India’s Solar Power Energy Targets
Context:
A report, jointly prepared by two energy-research firms — JMK Research and Analytics and the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis — says India will likely miss its 2022 target of installing 100 gigawatts (GW) of solar power capacity. This is because of rooftop solar lagging behind.
Relevance:
GS III- Environment
Dimensions of the Article:
- What is India’s solar policy?
- What does the report say?
- Reasons for rooftop solar adoption not meeting targets
- How critical is solar power to India’s commitment to mitigate climate change?
What is India’s solar policy?
Since 2011, India’s solar sector has grown at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 59% from 0.5GW in 2011 to 55GW in 2021.
National Solar Mission (NSM):
- The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), also known as the National Solar Mission (NSM), which commenced in January 2010, marked the first time the government focussed on promoting and developing solar power in India.
- Under the scheme, the total installed capacity target was set as 20GW by 2022.
- In 2015, the target was revised to 100GW and in August 2021, the government set a solar target of 300GW by 2030.
- India currently ranks fifth after China, U.S., Japan and Germany in terms of installed solar power capacity.
- As of December 2021, the cumulative solar installed capacity of India is 55GW, which is roughly half the renewable energy (RE) capacity (excluding large hydro power) and 14% of the overall power generation capacity of India.
- Within the 55GW, grid-connected utility-scale projects contribute 77% and the rest comes from grid-connected rooftop and off-grid projects.
What does the report say?
- Only about 50% of the 100GW target, consisting of 60GW of utility-scale and 40GW of rooftop solar capacity, has been met.
- Nearly 19 GW of solar capacity is expected to be added in 2022 — 15.8GW from utility-scale and 3.5GW from rooftop solar.
- Even accounting for this capacity would mean about 27% of India’s 100GW solar target would remain unmet. A 25GW shortfall in the 40GW rooftop solar target, is expected compared to 1.8GW in the utility-scale solar target by December 2022.
- Thus, it is in rooftop solar that the challenges of India’s solar-adoption policy stick out.
Reasons for rooftop solar adoption not meeting targets:
- In December 2015, the government launched the first phase of the grid-connected rooftop solar programme to incentivise its use in residential, institutional and social areas.
- The second phase, approved in February 2019, had a target of 40GW of cumulative rooftop solar capacity by 2022, with incentives in the form of central financial assistance (CFA).
- As of November 2021, of the phase 2 target of 4GW set for the residential sector, only 1.1GW had been installed.
- Factors impeding rooftop-solar installation include ,
- Pandemic-induced supply chain disruption to policy restrictions,
- Regulatory roadblocks;
- Limits to net-metering (or paying users who give back surplus electricity to the grid);
- Taxes on imported cells and modules,
- Unsigned power supply agreements (PSAs)
- Banking restrictions;
- Financing issues plus delays in or rejection of open access approval grants;
- Unpredictability of future open access charges,
- Recently, however, there has been a sharp rise in rooftop solar installations thanks to falling technology costs, increasing grid tariffs, rising consumer awareness and the growing need for cutting energy costs.
How critical is solar power to India’s commitment to mitigate climate change?
- Solar power is a major prong of India’s commitment to address global warming according to the terms of the Paris Agreement, as well as achieving net zero, or no net carbon emissions, by 2070.
- Prime Minister at the United Nations Conference of Parties meeting in Glasgow, in November 2021, said India would be reaching a non-fossil fuel energy capacity of 500 GW by 2030 and meet half its energy requirements via renewable energy by 2030.
- To boost the renewable energy installation drive in the long term, the Centre in 2020 set a target of 450GW of RE-based installed capacity to be achieved by 2030, within which the target for solar was 300GW.
- Given the challenge of integrating variable renewable energy into the grid, most of the RE capacity installed in the latter half of this decade is likely to be based on wind solar hybrid (WSH), RE-plus-storage and round-the-clock RE projects rather than traditional solar/wind projects, according to the report.
- On the current trajectory, the report finds, India’s solar target of 300GW by 2030 will be off the mark by about 86GW, or nearly a third.
India To Grow At 8%: World Bank
Context:
India is projected to grow at 8% over the current fiscal year (April 1- March 31), and 7.1% over the next (2023-24) fiscal year, the World Bank said in its bi-annual South Asia Economic Focus Reshaping Norms: A New Way Forward.
Relevance:
GS III- Growth and Development
Dimensions of the Article
- Highlights of the Report:
- About World Bank
Highlights of the Report:
- The country is estimated to have grown at 8.3% in the fiscal year that just passed, following a contraction of 6.6% in the previous year owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- For the South Asia region, growth is expected to be slower than projected, by 1 percentage point, at 6.6% in 2022 and 6.3% next calendar year.
