1. [Block-1] Disaster Management
    1. Disaster#1: Cyclone Hudhud
      1. Rescue operation: operation “Lehar”
      2. Suggestions/ Precautions/reforms
      3. Ain’t nothing called national calamity
      4. Benefits of Ham radio
      5. Social media in disaster Management
    2. Disater#2: Kashmir floods
    3. Mission Sahayata
    4. Suggestion/ precaution/ reforms
  2. [Block-2] Cleaning India and Ganga
    1. B1: Swachh Bharat / Clean India campaign
      1. Mechanism
      2. Fodder/Issues / Challenges/ Solutions
      3. Cleaninless: others initiatives
    2. B2: Ganga cleanup problem
      1. Can Ganga ever be cleaned?
      2. Ganga Cleanup under Modi-raj
  3. [Block-3] Yearbook type
    1. MoEF: Fast track clearance
    2. Biodiversity Management Committee
    3. Misc. Yearbook / national Developments
  4. [Block-4] Energy related
    1. Chaibagan Timezone
    2. Compact Fusion reactor
    3. Others Energy related Developments
  5. [Block-5] International
    1. Other intetnational Developments
    2. Epilogue

[Block-1] Disaster Management

Disaster#1: Cyclone Hudhud

  • Hudhud national bird of Israel. (IUCN status: Least concern)
  • Oman suggested this Cyclone name to IMD.
  • Hits Eastern coast ~mid-October 2014. Last year Phailin too came at same time.
Cyclone Hudhud

Cyclone Hudhud: Path, area and intensity

Born @Bay Bengal, West-Central region.
Speed 155-195 kmph.
Catalyst deep depression over north Andaman Sea.
Target
  • AP and Odisha coast.
  • Even caused heavy rains in UP and Bihar.
  • Avalanches and Blizzards in Nepal.
People affected
  • >3 lakh
  • Crowd Looting food trucks. Hoarding of milk and fuel.
  • But <30 people died thanks to disaster preparedness.
Environment
  • Bees and Birds migrate to other areas after shelter loss=> pollination reduced in future.
  • Migrant Pelican and Painted storks couldn’t visit Koleru lake.
Economy
  • 3 lakh hecters of rice, sugarcane, corn and cashew damaged
  • Pharma units in Coastal Andhra Pradesh couldn’t finish orders from USA, EU = image hurt.
  • 70k crores lost.
  • VAT-loss worth Rs.600 crore from petroleum companies alones.

Rescue operation: operation “Lehar”

Navy
  • Will lead the rescue efforts.
  • warships INS Ranjit, INS Shivalik and INS Airawat and fleet tanker INS Shakti were readied with relief material for 5,000 personnel,
  • P8-I long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft is on standby for carrying out damage assessment once the cyclone passes.
  • Gemini craft loaded with relief material and 20 rescue teams fanned out to rescue people in flooded areas
Army Lifejackets, engineer task forces on standby at Ranchi, Allahabad and Secunderabad.
Airforce C-17 Globemaster and five An-32 transport aircraft, Chetaks, Mi-8 helicopters,  Mi-17 medium-lift choppers
Coastguard 17 ships, two air cushion vessels and 13 aircraft in Eastern
NCMC
  • National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC)
  • Chaired by Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth.
NDRF Evacuated >10000 people.

Suggestions/ Precautions/reforms

  1. Coastal states should Prepare a “Blue book” for standard operating procedure during cyclones.
  2. Target zero human and cattle casualty. Move them to safe location well ahead of time. If they refuse, use police/military-FORCE.
  3. Stop usage of rail lines, airways and highways in the area
  4. Alerts on the ports and fishing areas
  5. Backup/Stand-by system for electricity and communication system.
  6. Empty the dam reservoirs to accommodate cyclonic water.
  7. Use doppler radar for close monitoring.
  8. Keep NDRF, armed forces and Navy on standby. Control rooms @District HQ.
  9. Equip them with large wood and metal cutters.
  10. Storage and food, drinking water, medicines and other relief material
  11. Toll free numbers, Ham-radio operators, satellite phones to help people.
  12. Andhra Pradesh Government thinking of “Green-Cess” to rebuild forest and mangroves.
  13. Separate insurance products for disasters, similar to agro.insurance products.

