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16th June 2021
Green Passage Scheme
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Odisha government launched the Green Passage Scheme for children.
Green Passage Scheme
- It will provide free education to all children who lost their parents to the Covid-19 pandemic.
- It started for extending financial assistance to orphaned children in the state for higher education.
- It will be implemented to cover student’s education cost at all levels including school.
- The government will bear the costs as well if the orphaned kid is studying at any private institution.
- Under the scheme, the tehsildars in all districts have been asked to submit a detailed report regarding all the children orphaned due to the pandemic.
- It will cover the costs of admission, tuition and examination fees of children for school and higher education, including technical education, engineering etc.
- Under the scheme, the eligible children will also be entitled to a pension of Rs 2,000 per month.
- The entire educational expenses of such orphans studying in both schools and colleges and those who want to pursue medical, engineering and other courses will be taken care of by the state government.
- It covers the costs of admission, tuition, and examination fees of children who want to pursue higher studies in the field of engineering, medicine and technology.
- The northern limit of the monsoon (NLM) continued to pass through Diu, Surat, Nandurbar, Bhopal, Nagaon, Hamirpur, Barabanki, Bareilly, Saharanpur, Ambala, and Amritsar.
- The monsoon has arrived 7 to 10 days ahead of its scheduled date across some areas of south peninsular and central India.
- The monsoon has missed Northwest India i.e. Gujarat, Rajasthan, western Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Delhi so far.
- The Cyclone Yaas, formed in the Bay of Bengal during May, helped the monsoon make a timely arrival over the Andaman Sea.
- The fast progress of southwest monsoon is mainly due to:
- Strong westerly winds from the Arabian Sea; and
- Formation of a low-pressure system over the North Bay of Bengal
- The monsoon currents strengthened and it advanced into the Northeast, West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar and parts of Chhattisgarh.
- An off-shore trough has helped the monsoon arrive early over Karnataka, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra and southern Gujarat.
- The monsoon becomes active over Northwest India only when the monsoon currents (either from the Arabian Sea or the Bay of Bengal) reach the region.
- The monsoon progress will remain slow as the arrival of monsoon currents over Northwest India is not expected to happen soon.
- A stream of mid-latitude westerly winds is approaching Northwest India, which will hinder the monsoon advancement in the immediate coming days.
- It is the world’s first bloc-to-bloc air transport agreement.
- Under the agreement, the airlines will be able to fly up to 14 weekly passenger services, and any number of cargo services via and beyond to any third country.
- It provides essential guarantees of fair competition for European airlines and industry, while strengthening reciprocal prospects for trade and investment in some of the world’s most dynamic markets.
- It will bolster connectivity and economic development among the 37 member states of ASEAN and the EU.
- The airlines of ASEAN and the EU will have greater opportunities to operate passenger and cargo services between and beyond both regions.
- The airlines of ASEAN and the EU will be able to fly any number of services between both regions.
- It will help rebuild air connectivity between ASEAN and Europe which has been decimated by the COVID-19 pandemic and open up new growth opportunities for the aviation industry in both regions.
- It provides a foundation for closer cooperation between ASEAN and the EU in areas such as aviation safety, air traffic management, consumer protection, and environmental and social matters.
- The International Air Transport Association has estimated that the industry suffered a combined net loss of $126.4 billion (€104.3 billion) in 2020.
- In 2019, the aviation industry accounted for roughly 2.1 per cent of the EU’s GDP.
- The experts have cast doubts on the EU-ASEAN aviation deal’s effectiveness because of the issue of airport slots.
- The sites currently running at near capacity will not be able to significantly increase the number of slots given to planes flying between Southeast Asia and Europe because airports have only a limited number of slots to cater to planes.
- The agreement may increase the number of flights between already active hubs, such as Singapore and Bangkok in Southeast Asia and Paris and Rome in Europe.
- It is Kerala government’s flagship semi high-speed railway project.
- The estimated to cost of the flagship project is Rs 63,940 crore.
- It entails building a semi high-speed railway corridor through the state linking its southern end and state capital Thiruvananthapuram with its northern end of Kasaragod.
- The line is proposed to be 529.45 kms long, covering 11 districts through 11 stations.
- The deadline for the project, being executed by the Kerala Rail Development Corporation Limited (KRDCL), is 2025.
