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Type: PIB

  • [pib] Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) Mechanism

    Union Minister of Power and New & Renewable Energy has given his assent to amendments in the existing Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) mechanism.

    What are RECs?

    • Renewable Energy Certificates (REC) is a policy instrument to catalyze the development of renewable energy.
    • It is a market-based mechanism that will help the states meet their regulatory requirements (such as Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPOs)) by overcoming the geographical constraints on existing renewable potential in different states.

    REC Mechanism

    • REC mechanism is a market-based instrument to promote renewable energy and facilitate compliance of renewable purchase obligations (RPO).
    • It is aimed at addressing the mismatch between availability of RE resources in state and the requirement of the obligated entities to meet the RPO.
    • 1 REC is treated as equivalent to 1 MWh.

    How many types of RECs are there?

    There are two categories of RECs, viz., solar RECs and non-solar RECs.

    1. Solar RECs are issued to eligible entities for generation of electricity based on solar as renewable energy source.
    2. Non-solar RECs are issued to eligible entities for generation of electricity based on renewable energy sources other than solar.

    Sources of revenue under REC mechanism

    • Revenue for a RE generator under REC scheme includes revenue from the sale of electricity component of RE generation and the revenue from the sale of environmental attributes in the form of RECs.

    What are the proposed changes?

    The salient features of changes proposed in revamped REC mechanism are:

    • Validity of REC would be perpetual i.e., till it is sold.
    • Floor and forbearance prices are not required to be specified.
    • The RE generator who are eligible for REC, will be eligible for issuance of RECs for the period of PPA as per the prevailing guidelines.
    • The existing RE projects that are eligible for REC would continue to get RECs for 25 years.
    • A technology multiplier can be introduced for promotion of new and high priced RE technologies, which can be allocated in various baskets specific to technologies depending on maturity.
    • RECs can be issued to obligated entities (including DISCOMs and open access consumers) which purchase RE Power beyond their RPO compliance notified by the Central Government.
    • No REC to be issued to the beneficiary of subsidies/concessions or waiver of any other charges.
    • Allowing traders and bilateral transactions in REC mechanism.

     

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  • [pib] National Export Insurance Account (NEIA) Scheme

    The Centre has approved the contribution of Grant-in-aid (Corpus) of ₹1,650 Crore to the National Export Insurance Account (NEIA).

    National Export Insurance Account Scheme

    • NEIA Trust was established in 2006 to promote project exports from India that are of strategic and national importance.
    • The NEIA Trust promotes Medium and Long Term (MLT) /project exports.
    • It extends (partial/full) support to covers issued by ECGC (ECGC Ltd, formerly known as Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India Ltd.) to MLT/project export and to Exim Bank for Buyer’s Credit (BC-NEIA) tied to project exports from India.

    Benefits offered

    • The capital infusion in NEIA Trust will help the Indian Project Exporters (IPE) to tap the huge potential of project exports in focus market.
    • Support to project exports with Indian content sourced from across the country will enhance the manufacturing in India.
    • In addition, assuming an average 75% Indian content in the projects, it is estimated that around 12000 workers will move into formal sector.

    Performance highlights

    • Since inception, NEIA has extended 213 covers, with a consolidated project value of Rs. 53,000 crores, to 52 countries as of 31st August 2021.
    • Its impact in enabling project exports has been most significant in Africa and South Asia.

     

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  • [pib] Crop varieties with special traits

    In an endeavor to create mass awareness for adoption of climate resilient technologies,  PM will dedicate 35 crop varieties with special traits to the Nation.

    About Crop Varieties with Special Traits

    • The crop varieties with special traits have been developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) to address the twin challenges of climate change and malnutrition.
    • Thirty-five such crop varieties with special traits like climate resilience and higher nutrient content have been developed in the year 2021.
    • These special traits crop varieties also include those that address the anti-nutritional factors found in some crops that adversely affect human and animal health.

    Which are these varieties?

    • Drought tolerant variety of chickpea
    • Wilt and sterility mosaic resistant pigeonpea
    • Early maturing variety of soybean
    • Disease resistant varieties of rice
    • Biofortified varieties of wheat, pearl millet, maize and chickpea, quinoa, buckwheat, winged bean and faba bean
    • Pusa Double Zero Mustard 33
    • Canola quality hybrid RCH 1 with <2% erucic acid and <30 ppm glucosinolates and
    • Soybean variety free from two anti-nutritional factors namely Kunitz trypsin inhibitor and lipoxygenase.