- This is due to Russia’s war on Ukraine, which has impacted the region, when it was already experiencing “fragile” growth, rising commodity prices, bottlenecks to supply and financial sector vulnerabilities.
- The impact of the war has seen faster inflation, deteriorating current account balances and growing fiscal deficits, according to the lender.
About World Bank
The World Bank Group is an international partnership comprising 189 countries and five constituent institutions that works towards eradicating poverty and creating prosperity.
Objectives of the World Bank
- This includes providing long term capital to its member nations for economic development and reconstruction.
- It helps in inducing long term capital for improving the balance of payments and thereby balancing international trade.
- Also, it helps by providing guarantees against loads granted to large and small units and other projects for the member nations.
- It ensures that the development projects are implemented. Thus, it brings a sense of transparency for a nation from war-time to a peaceful economy.
- Also, it promotes the capital investment for member nations by providing a guarantee for capital investment and loans.
- If the capital investment is not available than it provides the guarantee and then IBRD provides loans for promotional activities on specific conditions.
The World Bank Group consists of five organizations:
The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
- The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) lends to governments of middle-income and creditworthy low-income countries.
The International Development Association
- The International Development Association (IDA) provides interest-free loans — called credits — and grants to governments of the poorest countries.
- Together, IBRD and IDA make up the World Bank.
The International Finance Corporation
- The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. We help developing countries achieve sustainable growth by financing investment, mobilizing capital in international financial markets, and providing advisory services to businesses and governments.
The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency
- The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) was created in 1988 to promote foreign direct investment into developing countries to support economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve people’s lives.
- MIGA fulfills this mandate by offering political risk insurance (guarantees) to investors and lenders.
The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes
- The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) provides international facilities for conciliation and arbitration of investment disputes.
Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan
Context:
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by the Prime Ministe has approved continuation of revamped Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA) for implementation during the period from 01.04.2022 to 31.03.2026 to develop governance capabilities of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs).
Relevance:
GS II- Government policies and Interventions
Dimensions of the Article:
- About Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA)
- Objectives
- Major impact including employment generation potential
About Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA)
Nodal : Ministry of Panchayati Raj
- It is central government scheme that aims at making rural local bodies self-sustainable, financially stable and more efficient.
- Restructured RGSA to focus on training, building infrastructure, stepping up initiatives for e-governance under e-Panchayat Mission Mode Project (MMP) to deliver Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
- The scheme will extend to all states/UTs of country and will also include institutions of rural local government in non-Part IX areas, where Panchayats do not exist.
- Under the scheme of Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan there is no provision for forming new Panchayats. Formation or reorganization of Panchayats is done by the respective States/ Union Territories as per their requirement.
Objectives:
- To train and build capacity of elected representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs).
- It seeks to address critical gaps that hinder success of Panchayats by enhancing their capacities and effectiveness, and promote devolution of powers and responsibilities.
- It seeks to shift the participative planning, prepared from the grassroots level upwards and strengthen panchayat level governance with more appropriate capacity building.
Financial implications:
The total financial outlay of the scheme is Rs.5911 crore with the Central Share of Rs.3700 crore and that of State Share of Rs.2211 crore.
No. of beneficiaries:
Around 60 lakh Elected Representatives, Functionaries and other stakeholders of Rural Local Bodies including Traditional Bodies across the country will be direct beneficiaries of the scheme.
Major impact including employment generation potential:
- The approved scheme of RGSA will help more than 2.78 lakh Rural Local Bodies including Traditional Bodies across the country to develop governance capabilities to deliver on SDGs through inclusive local governance with focus on optimum utilisation of available resources.
- The key principles of SDGs, i.e. leaving no one behind, reaching the farthest first and universal coverage, along with gender equality will be embedded in the design of all capacity building interventions including trainings, training modules and materials.
- Priority will be given to subjects of national importance principally under themes, namely:
- Poverty free and enhanced livelihood in villages,
- Healthy Village
- Child Friendly Village
- Water Sufficient Village
- Clean and Green Village
- Self-Sufficient Infrastructure in Village
- Socially Secured Village
- Village with Good Governance
- Engendered Development in Village.
- As Panchayats have representation of Schedule Castes, Schedule Tribes and women, and are institutions closest to the grassroots, strengthening Panchayats will promote equity and inclusiveness, along with Social Justice and economic development of the community.
- Increased use of e-governance by PRIs will help achieve improved service delivery and transparency.
- The scheme will strengthen Gram Sabhas to function as effective institutions with social inclusion of citizens particularly the vulnerable groups.
- It will establish the institutional structure for capacity building of PRIs at the national, state and district level with adequate human resources and infrastructure.
- Panchayats will progressively be strengthened through incentivisation on the basis of nationally important criteria to recognise roles of Panchayats in attainment of SDGs and to inculcate spirit of healthy competition.