- KRDCL, or K-Rail, is a joint venture between the Kerala government and the Union Ministry of Railways.
- The project will have trains of electric multiple unit (EMU) type with preferably nine cars and extendable to 12 cars each.
- A nine-car rake can seat a maximum of 675 passengers in business and standard class settings.
- The trains can run at a maximum speed of 220 kmph on standard gauge track, completing journeys in either direction in under four hours.
- A total of 11 stations are proposed including the two terminals, three of which will be elevated, one underground and the rest at grade.
- It has long been argued by urban policy experts that the existing railway infrastructure in the state cannot meet the demands of the future.
- There are trains which run with an average speed of 45 km/hr due to a lot of curves and bends on the existing stretch.
- It is aimed at reducing travel time between the state’s northern and southern ends.
- It can take a significant load of traffic off the existing railway stretch and make travel easier and faster for commuters.
- It will reduce the congestion on roads and help reduce accidents and fatalities.
- It will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, help in expansion of Ro-Ro services, produce employment opportunities, integrate airports and IT corridors and faster development of cities it passes through.
- NHPC is a Category-A Miniratna Company under the Ministry of Power, in the field of Hydropower.
- It is the largest organisation for hydropower development in India, currently, NHPC has 24 operational power stations with a total installed capacity of 7071 Mega Watt (MW).
- The project is located near village Dagmara on the right bank and Simri on the left bank, about 22.5 km downstream of Bhimnagar barrage on Kosi river.
- It is a Run-of-the-River scheme. Run-of-river hydro projects use the natural downward flow of rivers and micro turbine generators to capture the kinetic energy carried by water.
- Typically water is taken from the river at a high point and diverted to a channel, pipeline, or pressurised pipeline (or penstock).
- The project will have the total capacity of generating 130 MW energy, in which 17 units of 7.65 MW will be installed for power generation.
- The estimated cost of construction of this project is at Rs. 2478.24 crore.
- Significance:
- It will be a landmark project in the power sector scenario of Bihar as far as green power is concerned.
- Apart from generating clean and green power, the execution will boost the socio-economic and infrastructure development in the area and shall also create employment opportunities.
Kosi River
New Shephard
Recently, a company called Blue Origin concluded the online auction for the first seat on New Shephard, a rocket system meant to take tourists to space.
- The Kosi is a trans-boundary river which flows through Tibet, Nepal and India.
- It has its source in Tibet that includes the world's highest upland; it then drains a large part of Nepal before emerging onto the Gangetic plains.
- Its three major tributaries, the Sun Kosi, Arun and Tamur meet at one point just upstream of a 10 km gorge cut through the Himalayan foothills.
- The river crosses into northern Bihar, India where it branches into distributaries before joining the Ganges near Kursela in Katihar district.
- Its unstable nature has been attributed to course changes and the heavy silt it carries during the monsoon season, and flooding in India has extreme effects.
- The Kosi carries the maximum amount of silt and sand after the Brahmaputra in India.
- It is also known as the “Sorrow of Bihar” as the annual floods affect about 21,000 km2 of fertile agricultural lands thereby disturbing the rural economy.
- It takes its first human flight on 20th July, 2021, which marks the 52nd anniversary of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s moon landing.
- New Shephard:
- New Shephard has been named after astronaut Alan Shephard – the first American to go to space – and offers flights to space over 100 km above the Earth and accommodation for payloads.
- It is a rocket system that has been designed to take astronauts and research payloads past the Karman line.
- The idea is to provide easier and more cost-effective access to space meant for purposes such as academic research, corporate technology development and entrepreneurial ventures among others.
- It will also allow space tourists to experience microgravity by taking them 100 km above the Earth.
- Microgravity is the condition in which people or objects appear to be weightless. The effects of microgravity can be seen when astronauts and objects float in space.
- The Karman line is the internationally recognized boundary of space.
- The line is named after Theodore von Kármán (1881–1963), a Hungarian American engineer and physicist, who was active primarily in aeronautics and astronautics.
- He was the first person to calculate the altitude at which the atmosphere becomes too thin to support aeronautical flight and arrived at 83.6 km himself.
- The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) defines Karman Line as the altitude of 100 kilometres above Earth’s mean sea level.
- FAI is the world governing body for air sports, and also stewards definitions regarding human spaceflight.
