leaders from more than 190 countries, thousands of negotiators, researchers and citizens coming together to strengthen a global response to the threat of climate change.
- It is a pivotal movement for the world to come together and accelerate the climate action plan after the COVID pandemic.
COP26 goals
According to the UNFCCC, COP26 will work towards four goals:
- Secure global net-zero by mid-century and keep 1.5 degrees within reach
- The UNFCCC recommends that countries ‘accelerate the phase-out of coal, curtail deforestation, speed up the switch to electric vehicles and encourage investment in renewables’ to meet this goal.
- Adapt to protect communities and natural habitats
- Countries will work together to ‘protect and restore ecosystems and build defences, warning systems and resilient infrastructure and agriculture to avoid loss of homes, livelihoods and even lives.’
- Mobilise finance
- To deliver on first two goals, developed countries must make good on their promise to mobilise at least $100bn in climate finance per year by 2020.
- Work together to deliver
- Another important task at the COP26 is to ‘finalise the Paris Rulebook’. Leaders will work together to frame a list of detailed rules that will help fulfil the Paris Agreement.
What India could do to reach its targets?
- Update NDCs: It is time for India to update its Nationally Determined Contributions or NDCs. (NDCs detail the various efforts taken by each country to reduce the national emissions)
- Effective planning: Sector by sector plans are needed to bring about development. We need to decarbonise the electricity, transport sector and start looking at carbon per passenger mile.
- Energy transition: Aggressively figure out how to transition our coal sector
- Robust legal framework: India also needs to ramp up the legal and institutional framework of climate change.
Try answering this PYQ:
With reference to the Agreement at the UNFCCC Meeting in Paris in 2015, which of the following statements is/are correct?
- The Agreement was signed by all the member countries of the UN and it will go into effect in 2017.
- The Agreement aims to limit the greenhouse gas emissions so that the rise in average global temperature by the end of this century does not exceed 2 degree Centigrade or even 5 degree Centigrade above pre-industrial levels.
- Developed countries acknowledged their historical responsibility in global warming and committed to donate dollar 1000 billion a year from 2020 to help developing countries to cope with climate change.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 and 3 only
(b) 2 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Post your answers here.
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Zeolite Oxygen Concentrators: Chemistry in 3-D
To meet the demand of oxygen supply in the country during the peak of pandemic, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) had chartered the Air India to import ‘Zeolite’ from different countries.
What are Zeolites?
- Zeolites are highly porous, 3-dimensional meshes of silica and alumina.
- In nature, they occur where volcanic outflows have met water.
- Synthetic zeolites have proven to be a big and low-cost boon.
Uses in Oxygen Concentrator
- One biomedical device that has entered our lexicon during the pandemic is the oxygen concentrator.
- This device has brought down the scale of oxygen purification from industrial-size plants to the volumes needed for a single person.
- At the heart of this technology are synthetic frameworks of silica and alumina with nanometer-sized pores that are rigid and inflexible.
- Beads of one such material, zeolite 13X, about a millimeter in diameter, are packed into two cylindrical columns in an oxygen concentrator.
How does it work?
- Zeolite performs the chemistry of separating oxygen from nitrogen in air.
- Being highly porous, zeolite beads have a surface area of about 500 square meters per gram.
- At high pressures in the column, nitrogen is in a tight embrace, chemically speaking, with the zeolite.
- Interaction between the negatively charged zeolite and the asymmetric nucleus (quadrupole moment) of nitrogen causes it to be preferentially adsorbed on the surface of the zeolite.
- Oxygen remains free, and is thus enriched.
- Once nitrogen is captured, what flows out from the column is 90%-plus oxygen.
- After this, lowering the pressure in the column releases the nitrogen, which is flushed out, and the cycle is repeated with fresh air.
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