TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. SDGs focusing on children 2. Battery Swapping Policy 3. 13th NIA day Celebration 4. Fincluvation
Syllabus: GS I, Society, Population and associated issues, poverty and developmental issues
Prelims: SDGs, NITI Aayog, UNICEF
Mains: Analysing the significance of having multidimensional child related SDGs.
Context: The NITI Aayog has collaborated with UNICEF to develop India’s first report on State of India’s Children: Status and Trends in Multidimensional Child Development.
An Overview of the Initiative:
- A Statement of Intent has been signed between NITI Aayog and UNICEF on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
- This initiative intends to focus on the rights of children in India by formalising a framework of cooperation through the report on State of India’s Children: Status and Trends in Multidimensional Child Development.
- Under this collaborative step, child development priorities are provided with a better understanding through a multidimensional approach consideridering deprivations among children across health and nutrition, education, water, sanitation, household living standards and protective environment.
- The report also aims at analysing the status of children around critical child related SDGs to establish recent trends.
- This initiative is based on the ethos of achieving the SDGs for children with an assurance that no child is left behind.
- The child-focused SDG initiative will monitor the progress of children through the SDG India Index and Dashboard which is data-driven to stimulate policy actions.
The need for child related SDGs:
- It is an essential observation that one in every third person in India is a child below the age of 18, while one in every fifth person is an adolescent between the ages of 10 to 19. With this initiative in place, an engagement with various stakeholders particularly children, adolescents and young people, can be established.
- An emphasis has been given to addressing the impact of the pandemic on children as a vital factor in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Agenda.
- This will be a welcoming effort towards the realisation of India’s commitment to the 2030 agenda and will provide a roadmap for the holistic development of children in India.
Syllabus: GS III, Environment, environmental pollution and degradation
Prelims: COP 26 Summit, Electric Vehicle
Mains: Clean mobility in the transport sector as a sustainable way for India’s transition to renewable energy by 2030.
Context: The NITI Aayog has released a draft battery policy with the objective to decarbonise the transport sector and establish clean mobility
Perspective:
- During the COP 26 Summit at Glasgow, India had expressed its firm determination towards reducing the carbon emissions by 45% taking the non-fossil fuel energy capacity to 500 GW by 2030.
- India has committed to fulfilling 50% of the energy requirement from renewable and clean energy by 2030 with an aspiration of achieving a net-zero emissions target by 2070.
- The road transport sector is the major contributor to carbon dioxide emissions and also contributes to one-third of the particulate matter emissions.
- Therefore, it was necessary to set up an action plan to decarbonise the transport sector.
- Electric mobility is envisaged to offer a viable option to achieve the commitments of reducing carbon emissions and mitigating climate change.
Read about Electric Vehicles in the linked article.
Supporting Initiatives of the Government:
- Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric (Hybrid) Vehicles in India (FAME)
- National Electric Mobility Mission Plan
- Production Linked Incentive for National Programme on Advanced Cell Battery Storage to boost indigenous battery manufacturing capacity.
Read about Advanced Cell Battery Storage in PIB dated 15th Jan, 2022.
The Battery Swapping Policy: Overview
- Under this policy, the discharged batteries are exchanged for charged batteries.
- This will de-link the vehicle and battery (which runs the electric vehicles) and will reduce the upfront cost of these vehicles.
- The policy aims to create a level playing field for innovative and sustainable business models such as ‘Battery as a Service’ adding to the efficiency of the Electric Vehicle ecosystem.
Key Objectives of the Policy:
- Promote Advanced Chemistry Cell Batteries to decouple battery costs from the upfront cost of purchasing EVs, thereby increasing EV adoption.
- Provide flexibility to EV users by battery swapping options as an alternative to charging facilities.
- Enhance interoperability of components within a battery swapping ecosystem without compromising market-led innovation.
- Leverage policy and regulatory levers to reduce the risk of the battery swapping ecosystem and to unlock access to competitive financing.
- Encourage more partnership.
- Promote better lifecycle management of batteries by maximising the use of batteries during their usable lifetime and end of life battery recycling.
The major challenge and the road ahead:
- As India is at the transition stage of the e-mobility revolution, there exist some challenges that can be addressed.
- The upfront cost of the EVs is higher compared to the internal combustion engine (ICE) counterparts.
- Charging of EVs consumes a longer time than refuelling of ICE.
- EVs operate on fixed batteries which can only be charged using a power supply while housed within the EV.
- For the mass adoption of EVs, adequate, affordable, accessible and reliable charging networks are required.
- With the battery swapping policy given effect, the existing issue of long duration charging in the case of e-2Ws and e-3Ws can be resolved as battery swapping is a speedy process and takes minutes to exchange the discharged batteries with pre-charged ones in swapping stations.
Syllabus: GS III, Security, Challenges to internal security – linkages of organised crime with terrorism
Prelims: About NIA
Mains: Role of security agencies in maintaining zero tolerance against terrorism.
Context: The celebration of the 13th National Investigation Agency day commenced in New Delhi to acknowledge the outstanding contributions of the agency in setting the gold standard towards zero tolerance against terrorism.
NIA with 13 years of its existence:
- It has successfully carried out anti-terror operations in the sensitive areas of the country, thereby protecting the interests of our internal security.
- The introduction of UAPA has further strengthened the cause and vision of NIA.
- It has been estimated that about 105 cases of terror funding, 94 charge sheets against 876 accused and more than 700 arrested out of them and 100 accused have been convicted under the aegis of NIA. This has been highlighted as a major achievement.
- The maintenance of internal security is indispensable for the achievement of the ambitious target of a $5 trillion economy and agencies like NIA have been serving the purpose with firm determination.
Read more about NIA in the linked article.
4. Fincluvation
Syllabus: GS III, Economic Development, Inclusive growth and issues arising from it
Prelims: About India Post Payments Bank, Fincluvation
Context: India Post Payments Bank has launched “Ficluvation” on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of Indian Independence and the ongoing Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
What is Fincluvation?
- It is a step in the direction of promoting the FINTECH space in the Global Tech world leading to innovations like UPI and Aadhaar.
- It includes an industry first approach to create a powerful platform to mobilise the start-up community towards building meaningful financial products that aim at financial inclusion.
- Fincluvasion initiative of the India Post Payments Bank, Department of Posts is a trustworthy step to broaden the avenues of service in the network of finance and the techno-functional acumen of start-ups that can deliver enormously to the citizens.
- It will be a permanent platform to co-create inclusive financial solutions.
- It primarily focuses on encouraging start-ups to function in the areas of:
- Creditization through postal networks
- Digitisation – bringing more Digital Payment Technologies and Interoperable Banking Services.
- Any-market led solutions that can help India Post Payments Bank to resolve the issues of their target customers.
Get a comprehensive understanding of India Post Payments Bank in the shared link.
Read previous PIB here.
April 21st, 2022, PIB:- Download PDF Here
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