- However, other organizations do not use this definition. There is no international law defining the edge of space, and therefore the limit of national airspace.
- Space Tourism
- Space tourism is about humans travelling into space for recreational purposes. It seeks to give laypeople the ability to go to space for recreational, leisure or business purposes.
- It will make space more accessible to those individuals who are not astronauts and want to go to space for non-scientific purposes.
- Three private companies – Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic and SpaceX are now spearheading the human endeavour to explore space.
- Their progress will decide whether space travel will one day become as accessible as air travel.
- Previous Space Tourists:
- The first space tourist was US millionaire Dennis Tito, who in 2001 paid USD 20 million to hitch a ride on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to visit the international space station and spent eight days there.
- After Tito, there were only seven other private citizens who travelled to space until 2009 when the Russian space agency wound up the business of selling tickets to private citizens.
- Space Adventures is the only private company to send paying customers to orbital space so far. In 2004, test pilot Mike Melville became the first private astronaut to fly beyond the Karman Line.
- The first space tourist was US millionaire Dennis Tito, who in 2001 paid USD 20 million to hitch a ride on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to visit the international space station and spent eight days there.
- Significance:
- Huge Market:
- There is an estimated market of 2.4 million people for such flights.
- Base for Testing:
- It can provide a base for testing supersonic travel between different destinations on earth, significantly compressing travel time. Besides, it heralds the entry of the private sector into this arena.
- Huge Market:
- Concerns:
- Climate Change: Soot or black carbon that results from rocket emissions accumulated in the stratosphere (approximately 5 to 31 miles above the Earth) cannot be washed away by rain or winds, as it is in the lower atmosphere. As a result, black carbon may linger in the stratosphere for years, causing exponentially more climate change.
- Health: It can cause health concerns as passengers could also face motion sickness and disorientation, which can affect vision, cognition, balance and motor control.
- Space tourism is about humans travelling into space for recreational purposes. It seeks to give laypeople the ability to go to space for recreational, leisure or business purposes.
- There are crucial safety, comfort and health factors to consider. Training, medical screenings and liability waivers will need to be examined before tourists head to space.
- Space tourism will be a small subsector of the industry, but it will bolster the entire New Space industry.
- Once space tourism does become mainstream, it will also positively impact many socioeconomic factors on Earth: creating jobs, educating citizens about space and fostering a new solar-based energy infrastructure.
- The Prime Minister acknowledged that India has taken the lead to highlight land degradation issues at international forums.
- The Delhi Declaration of 2019 called for better access and stewardship over land, and emphasised gender-sensitive transformative projects.
- India has enhanced the combined forest cover to almost one-fourth of the country's total area by adding 3 million hectares of forest cover over the last decade.
- India is on track to achieve its national commitment of Land degradation neutrality.
- India is also working towards restoring 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030 which would contribute to India's commitment to achieve an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.
- India is assisting fellow developing countries to develop land restoration strategies in the spirit of South-South cooperation.
- A Centre of Excellence is being set up in India to promote a scientific approach towards land degradation issues.
- Bring attention to recovery opportunities during and after the COVID-19 pandemic that can be aligned with action to address DLDD through job-creating projects.
- Elevate the discourse on DLDD issues’ global significance for the entire SDG agenda and for climate, biodiversity and disaster risk reduction.
- Build upon the commitments and initiatives from Member States and stakeholders made during the Summits on Biodiversity and Climate Change.
- Encourage all UN Member States to adopt and implement Land Degradation Neutrality targets and National Drought Plans, in line with implementing the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction.
- Call for countries to support the Land Degradation Neutrality Fund and other funding mechanisms to scale up land restoration by all sectors of society.
- Share experiences and best practices, cutting-edge technologies and innovative business models that advance green, resilient and inclusive recovery strategies.
- Land use, biodiversity loss and climate change: Land degradation currently undermines well-being of 3.2 billion people i.e. more than 40 per cent of the entire world population.
- The Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) estimates that over 70 per cent of all natural, ice-free land has been transformed by human activity, devastating global biodiversity.
- Water scarcity, drought, wildfires and migration: The climate change is worsened by unsustainable land use, with many regions suffering more frequent and prolonged droughts.
- The droughts and climate change are intensifying the incidence of wildfires that devastated roughly 30 million acres of land in the global north and south from 2018-2020 alone.