Ain’t nothing called national calamity

  • Modi visits Visakhapatnam, did not declare Hudhud cyclone as a national calamity, only gave Rs.1k crore assistant=>juntaa angry.
  • BUT There is nothing termed as ‘National Calamity’ either in the Disaster Management Act 2005 or in any other disaster management related notifications. (says Ex-Vice-Chairman of NDMA).
  • Title “National calamity” doesn’t give state Government more financial assistance.
  • Even Uttarakhand Tsunami (2013) wasn’t declared national calamity, only Rs.1000 crore given in interim relief.
  • But afterwards, Union gave crores in indirect funding for rehabilitation. Even world bank and ADB came to help.
  • So it’s a bogus misconception that if Hudhud not declared national calamity then state Government won’t get help.

Benefits of Ham radio

  • 2 way communication, even when all other communication-channels are down during disaster.
  • Local, regional and global connectivity between members.
  • No cost. Except initial assembly.
  • If Ham-radio every 5 km=> entire Andhra Pradesh could be covered. Much more efficient handling of Hudhud.
  • Even datafiles and images can be shared- IF in small size.
  • India Written exam=> police verification =>license after 1 year delay. In USA its done in 3 days.
  • All these precaution are laughable because terrorists buy SIM cards with much ease.

Social media in disaster Management

Andhra Pradesh Government done following

  • setup facebook page to receive complaints about milk and petrol hoarding.
  • Setup www.hudhud.ap.gov.in for damage assessment.
  • Collecting destruction photos via whatsapp and facebook.
  • Creating volunteer network using Facebook and Twitter
  • Rallying up the college students in relief distributions.

Disater#2: Kashmir floods

Kashmir Floods: Areas affected

Kashmir Floods: Areas affected

Reasons for flooding in J&K:
Natural
  • Unprecedented rains due to western disturbances
  • Changing rainfall pattern allover India. And IPCC believes this will increase.
Manmade
  • Unplanned urbanisation in J&K
  • 55% of wetlands and river beds encroached.
  • Central Water commission not doing flood forecasts for J&K.

Mission Sahayata

  • Army led resruce and relief ops. In Kashmir floods.
  • More than 13k lives saved, 3k provided shelters.
  • Army too used social media applications such as Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp to reach out to the flood-affected people of Jammu and Kashmir
  • The BSNL worked on a war footing to restore the telecom network.

Suggestion/ precaution/ reforms

  1. New National action plan for floods forecasting. (till now we are using program from 1953).
  2. A separate disaster management plan for hill states- against cloudbursts and floods.
  3. When water level recedes flood areas- diseases spreads. Need floating clinics, and dispose man and animal carcasses soon.
  4. SC says Army was doing “commendable” work but current rescue operations were too inadequate for such a huge disaster.
  5. Many refuse to leave their houses fearing looting by scavengers. Army’s headache increased – in delivering food-ration to such people.
  6. Army’s own arms-ammunitions washed away in floods. While grenades became useless but rifles can be reused by oiling.
  7. Court records destroyed. There was no online/cloud backup. Need judicial computerization ASAP across India.
  8. Defense Food Research Laboratory (DFRL), Mysore  is supplying ready-to-eat (RTE) food to victims.
  9. Modi himself in-charge of a rescue-relief committee. Celebrated in J&K instead and gave ~750 crore. Thinking of directly sending money to victim’s bank account but Omar unhappy, wanted 44k crores.
  10. Kashmir willow trees = cricket bats. But flood water destroyed the Raw wood stock in factories.
  11. Uttarakhand state government created an mobile APP with digital mapping of Rudraprayag district. It’ll help pilgrims get weather updates and emergency contact on mobile phones. All state governments need to do similar.
Other disasters:
Patna Stampede Someone shouted about fallen electric wire. Resultant stampede killed 100s. How to prevent such man-made disasters?

  • Large no. of entry and exit gates.
  • Sliding gates to provide more space.
  • Continuous crowd monitoring. Main focus: women and children
Cyclone Nilofer
  • In Gujarat Coastal areas of Kutch and Saurashtra got heavy rainfall.
  • But NDRF moved people away from disaster area well in advance.
  • Besides Nilofar lost intentisity before hitting land, So not much damage. Therefore, I don’t consider it *that* important for exam like Hudhud, baaki UPSC maalik hai.

[Block-2] Cleaning India and Ganga

B1: Swachh Bharat / Clean India campaign

To clean India by 2019 on Gandhi’s 150th Birthday.