    Try answering the PYQ:

    The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee is constituted under the:

    (a) Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006

    (b) Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999

    (c) Environment (Protection) Act, 1986

    (d) Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972

     

    [wpdiscuz-feedback id=”nw6o24hkvd” question=”Please leave a feedback on this” opened=”1″]Post your answers here.[/wpdiscuz-feedback]

     

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  • [pib] SAUBHAGYA Scheme completes 4 years

    The Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana – SAUBHAGYA Scheme has successfully completed four years of its implementation.

    Progress till date

    • 82 crore households have been electrified since the launch of SAUBHAGYA till 31st March, 2021.

    About SAUBHAGYA Scheme

    • 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.

    Implementation process

    • For the easy and accelerated implementation of the Scheme, modern technology shall be used for household surveys by using Mobile App.
    • Beneficiaries shall be identified and their application for electricity connection along with applicant photograph and identity proof shall be registered on spot.
    • The Gram Panchayat/Public institutions in the rural areas may be authorised to collect application forms along with complete documentation, distribute bills and collect revenue in consultation with the Panchayat Raj Institutions and Urban Local Bodies.

    Expected outcomes of the scheme

    The expected outcome of the Scheme is as follows:

    • Environmental upgradation by substitution of Kerosene for lighting purposes
    • Improvement education services
    • Better health services
    • Enhanced connectivity through radio, television, mobiles, etc.
    • Increased economic activities and jobs
    • Improved quality of life especially for women

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  • [pib] International Hydropower Association (IHA)

    NHPC’s 510 MW Teesta-V Power Station located in the Himalayan State of Sikkim has been conferred with the prestigious Blue Planet Prize by International Hydropower Association (IHA).

    Teesta-V Power Station

    • The power station has been built, owned and being operated by NHPC.
    • The award has been conferred for its sustainability assessment undertaken by Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol (HSAP) of IHA.

    About IHA

    • IHA is a London based non-profit membership association operating in 120 countries.
    • The IHA membership includes leading hydropower owners and operators, developers, designers, suppliers and consultants.
    • The IHA Blue Planet Prize is awarded to hydropower projects that demonstrate excellence in sustainable development.
    • The Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol (HSAP) is the leading international tool for measuring the sustainability of hydropower projects.
    • It offers a way to benchmark the performance of a hydropower project against a comprehensive range of environmental, social, technical and governance criteria.

    Back2Basics: Teesta River

    • Teesta River is a 414 km long river that rises in the Pauhunri Mountain of eastern Himalayas, flows through the Indian states of Sikkim and West Bengal through Bangladesh and enters the Bay of Bengal.
    • It drains an area of 12,540 sq km.
    • In India, it flows through North Sikkim, East Sikkim, Pakyong District, Kalimpong district, Darjeeling District, Jalpaiguri District, Cooch Behar districts and the cities of Rangpo, Jalpaiguri and Mekhliganj.
    • It joins River Brahmaputra at Fulchhari in Bangladesh. 315 km portion of the river lies in India and rest in Bangladesh.
    • Teesta is the largest river of Sikkim and the second largest river of West Bengal after Ganges.

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  • [pib] Kovalam & Eden Beaches gets Blue Fag Certification

     

    The international eco-label “Blue Flag”, has accorded the Blue Flag Certification for 2 new beaches this year –Kovalam in Tamil Nadu and Eden in Puducherry beaches.

    With this India now has 10 International Blue Flag beaches.

    Which are the other 8 beaches?