- By 2025, two-thirds of the world could be living under water-stressed conditions, with 1.8 billion people experiencing absolute water scarcity.
- Land use, zoonoses and building back better: Unsustainable land-use change, including deforestation, has been identified as the primary driver of emerging infectious diseases.
- Combating desertification, land degradation and drought, and achieving land degradation neutrality, are key to accelerate achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
- It is the sole legally binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land management.
- It was established in 1994.
- It addresses specifically the arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas, known as the drylands.
- India is a signatory to the United Nations Convention for Combating Desertification (UNCCD).
- The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) is the nodal Ministry of Government of India that oversees implementation of the Convention in the country.
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- The government has also capped incentives for electric two-wheelers at 40% of the cost of vehicles, up from 20% earlier.
- Significance:
- It will bring down the prices of electric two-wheelers nearer to the IC (internal combustion engine) vehicles and remove one of the biggest blocks of the high sticker price of electric two-wheelers.
- Together with the other important factors like extremely low running cost, low maintenance and zero emission, such price levels will surely spur a substantial demand for electric two-wheelers.
- FAME-II:
- FAME India is a part of the National Electric Mobility Mission (NEMM) Plan. Main thrust of FAME is to encourage electric vehicles by providing subsidies.
- NEMM intends to allow hybrid and electric vehicles to become the first choice for the purchasers so that these vehicles can replace the conventional vehicles and thus reduce liquid fuel consumption in the country from the automobile sector.
- Two Phases of the Scheme:
- Phase I: Started in 2015 and was completed on 31st March, 2019
- Phase II: Started from April, 2019, will be completed by 31st March, 2022.
- The scheme covers Hybrid & Electric technologies like Mild Hybrid, Strong Hybrid, Plug in Hybrid & Battery Electric Vehicles.
- Monitoring Authority: Department of Heavy Industries, the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.
- Fame India Scheme has four focus areas:
- Technology development
- Demand Creation
- Pilot Projects
- Charging Infrastructure
- Under this scheme, demand incentives will be availed by buyers (end users/consumers) upfront at the point of purchase and the same shall be reimbursed by the manufacturers from Department of Heavy Industries, on a monthly basis.
- Salient Features of FAME II:
- Emphasis on electrification of the public transportation that includes shared transport.
- Aims to support, through subsidies, approximately 7000 e-Buses, 5 lakh e-3 Wheelers, 55000 e-4 Wheeler Passenger Cars and 10 lakh e-2 Wheelers.
- In the 3-Wheel (W) and 4-Wheel (W) segment incentives will be applicable mainly to vehicles used for public transport or registered for commercial purposes.
- In the 2-Wheel (W) segment, the focus will be on the private vehicles.
- To encourage advanced technologies, the benefits of incentives will be extended to only those vehicles which are fitted with advanced batteries like a Lithium Ion battery and other new technology batteries.
- Proposes for the establishment of charging infrastructure, whereby about 2700 charging stations will be established in metros, other million plus cities, smart cities and cities of Hilly states across the country so that there will be availability of at least one charging station in a grid of 3 km x 3 km.
- Establishment of Charging stations are also proposed on major highways connecting major city clusters.
- FAME India is a part of the National Electric Mobility Mission (NEMM) Plan. Main thrust of FAME is to encourage electric vehicles by providing subsidies.
- Concerns:
- The adoption of electric vehicles depends on several factors, including robust charging infrastructure, easy financing and adequate performance in real-world conditions. These require considerable government intervention and planning, especially with the sector in its nascent stages.
- E-rickshaw drivers also depend on unsafe, sometimes illegal, sources of power to charge their vehicles. Charging is done in unsafe conditions, which poses a danger to both the driver and the commuter.
- Such initiatives coupled with a mass awareness campaign by the government and easy terms financing by public sector banks will bring us closer to the target of 30% of the two-wheeler market becoming electric in five years.
- The government’s continued support to drive adoption of EVs, with a keen focus on locally built electric two-wheelers will make India the manufacturing hub of EVs.
- Establishing the right coordination among three pillars of the EV industry i.e.,urban planning, transportation and power sectors will assist in systematic adoption of EVs.
POSTED ON 16-06-2021 BY ADMIN
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Some Reference Essays
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