Allotment over next 5 years
Rural ministry 1.3 lakh cr.+
Urban ministry 60k.crore +
State Government 25%
Corporate CSR funding under Companies Act 2013
Total ~2 lakh cr.

Mechanism

  1. First phase till Diwali- to generate mass movement
  2. Eradication of manual scavenging
  3. solid waste management- convert waste to wealth
  4. Build toilets
  5. Penalties like Singapore (although no decision yet).
  6. Roping in religious leader like Baba Ramdev, Sri Sri, Muslim clerics and Catholic bishops et al.
  7. Roping in celebrities like Salman, Sachin, Priyanka Chopra, Kamal Hasan et al.

Fodder/Issues / Challenges/ Solutions

  1. Lack of sanitation =>diseases=>poverty=>bogus human Development. Therefore, cleanliness campaign should be extended to include health care too.
  2. Most Indians are good at cleaning their surroundings and then, equally adept at dumping the refuse.
  3. Manual scavenging yet to be abolished on ground despite SC order.
  4. Must de-stigmatise the act of cleaning. (from labelling the employee as “Kachre-walla” to “safai-walla” mindset)
  5. Break the caste-occupation link.
  6. Safai Karmacharis be given permanent job and medical protection like firemen.
  7. Citizen vigil group.
  8. Total Sanitation Campaign and Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan= Decentralised, community-led strategies=> but became hardware-supply target-driven programmes => low coverage and usage. Modi must not repeat the same strategy.
  9. Building toilets alone will not solve the problem of sanitation. It must be kept clean otherwise no one will use.
  10. Schools don’t have enough funds to hire separate employees for cleaning toilets and IF students are made to do this work, Media would sensationalize it in negative manner.
  11. States like Kerala- after achieving high sanitation coverage – still faced poor health outcomes due to lack of treatment facilities when pits fill up. (problem of secondary issues like treatment to filled pits after constructing toilets)
  12. Total sanitation campaign and Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan: Government hoped it’d be “decentralized community driven program” but they became hardware-subsidy driven solutions. (i.e. financial help to build toilets). But dirty/non-functional toilets = no one uses.
  13. Must imbibe the behavioural change i.e. you’ve to flush the sakaari toilet after using. Need to combine Modi’s social-media followers + PR-machine with Panchayati raj leaders.
  14. Too many heads, lack of coordination. Potholes in roads + leftover construction material lying on roadsides=> dirty water & garbage will accumulate. But who is to be held responsible- Road contractor or safai Karmchari or Both? No proper accountability and punishment mechanism.
  15. Celebrity campaigning turned to Photo-opportunity. Will they regularly revisit the area to ensure its kept clean?
  16. Need comprehensive policy for sanitation. Perhaps a law like MNREGA, RTI  and RTE to make clean toilets  a “legal-right and responsibility”.
Must learn lessons from elsewhere
Bangkok waste management
Kampala Urban farming
London congestion tax
Madrid and Barcelona controlled pedestrianisation
Copenhagen cycling tracks
Singapore prohibitive litter fines.
Cleanliness: others initiatives
Swachhta udhyami Yojana
  • Under Social justice and empowerment ministry
  • Cheap Loans to Safai Karamcharis and Manual Scavengers for:
  • Community toilets.
  • Buying Sanitation related Vehicles.

Then beneficiary gets contract from municipality to run this toilet/vehicle and earn living.
Bal Swachhta mission
  • Women and children ministry
  • Making children ambassador of cleanliness. Poems, stories and games to inspire them.
  • 6 themes: clean food, water, toilet, personal hygiene, surrounding and Anganwadis.
E-Toilet
  • An Indian company Eram Scientific Ltd.
  • world’s cheapest unmanned, self-cleaning eToilet with inbuilt solar panel, automatic flush-sensor, and metallic platform for schools.
  • Price ~1 lakh including insurance and warrenty.
Himachal Planning to become the ODF (open defecation free) State by 2019.
Indore
  • Social experiment: School-children given whistle. They can blow it to deter villages defecating in open.
  • Mrunal doubt: but what if there is a Gundaa-type male who beats up the children for ‘disturbing’ him? And then bribes the policemen not to take ‘action’?
Rajasthan
  • Wants to amend Panchayati Raj Act: If a person doesn’t have toilet, he can’t contest local bodies election.
  • If Government employees don’t have toilets, their increments will be withheld. (4 lakh teachers in Rajasthan and 10% of them = 40,000 teachers defecate in the open).
Shipping container
  • Turned to mobile-toilet unit by some filmmaker.
  • Although It came in Hindu but I don’t consider it mains worthy.
Swachh Vidhayala
  • Building toilets in schools. Two methods
  • Interested company/PSU/person can directly built toilets in their chosen school.
  • Or they give money to Swachh Bharat kosh under HRD ministry.
  • From that kosh (fund), union will give money to states, to build toilets @schools.
  • Target: separate toilet for girls within one year, in every school.