    1. Shivrajpur (Dwarka-Gujarat)
    2. Ghoghla (Diu)
    3. Kasarkod (Karnataka) [NOT Kasargod which is in Kerala] and
    4. Padubidri (Karnataka)
    5. Kappad (Kerala)
    6. Rushikonda (AP)
    7. Golden Beach (Odisha) and
    8. Radhanagar (A&N Islands)

    Blue Flag Beaches

    • The ‘Blue Flag’ beach is an ‘eco-tourism model’ and marks out beaches as providing tourists and beachgoers clean and hygienic bathing water, facilities/amenities, a safe and healthy environment, and sustainable development of the area.
    • The certification is accorded by the Denmark-based Foundation for Environment Education.
    • It started in France in 1985 and has been implemented in Europe since 1987, and in areas outside Europe since 2001 when South Africa joined.
    • It has 33 stringent criteria under four major heads for the beaches, that is, (i) Environmental Education and Information (ii) Bathing Water Quality (iii) Environment Management and Conservation and (iv) Safety and Services.

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  • [pib] PLI Scheme for White Goods

    A total of  52 companies have filed their application with a committed investment of Rs 5,866 crore under the PLI scheme to incentivize the domestic manufacturing of components of White Goods.

    What are White Goods?

    • White goods refer to heavy consumer durables or large home appliances, which were traditionally available only in white.
    • They include appliances such as washing machines, air conditioners, stoves, refrigerators, etc. The white goods industry in India is highly concentrated.

    Why PLI scheme for white goods?

    • Indian appliance and consumer electronics (ACE) market reached INR 76,400 crore (~$10.93 bn) in 2019.
    • Appliances and consumer electronics industry is expected to double to reach INR 1.48 lakh crore (~$21.18 bn) by 2025.
    • The PLI Scheme on White Goods is designed to create complete component ecosystem for Air Conditioners and LED Lights Industry in India and make India an integral part of the global supply chains.
    • Only manufacturing of components of ACs and LED Lights will be incentivized under the Scheme.

    What is PLI Scheme?

    • As the name suggests, the scheme provides incentives to companies for enhancing their domestic manufacturing apart from focusing on reducing import bills and improving the cost competitiveness of local goods.
    • PLI scheme offers incentives on incremental sales for products manufactured in India.
    • The scheme for respective sectors has to be implemented by the concerned ministries and departments.

    Criteria laid for the scheme

    • Eligibility criteria for businesses under the PLI scheme vary based on the sector approved under the scheme.
    • For instance, the eligibility for telecom units is subject to the achievement of a minimum threshold of cumulative incremental investment and incremental sales of manufactured goods.
    • The minimum investment threshold for MSME is Rs 10 crore and Rs 100 crores for others.
    • Under food processing, SMEs and others must hold over 50 per cent of the stock of their subsidiaries, if any.
    • On the other hand, for businesses under pharmaceuticals, the project has to be a greenfield project while the net worth of the company should not be less than 30 per cent of the total committed investment.

    What are the incentives offered?

    • An incentive of 4-6 per cent was offered last year on mobile and electronic components manufacturers such as resistors, transistors, diodes, etc.
    • Similarly, 10 percent incentives were offered for six years (FY22-27) of the scheme for the food processing industry.
    • For white goods too, the incentive of 4-6 per cent on incremental sales of goods manufactured in India for a period of five years was offered to companies engaged in the manufacturing of air conditioners and LED lights.

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  • [pib] Reforms in Urban Planning Capacity in India

    NITI Aayog has launched a report titled ‘Reforms in Urban Planning Capacity in India’ on measures to ramp up urban planning capacity in India.

    Reforms in Urban Planning

    • The report has been developed by NITI Aayog, in consultation with concerned ministries and eminent experts in the domain of urban and regional planning.
    • It underscores urban challenges, including town planning and emphasizes need greater policy attention in our country.

    Why such report?

    • India is home to 11% of the total global urban population.
    • By 2027, India will surpass China as the most populous country in the world.
    • Unplanned urbanization, however, exerts great strain on our cities. In fact, the Covid-19 pandemic has revealed the dire need for the planning and management of our cities.
    • The existing urban planning and governance framework is complex, which often leads to ambiguity and lack of accountability.

    Highlights of the report

    The report makes several recommendations that can unblock bottlenecks in the value chain of urban planning capacity in India.  Some of them are:

    Programmatic Intervention for Planning of Healthy Cities:

    • Every city must aspire to become a ‘Healthy City for All’ by 2030.
    • The report recommends a Central Sector Scheme ‘500 Healthy Cities Programme’, for a period of 5 years, wherein priority cities and towns would be selected jointly by the states and local bodies.

