PIB Analysis : 8th & 9th March

PIB Analysis for UPSC CSE

Topics Covered

1. India Cooling Action Plan
2. Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project 
3. UNNATEE (Unlocking NATional Energy Efficiency potential)
4. NARI Shakti Puraskar
5. India Urban Observatiory

1 . India Cooling Action Plan

Context : India is one of the first countries in the world to develop a comprehensive Cooling Action plan which has a long term vision to address the cooling requirement across sectors and lists out actions which can help reduce the cooling demand. Cooling requirement is cross sectoral and an essential part for economic growth and is required across different sectors of the economy such as residential and commercial buildings, cold-chain, refrigeration, transport and industries

About ICAP

• The thrust of the India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP) is to look for synergies in actions for securing both environmental and socio-economic benefits.
• The overarching goal of ICAP is to provide sustainable cooling and thermal comfort for all while securing environmental and socio-economic benefits for the society.
• This will also help in reducing both direct and indirect emissions.
• The India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP) provides an integrated vision towards cooling across sectors encompassing inter alia reduction of cooling demand, refrigerant transition, enhancing energy efficiency and better technology options with a 20 year time horizon.

Objectives

• Reduce cooling demand across sectors by 20% to 25% by 2037-38
• Reduce refrigerant demand by 25% to 30% by 2037-38
• Reduce cooling energy requirements by 25% to 40% by 2037-38
• Recognize “cooling and related areas” as a thrust area of research under national S&T Programme
• Training and certification of 100,000 servicing sector technicians by 2022-23, synergizing with Skill India Mission. These actions will have significant climate benefits.

Benefits

• Thermal comfort for all – provision for cooling for EWS and LIG housing
• Sustainable cooling – low GHG emissions related to cooling
• Doubling Farmers Income – better cold chain infrastructure – better value of produce to farmers, less wastage of produce
• Skilled workforce for better livelihoods and environmental protection
• Make in India – domestic manufacturing of air-conditioning and related cooling equipment’s
• Robust R&D on alternative cooling technologies – to provide push to innovation in cooling sector.

2 . Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project

Context : The World Bank, the Government of India and representatives of 5 States of Government of India and Implementing Agencies signed here in New Delhi today the Loan Agreement for Additional Financing of $137 Million for the Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP) that will help rehabilitate and modernize over 220 selected large dams in the States of Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand. 

Importance of Dams

• India is home to more than 5200 large dams and another 400 that are under construction having a total storage capacity of more than 300 billion cubic meters. 
• Rainfall, which occurs mainly in intense and unpredictable downpours within short monsoon seasons, is of high temporal and spatial variability and does not meet year-round irrigation and other water demands. 
• Considering this, storage of water is essential for India. The dams play a key role in fostering rapid and sustained agricultural and rural growth and development – a key priority for the Government of India since independence. 
• These dams benefit millions of people who rely on their waters for livelihood, and therefore need to be strengthened with more investment in their operations and maintenance.
• Flood protection measures in many dams need to be supported as well, as their failure could pose serious risks to downstream communities. 

About the Project

• The additional funding of $137 million signed today will be used for construction of an additional spillway for Hirakud Dam in Odisha State as well as continue to help in rehabilitation and improvement of other dams including strengthening the institutional, legal and technical framework for dam safety assurance within the Government of India and in the participating States. 

3 . UNNATEE (Unlocking NATional Energy Efficiency potential)

About Unlocking NATional Energy Efficiency potential (UNNATEE)

• Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE)has developed a national strategy document for accelerating energy efficiency in India. The strategy document titled UNNATEE (Unlocking NATional Energy Efficiency potential) describes a plain framework and implementation strategy to establish a clear linkage between energy supply-demand scenarios and energy efficiency opportunities.
• The document offers a comprehensive roadmap to address India’s environmental and climate change mitigation action through energy efficiency measures.
• The document has now been released for larger public consultation and seeking comments/ valuable inputs from all the stakeholders.
• This exercise is first of its kind, clearly delineating the energy efficiency targets for the respective demand sectors upto the state levels. Developing India’s blueprint of effective energy efficiency strategy is a leap towards stimulating energy efficiency ecosystem and enabling reduction of the pressure on demand. PwC India has assisted BEE in executing this assignment. This document has been prepared after extensive discussion with various departments, organisations and authorities.