Effective sanitation service delivery is critical not only for health outcomes, but also for dignity, livelihoods, safety and security. Elaborate 200 words.

B2: Ganga cleanup

Ganga Cleaning

गंगा सफाई पांच राज्यों की सहभागिता के बिना असंभव

  • Since mid-80s: “Ganga Action Plan (GAP)” but Epicfail.
  • 2008: Ganga declared national river.
  • 2014: Modi’s “Namami Gange” to clean Ganga by 2019.

Can Ganga ever be cleaned?

Yes it can be No it can’t be
  • River Rhine in Europe flows through six countries and yet cleaned. Ganga going only through 5 states.
  • UN experts suggestion- construct barrages between Haridwar to Farakka. They can be opened and closed systematically to wash down the silt, dilute the waste inflow, even permit big-ship navigation.
  • Drinking Water ministry working to make all villages on Ganga banks free from open defecation.
  • NGT should cut down water-electricity of polluting units.
  • 75% municipal waste goes to Ganga.
  • Because most river-bank towns don’t have sewage treatment facility. Will take ~3 years just to setup.
  • Tehri dam and other dams blocking sediments. Ganga’s self-purifying ability hurt.
  • Juntaa’s apathy.
  • State governments of  Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal –  not rising above political differences.
  • Too many heads, lack of coordination. No single man with vision – like E.Sreedharan for Delhi metro. (said SC)
  • If CPCB stops industrial pollutant discharge then 30% of river would be clean. But they take bribes and allow it (said SC).

Ganga Cleanup under Modi-raj

Ganga rejuvenation plan By Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation
Ganga cleanup authority
  • Chairman = PM Modi
  • Vice chairman= Minister of Water resources (Uma Bharati)
  1. Ashes can’t be immesered on shallow banks anymore.
  2. Flowers and coconut offerings will be mesh-trapped=> recycle=>holi colors + compost.
  3. No sewage pipe will have an outlet into the river.
  4. A Ganga Vahini Corps (ex-servicemen + NGOs) to keep vigil.
  5. Ganga ghats will be beautified under River Front Management.
  6. Programmes for afforestation, aquatic life and medical plants.
  7. Cleanup of Ganga and its tributaries under one umbrella.
  8. Ganga Manthan dialogue with stakeholders: spiritual leaders, NGOs, Policy makers, academicians, Environmentalists etc.
  9. Committees setup for sand mining, industrial pollution etc.
  10. Continue analysis of sediments and water quality.
  11. Focus:  ‘aviral dhara’ (uninterrupted flow) and ‘nirmal dhara’ (clean flow) of Ganga.

New hydel projects must follow 3 rules:

  1. Minimum quantum of environmental flow
  2. Longitudinal river connectivity
  3. Aviral dhara- continuous flow from river.

[Block-3] Yearbook type

MoEF: Fast track clearance

  • Ganga basin-5 states: industries to install emission monitoring systems.
  • Border: LAC 100kms, BRO permitted
  • Naxal: forest land 5ht. Convert for public buildings
  • Web portal for file clearance
  • GIS system forest clearance
  • CAMPA bodies (compensatory afforestation), training, awareness

Criticism of fast-track

  • Coal energy production increase=> environment hurt
  • We need 33% forest cover but Border, Naxal area= general approval given=>forest destruction.
  • Green law panel (TSR Subramanium) => further dilution

Biodiversity Management Committee

  • Provided under BD act 2002.
  • 1 chairman, 6 members, 1/3rd of them SC-ST-Women
  • Can demand fees under Nagoya protocol for Biodiversity database assess to private companies.

Limitations

  • Some PRIs yet to setup these bodies. Fear erosion of authority.
  • Forest mafia and officials don’t cooperate, want to rip-off all minor produce themselves.