    Programmatic Intervention for Optimum Utilization of Urban Land:

    • All the cities and towns under the proposed ‘Healthy Cities Programme’ should strengthen development control regulations based on scientific evidence to maximize the efficiency of urban land (or planning area).
    • The report recommends a sub-scheme ‘Preparation/Revision of Development Control Regulations’ for this purpose.

    Ramping Up of Human Resources:

    • To combat the shortage of urban planners in the public sector, the report recommends that the states/UTs may need to a) expedite the filling up of vacant positions of town planners.
    • It asks to additionally sanction 8268 town planners’ posts as lateral entry positions.

    Ensuring Qualified Professionals for Undertaking Urban Planning:

    • State town and country planning departments face an acute shortage of town planners.
    • This is compounded by the fact that in several states, ironically, a qualification in town planning is not even an essential criterion for such jobs.
    • States may need to undertake requisite amendments in their recruitment rules to ensure the entry of qualified candidates into town-planning positions.

    Re-engineering of Urban Governance:

    • The report recommends the constitution of a high-powered committee to re-engineer the present urban-planning governance structure.
    • The key aspects that would need to be addressed in this effort are:
    1. clear division of the roles and responsibilities of various authorities, appropriate revision of rules and regulations, etc.,
    2. creation of a more dynamic organizational structure, standardisation of the job descriptions of town planners and other experts, and
    3. extensive adoption of technology for enabling public participation and inter-agency coordination.

    Revision of Town and Country Planning Acts:

    • Most States have enacted the Town and Country Planning Acts, that enable them to prepare and notify master plans for implementation.
    • However, many need to be reviewed and upgraded.
    • Therefore, the formation of an apex committee at the state level is recommended to undertake a regular review of planning legislations (including town and country planning or urban and regional development acts or other relevant acts).

    Demystifying Planning and Involving Citizens:

    • While it is important to maintain the master plans’ technical rigour, it is equally important to demystify them for enabling citizens’ participation at relevant stages.
    • Therefore, the committee strongly recommends a ‘Citizen Outreach Campaign’ for demystifying urban planning.

    Steps for Enhancing the Role of Private Sector:

    • The report recommends that concerted measures must be taken at multiple levels to strengthen the role of the private sector to improve the overall planning capacity in the country.
    • These include the adoption of fair processes for procuring technical consultancy services, strengthening project structuring and management skills in the public sector, and empanelment of private sector consultancies.

    Steps for Strengthening Urban Planning Education System:

    • The Central universities and technical institutions in all the other States/UTs are encouraged to offer PG degree programmes (MTech Planning) to cater to the requirement of planners in the country.
    • The committee also recommends that all such institutions may synergize with Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Panchayati Raj and respective state rural development departments.

    Measures for Strengthening Human Resource and Match Demand–Supply:

    • The report recommends the constitution of a ‘National Council of Town and Country Planners’ as a statutory body.
    • Also, a ‘National Digital Platform of Town and Country Planners’ is suggested to be created within the National Urban Innovation Stack of MoHUA.
    • This portal will enable self-registration of all planners and evolve as a marketplace for potential employers and urban planners.

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  • [pib] Transport and Marketing Assistance (TMA) scheme for Specified Agriculture Products

    The Centre has revised “Transport and Marketing Assistance” (TMA) scheme for Specified Agriculture Products’.

    What is the TMA Scheme?

    • The TMA Scheme was introduced in 2019 to provide assistance for the international component of freight, to mitigate the disadvantage of higher freight costs faced by the Indian exporters of agriculture products.
    • All exporters, duly registered with relevant Export Promotion Council as per Foreign Trade Policy, of eligible agriculture products, shall be covered under this scheme.
    • The assistance, at notified rates, will be available for the export of eligible agriculture products to the permissible countries, as specified from time to time.
    • Assistance would be provided in cash through a direct bank transfer as part reimbursement of freight paid.

    Following major changes have been made in the revised scheme:

    • Dairy products, which were not covered under the earlier scheme, will be eligible for assistance under the revised scheme.
    • Rates of assistance have been increased, by 50% for exports by sea and by 100% for exports by air.

    List of ineligible products

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  • [pib] Account Aggregator Network (AAN): A financial data-sharing system

    The Account Aggregator system in banking has been started off with eight of India’s largest banks. In this newscard, we shall learn it in a FAQ manner.