4 . Energy Labels

Context : Ministry of Power, Government of India expanded its ambitious Standards & Labelling (Star Rating) program for Energy Efficient for Appliances to cover the Microwave Ovens and Washing Machines (with revised parameters) in the country

About Energy Labels

• Energy labels are informative labels affixed to manufactured products to indicate the product’s energy performance. Usually they are in the form of relative rankings of energy performance.
• The energy parameters indicate quantitatively how much energy is consumed by the product or the energy efficiency rating of that product and/or, other related requirements. Energy labels can stand alone or complement energy standards.

Objectives of Standard & Labeling of India

The Objectives of the Standards & Labeling Program are:

• To provide the consumer an informed choice about the energy saving, and thereby the cost saving potential of the labeled household products and other electronics/electrical products.
• To impact the energy savings in the medium and long run.
• To position domestic industry to compete in international markets where norms for energy efficiency in many countries are mandatory.
• S&L in India works on a model in which the permittee provides information related to energy efficiency of the product on the label as prescribed in the respective product regulation, statutory order and/or schedule issued by the Bureau from time to time. A star rating, ranging from 1 to 5 in the ascending order of energy efficiency is provided to products registered with the Bureau. An endorsement label is also provided for some products.
  
• The S & L scheme was launched by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency Govt. of India in May, 2006 and is currently in place for equipments/appliances that include Frost Free Refrigerators, Tubular Fluorescent Lamps, Room Air Conditioners, Direct Cool Refrigerators, Distribution Transformers, Electric Motors, Pump Sets, Ceiling Fans, LPG Stoves, Electric Geysers, Colour TVs and Washing Machines.

Benefits of Energy Labeling

• Enhancement in consumer welfare, as the scheme empower consumers with data on informed choices and encourage selection of the most efficient products.
• Reduction in capital investment for energy supply infrastructure;
• Enhancement in national economic efficiency by reducing energy bills;
• Strengthening competitive markets;
• Meeting climate change goals through reduction of CO2 / GHGs; and
• Averting urban/regional pollution.

5 . NARI Shakti Puraskar

Context : President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind presented the Nari  Shakti Puraskar 2018, the highest civilian honour for women in India, at a special ceremony held in Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi, on International Women’s Day

About the Award

• It is India’s highest civilian award for recognising the achievements and contributions of women
• The awards are given away by the President of India every year on March 8, International Women’s Day at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
• The Nari Shakti Puraskar is conferred on individual women, public and private institutions and public departments for their activism and/ or their contributions to the cause of women’s empowerment.
• The award, instituted in the year 1999 by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India, is given in six institutional categories and two individual categories

6 . India Urban Observatiory

What is Urban Observatory?

• An Urban Observatory platform that uses data from different sources to enable analysis and visualisation over a geospatial platform
• It requires continuous collection and analysis of appropriate urban data that can be envisaged spatially and analysed to obtain various possible types of correlation
• The concept of Urban Observatories was formally initiated at the UN Habitat-II Conference in 1997 in Istanbul.

India Urban Observatory

• The India Urban Observatory is an important component of the recently launched Data Smart Cities strategy that envisions to create a ‘Culture of Data’ in cities, for intelligent use of data in addressing complex urban challenges.
• The conceptualization of the India Urban Observatory recognizes the value of enhancing engagement among all four stakeholders — government, citizens, academia, and industry, along with improvements in the internal workflow and decision-making processes of city governments.
• The India Urban Observatory will become the chief data analysis & Management Hub of the Ministry & would enable evidence-based policy formulation, capacity building of ecosystem partners on data-driven governance & foster innovation.”
• The India Urban Observatory will collect data from various IoT devices and sensors, the Integrated Command & Control Center (ICCC) and other urban indicators and analyze them to generate insights for all stakeholders and city planners.

Data Smart Cities strategy

• The strategy aims to lay down the basic premise, three foundational pillars vis. People, Process, Platform, and a suggested roadmap for cities to improve their readiness for intelligent use of data.
• Making cities ‘DataSmart’ is key to realizing the full potential of technology interventions and innovation ecosystems in cities.
• The DataSmart Cities Strategy also presents a Data Maturity Assessment Framework (DMAF), that measures the readiness and evolution of cities in their efforts to implementing the Data strategy. The assessment of cities as per the DMAF will foster a culture of data and drive innovation in India’s Smart Cities through a spirit of collaboration and healthy competition.