Misc. Yearbook / national Developments

National Air Quality index

National Air Quality index, launched in 2014, October

Amur Falcon
  • Migratory bird from Siberia to Nagaland land.
  • Killed for meat. But this time more juntaa awareness hence less nuisance.
AQI
  • For juntaa awareness generation against air pollution.
  • Air-quality index. Moniter cities above 10 lakh population. Cover all India after 5 years.
  • Monitor 8 pollutants. Report health impact using a color coded chart.
  • Challenge: faulty instruments report lower pollution. Doesn’t monitor Benezene and other carcinogens. No accountability / conditional safety mechanisms like stopping schools.
Bharat Norms
  • Bharat emission std.= max. pollutant that a vehicle can emit.
  • We are at stage-3 all India and stage4 in selected few cities.
  • Soumitra Committee recommends all India stage4 by 2017.
  • @vehicle mfg. companies=>fit catalytical converter, particulate filter etc.
  • At oil refineries=> remove sulfur, olefin etc. impurities
  • But this requires truckload of cash=> impose Special fuel up gradation CESS.
Biocremation
  • Cremation = using heat to dispose deadbody
  • Biocreamtion = using water+alkali+heat+pressure =>biochemical hydrolysis=>body turned to liquid pulp. Uses less energy than traditional cremation.
  • Legalized in USA and Canada.
Biodiversity informatics
  • Database / information  Management system
  • About flora, fauna, medicinal herb, tribal practices etc.
  • Natural resources can be used efficiently for R&D and global cooperation.
  • India among first countries to Development National BD information outlook.
CSR for wildlife corridors
  • Karnataka state + private companies act=> companies buy land from tribal and transfer land to forest dept for connecting the tiger habitats.
  • It’ll be counted under 2% CSR Expenditure.
  • MacAfee, HP etc MNCs are agreed.
Elephant killer trains
  • W.Bengal Government wants elephant vasectomy to prevent their death by train during crop raids. SC did not like it.
  • Solutions
  • Stop agro encroachment in jungle areas.
  • Strict speed control in jungle area
  • Put Iron fences and Cut tall grass on blind corners
  • Censors to track movement on rail tracks.
  • Forest guards @night patrolling.
Gangotri glacier
  • Is Melting because..
  • Raktvarn, Chaturangi, and Thelu — tributary glaciers of the Gangotri. They’re also melting and placed at a higher altitude than the Gangotri. Moving towards its right => erosion and disintegration.
Gir lions
  • Shift them to MP?
  • Yes? Small area in Gir=> inbreeding, man-animal conflict, can be wiped out in a disaster/disease.
  • No? MP’s gun-culture, 450 tigers killed in a decade, lion-tiger co-existence not advisable.
Green law panel
  • TSR Subramanian, to Review 5 acts:
  • Wildlife (Protection) Act
  • Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act
  • Forest ( Conservation) Act
  • Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act
  • Environment protection Act
IndARC
  • India’s first underwater moored observatory
  • set up in the Kongsfjorden fjord, in Norway near the North Pole
  • Study ocean current, salinity, temperature =>monsoon prediction.
Indira Paryavaran Bhavan
  • India’s first net zero energy building. At Delhi
  • Bamboo-jute composite material for doors.
  • Ceiling tiles with recyclable content
  • UPVC windows.
PM council
  • on climate change
  • Began with UPA
  • Coordinate National Action Plan for Assessment, Adaptation and Mitigation of Climate Change.
  • Chairman: PM + 17 members=18 members.
  • Includes forest minister, foreign minister, agro minister etc. total 13
  • environmentalists like RK Pachauri, other senior journalists and NGO total 4
Polavaram
  • Link Godavari + Kirshna before they reach sea.
  • Store water @Polavaram dam, W.Godawari.
  • 2014: ordinance to handover some Telangana villages to Andhra Pradesh so this project can materialize. Hence protests over misuse of president’s ordinance making power.
Pthalates
  • Used in air-fresheners
  • Toxic, carcinogen, suppress androgenic hormones.
  • USA banned but used in India.
  • Although UPSC unlikely ask specific shortnote on this but it can be used as fodder that so and so stupid thing still allowed in India hence we need better policy/law.
Rhino dehorning
  • Rhino horn: Chinese medicine
  • De-horning in Namibia to stop poaching.
  • Anti-arguments
  • Horn needed for Foraging, fighting, protection
  • Poachers kill hornless-rhinos to stop wasting time tracking their footsteps.
  • Keratin: regrow=> poaching continues.
SAFAR
  • SAFAR: System of Air Quality Forecasting and Research (SAFAR)
  • First installed in Delhi for CWG. Later in Pune
  • Can forcaste airquality 72 hours in advance.
  • + UV index, Air-quality index, city pollution maps.
Zoo reform
  • After white tiger kills mentally ill youth. Case study
  • One guard for each enclosure containing tiger, lion, hyena, jackal and panther. But they had only wireless set and a whistle.
  • Tranquizer guns weren’t loaded and ready-  precious 10-15 minutes wasted.
  • Safety grill wasn’t high enough. Hence that guy climbed up.
  • 24/7 CCTV monitoring. Heavy fines on juntaa pelting stones and junk food.
  • No large trees near walls, else animal may climb out.

