UAE connects first Arab nuclear plant to power grid
Paper:
Mains: General Studies- II: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations.
Why in News:
The United Arab Emirates announced that it has connected its Barakah nuclear power plant to the national grid in a new first for the Arab world.
Significance:
- The milestone follows the successful start-up of the plant’s first reactor and launches the UAE on the road to meeting 25% of its electricity needs from nuclear power.
- the completion of the remaining three units, with the goal to power up to 25% of the UAE’s electricity needs for at least the next 60 years.
Issues:
- The plant on the Gulf coast west of Abu Dhabi had been due to go online in late 2017 but faced a number of delays that officials attributed to safety and regulatory requirements.
- The UAE has substantial oil and gas reserves, but with a power-hungry population of 10 million it has made huge investments in developing clean alternatives, including solar energy.
- Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter plans to build up to 16 nuclear reactors, but the project has yet to materialise.
Background:
- Barakah was built by a consortium led by the Korea Electric Power Corporation at a cost of some $24.4 billion.
- More than 950 kilometers (nearly 600 miles) of 400 kV overhead power lines had to be built to link the plant to the grid.
- The UAE lies just across the Gulf from Iran which has a nuclear power plant of its own outside the coastal city of Bushehr, as well as a controversial uranium enrichment programme.
Centre relaxes norms for PFC, REC to lend to discom
Paper:
Mains: General Studies-III: Technology, Economic Development, Bio diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management
Why in news:
To provide liquidity to the power sector, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved a onetime relaxation to Power Finance Corporation and Rural Electrification Corporation for extending loans to distribution companies (discom) above the limits of working capital cap of 25% of last year’s revenues.
Problems faced by power sector:
- Due to COVID19, the consumption of electricity has fallen.
- Bills are not being paid on time.
- The outbreak of COVID19 and the consequent lockdown had exacerbated liquidity problems for the power sector.
- The energy consumption has decreased substantially
- Power sector liquidity is not expected to improve in the short term, as economic activity and power demand will take some time to pick up.
How this will help discom?
- State discom are facing issues, so to help them PFC and REC have been allowed to give loans above the limit more the 25% working capital limit
- onetime relaxation will help provide liquidity to the power sector and ensure payments by States to discom. There is, thus, an immediate need to infuse liquidity in the sector for continued power supply.
Power Finance Corporation
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd.( F. C.) is an Indian financial institution.
- Established in 1986, it is the financial back bone of Indian Power Sector.
- PFC is India’s largest NBFC and also India’s largest Infrastructure Finance Company.
- The major part of PFC’s funds are raised through Rupee denominated bonds.
- PFC bonds enjoy the highest credit rating in the Indian market and in international markets, they are rated at par with the Indian Sovereign rating.
- PFC is one of the institutions eligible for raising funds through Capital Gain Tax bonds under section 54EC of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
Rural Electrification Corporation Limited
- REC Limited, formerly Rural Electrification Corporation Limited, is a public Infrastructure Finance Company in India’s power sector.
- The company is a Public Sector Undertakingand finances and promotes rural electrification projects across India.
- The company provides loansto Central/ State Sector Power Utilities in the country, State Electricity Boards, Rural Electric Cooperatives, NGOs and Private Power Developers.
- REC is a Navratna Company functioning under the purview of the Ministry of Power.
Various Schemes Associated with Discoms:
Atal Distribution System Improvement Yojana (ADITYA) scheme:
- Atal Distribution System Improvement Yojana (ADITYA) scheme is to help power distribution companies (discoms) pare their losses and effectively monitor electricity consumption.
- The scheme envisages states to approve a roadmap to make discoms viable by switching to prepaid smart meters within three years and also clearing their dues.
- It is to help spur latent power demand, which is key to making the sector viable.
- It is also to specify a trajectory for loss reduction and contain incentives and disincentives for meeting targets.
Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY):
- Government of India launched the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY)in November 2015.
- It was designed to turn around the precarious financial position of state power distribution companies (discoms).
- Discoms are responsible for buying electricity from the generation companies and selling them to consumers.
The Discom losses, which had progressively reduced in the first couple of years (since the inception of UDAY), have rebounded in 2019 to nearly double the losses recorded the previous year.
Serosurvey results in India
Paper:
Mains: General Studies-III: Technology, Economic Development, Bio diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management
Why in News:
- A serological survey in Punehas provided fresh evidence that the spread of Covid-19 in India has been much larger than what is getting detected through confirmatory tests.
- In Pune, more than 51%of those who were tested showed the presence of antibodies specific to the novel coronavirus, suggesting that about half the population of this city of 4 million could have already been infected.
What is the takeaway from the test?
- The serological tests show that a vast majority of the infected people are still being missed out, particularly those who are not showing symptoms.
- A higher number of tests, therefore, has a direct bearing on slowing down the spread of the disease, going by the results of the seroprevalence surveys, the testing capacity would have to be increased several times to make any meaningful difference to the growth of the disease.
Silver lining from the lack of adequate testing:
- Progression towards an infection level where “herd immunity” begins to look plausible, it appears, has been faster than could have been possible if more tests were being conducted and more infected people were getting identified and isolated.
- India has been moving towards immunity at a community level at a faster rate than a capability for greater testing and isolation would have allowed.
Serological Survey:
- A serological survey is conducted to assess the prevalence of a disease in a population.
- It is done by detecting the presence of specific antibodies that are produced against the virus.
- A serological survey includes the IgG Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) test.
- It estimates the proportion of the population exposed to SARS-CoV-2 infection.
27% Central school kids have no phone, laptop to access classes: Study
Paper:
Mains: General Studies- II: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations.
Why in News:
- According to the NCERT Survey findings shared by the Education Ministry, as part of its ‘Students Learning Enhancement Guidelines’, about 33 per cent felt online learning was either “difficult” or “burdensome”.
- The survey, conducted by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), covers 18,188 students studying in CBSE-affiliated schools, Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) and Navodaya Vidyalayas (NVs).
Key details:
- About 27 per cent of students don’t have smartphones and laptops to access online classes amid the Covid school shutdown.
- Among those who do have technology facility, most find online learning either “joyful” or “satisfactory”, although mathematics and science are the toughest to learn.
- The survey found that almost 84 per cent rely on smartphones to access online classes.
- Laptops, are used by about 17 per cent while TV and radio were the least used for online learning.
- According to the survey, about 28 per cent of a total of 35,000 students, teachers, principals and parents cited intermittent and lack of power as a major hindrance.
- Mathematics contains a number of concepts, which require interaction, continuous support, monitoring from the teacher, and these aspects were lacking in the online mode of teaching.
Suggestions given by the Survey report:
- The survey was undertaken by the NCERT to “address the issues related to gaps and/or loss of learning among students, during and after the lockdown”.
- In order to support students with no digital device or limited access to one, the guidelines suggest capacity building of teachers.
- Since textbooks would be the only resource for children with no digital devices, the guidelines suggest that states and Union Territories ensure that they have the full set available at home.
- It also suggests that supplementary learning material, such as workbooks, worksheets, projects, quizzes and puzzles, be delivered to students at home.