DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYSIS
1 – Green Energy Open Access Rules, 2022: GS II – Government Policies and Interventions
Context:
- Industry executives were requested by the Union Power & NRE Ministry to develop green goals and report violations of the Green Energy Open Access Rules.
About Open Access:
- Non-discriminatory access to the transmission and distribution of energy is known as “Open Access” (OA).
Green Open Access Rules: What Are They?
- It alludes to rules and regulations put in place by the Indian government to encourage the production, acquisition, and consumption of green energy.
- The Electricity (Promoting Renewable Energy through Green Energy Open Access) Rules, 2022 were announced by the Ministry of Power in June 2022.
What the Rules Are:
Aim:
- To make clean and green energy accessible, dependable, sustainable, and cheap for everyone in India.
Features:
- Any user with a linked load of 100 kW or more can obtain renewable energy from any renewable energy generating facility through open access.
- Accessibility for all parties involved, including traders, power exchanges, national, regional, and state load dispatch centres, as well as central and state transmission utilities.
Timeline:
- The open access must be granted within 15 days, failing which, it will be taken as granted.
- Customers may ask DISCOMs for a source of green power.
- Consumers who are commercial or industrial are permitted to voluntarily purchase green power.
- A unified Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) shall exist. Green hydrogen and green ammonia are also incorporated to complete its RPO.
- promoting the production, use, and consumption of green energy, including energy from plants that convert waste to energy
Significance:
- It offers a clear, concise, uniform, and efficient process for allowing free access to green energy. Additionally, it permits the integration of Renewable Energy (RE) resources into the grid and the strengthening of energy markets.
- India’s PositionDespite having around 17% of the world’s population, India only contributes 3.5% to the global pollution. India is leading the world’s shift to clean energy and has the fastest rate of increase in RE capacity.
Source The Hindu
2 – Groundwater Exploitation: GS I – Water Conservation:
Context:
- Land sinking/subsidence has long been an issue in the northwest Indian plains (Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, and Faridabad), where agricultural practises mainly rely on groundwater withdrawal.
India’s groundwater situation:
- It is the water source that India uses the most, making up a quarter of all groundwater extraction worldwide.
- The 2021 CAG report states that groundwater exploitation in India has surpassed the pace of recharge (year use: 433 billion cubic metres), posing a threat to 80% of potable water over the following two decades.
What is subsidence of land?
- The gradual or abrupt sinking of the earth’s surface due to the removal or displacement of subsurface earth components (such aquifers) brought on by natural or human action is known as land subsidence.
How does groundwater extraction relate to land subsidence?
- The deep water channels known as aquifers, which serve as reservoirs for percolated water, go dry if they aren’t replenished. As a result, the rock and soil layers above them begin to sink, and this problem is not exclusive to north India.
How bad is the situation in India?
- According to Sentinel-1 data, the NCR region subsided by 15 mm annually (on average) between 2011 and 2017.
- Major causes of land subsidence, which were compounded by groundwater extraction, included urbanisation and uncontrolled growth.
Impact:
- If land sinking spreads out across a wide area, this might indicate that the area will start to flood more frequently.
- However, if the rate of sinking varies, it might have an impact on civil infrastructure, including roads, structures, and homes.
- Building foundations may degrade or develop cracks as a result.
Identifying the connection between land subsidence and groundwater:
- The Jal Shakti Ministry’s subsidiary, the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), does not examine the effects of “over-exploitation.”
- The GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) satellite data, which could monitor minute changes in gravity on various sections of the Earth’s surface, was only recently able to shed light on this connection.
Why is it challenging to find the link?
- In contrast to landslides and earthquake-caused terrain displacement, it is gradual and hardly noticeable every year.
- It is therefore more difficult to link structural damage to it.
What should be done?
- There has to be more awareness of the effects that groundwater exploitation has on the environment in addition to water constraint.
- The geophysical characteristics of the places experiencing subsidence should be thoroughly understood by the government and decision-makers.
- Encouragement of rainwater collection, severe enforcement of regulations prohibiting unauthorised groundwater extraction, evaluation of building conditions in hazard areas, and consideration of such subsidence in building designs.
Several actions:
Groundwater Summit of the United Nations 2022:
- a campaign to promote groundwater conservation.
- The UN-Water campaign “Groundwater: Making the Invisible Visible” will last all of 2022.
- A groundwater management programme called Atal Bhujal Yojana was introduced in 2019.
- Jal Shakti Abhiyan (2019): This initiative was started to help 256 districts that struggle with water shortages.
- Programme for Aquifer Mapping and Management
Source The Hindu
3 – India Data Capacity Accelerator: GS II – Government Policies and Interventions
Context:
- The India Data Capacity Accelerator is a data skilling programme that has been launched by the Rockefeller Foundation, Mastercard, and data.org with a grant of over $2 million from the U.K.-based charity Wellcome.
Aim:
- The programme seeks to teach one million Indians how to use data to address issues with the environment and their health.
Collaborations:
- The accelerator will cooperate with the South Asia division of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) and three universities: Asoka University, the Indraprastha Institute for Information Technology, and BITS Pilani.
Usage:
- The illustration can be used to issues including the development of skills and the use of data to forecast and measure air pollution and guide mitigating measures.
Source The Hindu
4 – Baobab Tree: GS III – Environmental Conservation related issues:
Context:
- Following a protest by the Bhil tribes, the Madhya Pradesh government concluded that the forest department could not approve the transfer of Baobab trees in Dhar.
About:
- According to the Biodiversity Act, the state biodiversity board will need to approve any commercial use of the trees.
- Deciduous baobab trees can be found in Australia, Madagascar, and continental Africa. They can live up to 2,000 years and are renowned for their exceptional longevity. They have barrel-shaped trunks that range in height from 5 to 20 metres.
- Succulent baobab trees can produce fruit that is nutrient-dense during dry seasons because they can store water in their trunk.
- It contains pendulous blooms that bats and bush babies use as pollinators.
Uses:
- Food, animal feed, medication, and raw materials should all be available.
Threat:
- Since 2005, 5 of the 6 largest trees and 9 of the 13 oldest African baobab specimens have died or collapsed, presumably as a result of climate change.
- The forest department’s decision to remove baobab trees for commercial purposes is opposed by the Bhil tribe of Central India.
GI Tag:
- The government of Madhya Pradesh has requested a GI designation for baobabs.
Source The Hindu