- No permanent post will be created under the scheme but need based contractual human resources may be provisioned for overseeing the implementation of the scheme and providing technical support to States/UTs for achieving goals under the scheme.
Colour Blindness
Context:
The Supreme Court has directed the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) not to exclude candidates suffering from colour blindness from its courses on film making and editing and asked it to make changes to its curriculum instead.
Relevance:
GS II- Health
Dimensions of the Article:
- What is colour blindness?
- What causes colour blindness?
What is colour blindness?
- Colour blindness, also known as colour deficiency, is the inability to see colours in the normal way.
- Colour blind individuals often cannot distinguish between certain colours — usually greens and reds, and sometimes blues as well.
- Two types of cells in the retina detect light —
- Rods: which distinguish between light and dark
- Cones: that detect colour
- There are three types of cones that see colour — red, green, and blue — and our brains use the information from these cells to perceive colour.
- Colour blindness can be the result of the absence of one or more of these cone cells, or their failure to work properly.
- In a situation where all three cone cells are present but one of them is malfunctioning, mild colour blindness may occur.
- Colour blindness may be of different kinds and degrees.
- Mildly colour blind people often see all colours properly only when the light is good; there are others who cannot tell one colour apart from the another no matter how good the light is.
- In the most severe kind of colour blindness, vision is black-and-white, that is, everything appears as a shade of grey. This is not very common.
- Men suffer from a higher incidence of colour blindness than women. Around the world, every tenth male is estimated to have some form of colour deficiency.
Clarity usually not affected
- Color blindness generally affects both eyes, and the condition remains roughly the same for as long as the individual is alive.
- Unless the color blindness is of the most severe kind, the sharpness or clarity of vision is not affected.
- Many people are so mildly colour blind that they do not even realise that they have the condition.
- Colour blindness cannot as yet be treated or reversed. However, it can be corrected to some extent by wearing special contact lenses or colour filter glasses.
- There is some research that suggests gene replacement therapy can help modify the condition.
What causes colour blindness?
- Most colour blind people are born with the condition (congenital colour blindness), but some can develop it later in life. Congenital colour vision deficiencies are usually passed on genetically.
- A problem with colour vision that arises later in life could be the result of disease, trauma, or ingested toxins.
- If colour blindness arises out of disease, one eye may be affected differently from the other, and the difficulty could worsen over time.
- Medical conditions that may increase the risk of getting colour blindness include glaucoma, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, alcoholism, leukaemia, and sickle-cell anaemia.
Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
Context:
Recently, the Prime Minister paid tributes to people killed in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 1919.
- He asserted that their unparalleled courage and sacrifice will keep motivating the coming generations. 13th April, 2022 marks the 103 years of the incident.
Relevance:
GS I- History
Dimensions of the Article:
- About the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre:
- Outcome
- Rowlatt Act, 1919
About the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre:
- The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, also known as the Amritsar massacre, took place on 13 April 1919.
- It was Baisakhi that day, a harvest festival popular in Punjab and parts of north India. Local residents in Amritsar decided to hold a meeting that day to discuss and protest against the confinement of Satya Pal and Saifuddin Kitchlew, two leaders fighting for Independence, and implementation of the Rowlatt Act, which armed the British government with powers to detain any person without trial.
- The crowd had a mix of men, women and children.
- They all gathered in a park called the Jallianwala Bagh, walled on all sides but for a few small gates, against the orders of the British.
- While the meeting was on, Brigadier-General Reginald Edward Harry Dyer, who had crept up to the scene wanting to teach the public assembled a lesson, ordered 90 soldiers he had brought with him to the venue to open fire on the crowd.
- The troops kept on firing until their ammunition was exhausted.
- At least 1000 people were killed and over 1,200 other people were injured of whom 192 were seriously injured.
Outcomes:
- Considered the ‘The Butcher of Amritsar’ in the aftermath of the massacre, General Dyer was removed from command and exiled to Britain.
- Rabindranath Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi, as a sign of condemnation, renounced their British Knighthood and Kaiser-i-Hind medal respectively.
- In 1922, the infamous Rowlett Act was repealed by the British.
Rowlatt Act, 1919
- The act was officially known as the Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act, 1919 and was passed in March 1919 by the Imperial Legislative Council.
- The act was passed as per recommendations of the Rowlatt Committee chaired by a judge, Sir Sidney Rowlatt.
- This act authorized the government to imprison for a maximum period of two years, without trial, any person suspected of terrorism.
- The act provided s speedy trial of the offenses by a special cell that consisted of 3 High Court Judges. There was no court of appeal above that panel.
- This panel could also accept the evidences which were not even acceptable in the Indian Evidences Act.
- It also placed severe restrictions on the freedom of the press.
- The act was widely condemned by Indian leaders and the public. The bills came to be known as ‘black bills’.