[Block-4] Energy related

Chaibagan Timezone

  • Indian standard Time = Allahabad at 82.5 degree longitude
  • but if north-east India follows this timeline, they will see sunrise at 4:30 AM and sunset= ~3:30PM => their offices will have to burn tubelights to run till “office hours” end at ~5PM => higher electricity bill.
  • During British Raj, Assam had a separate Chaibagan timeline. They want similar mechanism (separate timezone) from India.
  • pro: planning commission- separate timeline will save a lot of energy in North East, maximum utilization of sunlight.
  • anti: practical problems in coordinating schedule of railway and airlines. A committee by Department of science and technology says cost: benefit not that great.

Compact Fusion reactor

Who? Lockheed Martin
Fuel?
  • Ultra-dense deuterium. Deuterium is an isotope of hydrogen, found in oceans.
  • Tritium (from natural lithium)
Benefits?
  • No radioactive waste
  • Compact size, Can power a navy ship.
  • Right now navy ships, submarines use large nuke fission reactors=> too heavy, need more service-replacements.

Solar mission revamped

Who? Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE)
Tranche-I 3000 MW
Tranche-II 5000 MW
Tranche-III 7000 MW
Total 15,000 MW renewable energy by 2019, March 31.
Eco Cooker

Eco Cooker benefits

Others Energy related Developments
AERB safety
  • Atomic energy regulatory board
  • Safety guidelines: short term, medium term, long term.
  • Long term deadline = Dec 2015.
Barmer block
  • Thar desert Rajasthan. Cambrian Age basin
  • 1 billion barrels oil recoverable
  • Cairn India discovered.
BHAVINI
  • PSU under DAE
  • Built a PFBR: Prototype Fast breeder reactor @ Kalpakkam, TN.
  • Fuel: uranium Oxide
  • Coolant: Liquid Sodium
Eco-cooker
  • Saves 70% than LPG stove
  • Closed circuit for Heat entrapment, modified burner to regulate gas flow.
  • Ideal for hostels, hotels etc.
Kudankulam
  • 1000 days of protest and 1000MW mark reached.
  • TN has Kudan + Kalpakkam.
  • Kudan uses Russian Voda-Voda reactor (water chool- water moderated)
  • Pressurized light water reactor
  • Visham software used.
  • Supply electricity to TN, Keral, Karn., Pudu
Micro-grid
  • 2-3MW grid that gets power from renewable sources.
  • Can serve 5000 families in remote areas.
  • Model success @USA, should be replicated @India.
Net metering
  • Put solar/wind panel @roof
  • Connect with DISCOM, sell them surplus electricity if any.
  • Meter Bill = incoming minus outgoing electricity. Depending on that either you pay to company or company pays you.
  • Challenge: solar panel expensive. Long gestation before investment recovered.
NSRA
  • Nuke safety regulatory authority
  • Bill in 2011 but lapsed. Wanted to create a nuke safety council with PM as chairman
  • AERB depends on DAE. CAG  says autonomous body necessary.
RAPS-5
  • Rawatbhatta Atomic power station. Continously operated for 765 days.
  • Tech: Pressurized heavy water reactor, by NPCIL.
  • Fuel: natural uranium
  • Cooling and moderator= heavy water.
  • Supplies electricity to Rajasthan, UP, Delhi etc.
Net Metering