    What is an Account Aggregator?

    • An Account Aggregator (AA) is a type of RBI regulated entity (with an NBFC-AA license) that helps an individual securely and digitally access and share information from one financial institution they have an account with to any other regulated financial institution in the AA network.
    • Data cannot be shared without the consent of the individual.
    • There will be many Account Aggregators an individual can choose between.
    • Account Aggregator replaces the long terms and conditions form of ‘blank cheque’ acceptance with a granular, step by step permission and control for each use of your data.

    How would it improve an average person’s financial life?

    • India’s financial system involves many hassles for consumers today.
    • This includes sharing of physical signed and scanned copies of bank statements, stamp documents, or having to share your personal username and password to give your financial history to a third party.
    • The AAN would replace all these with a simple, mobile-based, simple, and safe digital data access & sharing process.
    • This will create opportunities for new kinds of services — eg new types of loans.
    • The individual’s bank just needs to join the Account Aggregator network.

    How is AAN different to Aadhaar eKYC data sharing?

    • Aadhaar eKYC and CKYC only allow sharing of four ‘identity’ data fields for KYC purposes (eg name, address, gender, etc).
    • Similarly, credit bureau data only shows loan history and/or a credit score.
    • The AAN allows sharing of transaction data or bank statements from savings/deposit/current accounts.

    What kind of data can be shared?

    • Today, banking transaction data is available to be shared (for example, bank statements from a current or savings account) across the banks that have gone live on the network.
    • Gradually the AA framework will make all financial data available for sharing, including tax data, pensions data, securities data (mutual funds and brokerage), and insurance data will be available to consumers.
    • It will also expand beyond the financial sector to allow healthcare and telecom data to be accessible to the individual via AA.

    Can AAs view or ‘aggregate’ personal data? Is the data sharing secure?

    • Account Aggregators cannot see the data; they merely take it from one financial institution to another based on an individual’s direction and consent.
    • Contrary to the name, they cannot ‘aggregate’ your data.
    • AAs are not like technology companies which aggregate your data and create detailed profiles of you.
    • The data AAs share is encrypted by the sender and can be decrypted only by the recipient.
    • The end to end encryption and use of technology like the ‘digital signature’ makes the process much more secure than sharing paper documents.

    Can a consumer decide they don’t want to share data?

    Yes. Registering with an AA is fully voluntary for consumers.

    • If the bank the consumer is using has joined the network, a person can choose to register on an AA, choose which accounts they want to link, and share their data.
    • A customer can reject a consent to share request at any time.
    • If a consumer has accepted to share data in a recurring manner over a period (eg during a loan period), it can also be revoked at any time later as well by the consumer.

    Duration of the data shared

    • The exact time period for which the recipient institution will have access will be shown to the consumer at the time of consent for data sharing.

    How can a customer get registered with an AA?

    • One can register with an AA through their app or website.
    • AA will provide a handle (like username) which can be used during the consent process.
    • Today, four apps are available for download (Finvu, OneMoney, CAMS Finserv, and NADL) with operational licenses to be AAs.
    • Three more have received in principle approval from RBI (PhonePe, Yodlee, and Perfios) and may be launching apps soon.
    • A customer can register with any AA to access data from any bank on the network.

    Does a customer need to pay the AA for using this facility?

    • This will depend on the AA. Some may charge a small user fee.
    • Some AAs may be free because they are charging a service fee to financial institutions.

    What new services can a customer access if their bank has joined the AA network of data sharing?

    The two key services that will be improved for an individual is access to loans and access to money management.

    • If a customer wants to get a small business or personal loan today, there are many documents that need to be shared with the lender.
    • This is a cumbersome and manual process today, which affects the time taken to procure the loan and access to a loan.
    • Similarly, money management is difficult today because data is stored in many different locations and cannot be brought together easily for analysis.
    • Through Account Aggregator, a company can access tamper-proof secure data quickly and cheaply, and fast track the loan evaluation process so that a customer can get a loan.
    • Also, a customer may be able to access a loan without physical collateral, by sharing trusted information on a future invoice or cash flow directly from a government system like GST or GeM.

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