Net Metering: Mechanism and Benefits

[Block-5] International

US-China climate deal

  • Paris Conference 2015, will decide post-Kyoto framework.
  • EU already announced deep emission cuts by 2025.
  • Hence US-China had to announce something before Paris- to claim moral high ground and positive media-coverage, hence this treaty.
China USA
World’s largest carbon emitter (29%) 2nd largest (15%)
  • Agreed to reach peak carbon emission in 2030. After that we’ll start reducing carbon emission. (anti-argument: no commitment about quantity).
  • In 2025, we’ll emit 26-28% less carbon than 2005 level.
  • 80% reduction by 2050
20% of energy will be made from renewable sources viz Nuke, solar and wind. —

Both will cooperate in following:

  • Carbon capturing and sequestration (CCS)
  • Smart urbanization
  • Reduce Hydroflorocarbons (HFC) use in fridge and AC.

Indian angle?

  • We hardly emit 8% of world GHG.
  • Can make 18% of total electricity from renewable sources by 2030. (present 6%)
  • Can’t manically pursue clean energy.  If we want to achieve ~9% GDP growth rate- have to rely on the cheap coal power.

Modi targets?

  • 2x wind energy in next 5  years
  • 20,000 MW Solar energy by 2020
  • Doubled the clean energy cess on coal.
  • 1MW solar parks on canal banks, Ultra mega solar projects
  • Coal washeries, super critical coal technology

Other international Developments

Global Apollo program
  • UK brainchild. Want India, USA, EU etc. to join.
  • To Make renewable energy affordable.
  • Membership fees: spent 0.02% of GDP for clean energy.
Montreal
  • Treaty has stopped use of CFCs. Ozone layer finally showing signs of recovery. By 2075, it’ll fully recover @Antarctic.
  • Challenges: Carbon Tetrachloride still found in atmosphere, meaning some third world companies using it illegally. It’s a carcinogenic.
  • CFCs replaced with HFC. HFC don’t harm Ozone but they create Greenhouse effect.
UNEP-FI
  • United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP-FI) and Equator principles. 2005.
  • Banks and financial institutions cannot lend to companies doing environment destruction.
  • 2014: Adani developing coal port at Abbot Point in Australia.
  • HSBC, Citi, Golmand Sach etc. refused to finance this project citing UNEP-FI.
  • Hardly 2-3 Indian lenders such as Yes Bank signed this treaty.
Ballast water
  • Ships fill and dump the sea water in their ballast tanks to rebalance the ship during cargo loading-unloading.
  • This ballast water brings harmful bacteria-virus and hurts fishes.
  • International martime org. formed a convention but most of the sea-faring nations have not ratified it.
HEV
  • Hybrid electrical vehicles
  • Use both petrol and electricity.
  • e.g. Honda’s Acura RLX.
Earth overshoot
  • Celebrated on August 2014 by a global-NGO.
  • Means we exhausted earth’s annual capacity to regenerate within 8 months. Now living off on next year’s quota.
Parafoil drone
  • In China. Basically a generator hanging from parachute
  • Sprinkles chemicals that freeze PM2.5 particles and make’em fall on ground => smog cleared.
Parafoil Drone

Parafoil Drone to clear Smog-Problem in China

Wrong theories: क्योकि गलती से मिस्टेक हो गया
Mantle plumes theory
  • Old Textbook theory: magma gushes through narrow jets (mantle plumes)=>volcano erupts.
  • But New seismology data and basic physics doesn’t accept that such jets actually exist.
  • New theory: There are large, slow, upward-moving lava-mantles. They create volcanoes.
Old
Climate formula
  • Is wrong
  • DDWW: dry gets drier, wet gets wetter only valid for water mass but not land mass.

Epilogue

  • This concludes the [Revision] Series for Mains-2014. No further articles in this series.
  • All the revision notes are archived at Mrunal.org/UPSC#CSE-2014
  • I had plans for doing revision articles on polity, IR but humanly impossible in the given time limit (just 12 days left when I write this).
  • Besides majority of those topics covered neatly and indexed properly at Mrunal.org/Polity and Mrunal.org/Diplomacy respectively.
  • same way History, geography at Mrunal.org/history and  Mrunal.org/GEOGRAPHY.
  • Best Prayers for the serious players, बाकी तो UPSC और भगवान मालिक है, बस इतना याद रहे, एक साथी और भी था.