09 Feb 2023: PIB Summary for UPSC

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. 22 Nuclear Power Reactors Operational in the Country
2. India’s Aviation Sector
3. Greenfield Airports
4. Global Quality Infrastructure Index (GQII)
5. Lahari Bai

1. 22 Nuclear Power Reactors Operational in the Country

Syllabus – GS3, Infrastructure; Energy.

Prelims – Nuclear Power Plants in India.

Context – A quantum jump in India’s nuclear power capacity since 2014.

Details –

• The annual nuclear power generation in the year 2021-22 was 47,112 Million Units which is around a 30-40% increase from the year 2013-14 when the capacity stood at 35,333 Million Units.
  • This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh in the Rajya Sabha.
• A number of initiatives taken by the government has led to a quantum jump in India’s nuclear power capacity. In 2017, approval was given for 11 indigenous Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR) under the Atmanirbhar Bharat package with a total capacity of 7,000 MegaWatts.
  • PHWR is a nuclear power reactor, commonly using unenriched natural uranium as its fuel. It uses heavy water (Deuterium oxide or D2O) as its coolant and moderator.
• The world’s first uranium-based nuclear power plant – ‘Bhavini’ using Uranium-233 is being built at Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu. The experimental Thorium plant ‘Kamini’ is already in Kalpakkam. 
• To augment India’s nuclear power programme, the government started allowing joint ventures with Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) in 2015.
  • As per this decision, NPCIL (Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited) is in two joint ventures – one with Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) and the other with National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC). 

Also read: List of Nuclear Power Plants in India

2. India’s Aviation Sector

Syllabus – GS3, Infrastructure; Airports.

Prelims – NCAP 2016, MRO 2021, AAI

Context – Liberalised FTO (Flying Training Organisation) Guidelines approved to encourage FTOs.

Details –

• India has the 3rd largest domestic aviation market and is one of the fastest-growing aviation markets in the world.
• Liberalised FTO guidelines have been approved wherein the concept of airport royalty (revenue share payment by FTOs to AAI) has been abolished and land rentals have been significantly rationalised to encourage the setting up of FTOs to address the shortage of pilots in the country. 
• The GoI is proactively supporting the aviation sector in the country.
• In 2016, the National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP) was released with a mission to provide safe, secure, affordable and sustainable air travel for passengers and air transport of cargo with access to various parts of the country and the world.
• The government announced new MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) guidelines in September 2021 to create a congenial environment in the country for the development of the MRO industry for helicopters, aircrafts, drones and their engines and other parts.
• Helicopter operation policy was also formulated to encourage helicopter operations creating demand and growth.
• At present, there are 30 international airports in the country.
• The Ministry of Civil Aviation launched Regional Connectivity Scheme – UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) in 2016 to promote regional air connectivity and to make air connectivity affordable to the masses.
• The Airports Authority of India (AAI) and PPP (Public-Private Partnership) Airport Operators have embarked upon a capex plan of more than Rs 98,000 cr. for the upgradation, modernisation and development of various brownfield airports and greenfield airports.

3. Greenfield Airports

Syllabus – GS3, Infrastructure – Airports.

Prelims – Greenfield Airports.

Context – Since 2019, 6 Greenfield airports have been operationalised in India.

Details –

• In 2008, GoI formulated the Greenfield Airports (GFA) Policy which provides detailed guidelines, procedures and steps related to the construction of greenfield airports across the country.
• Greenfield projects are those that are initiated from scratch on undeveloped ground. They do not include the renovation or demolition of an existing building.
• Since 2019, six greenfield airports have been operationalised in the country. They are:
  • Kalaburagi  
  • Orvakal (Kurnool) 
  • Sindhudurg 
  • Itanagar 
  • Kushinagar
  • Mopa
•  Kushinagar and Mopa airports are international airports.

4. Global Quality Infrastructure Index (GQII)

Syllabus – GS3, Economy – Growth & Development.

Prelims – GQII, QCI, QI, BIS

Context – India’s accreditation system – QCI ranked 5th globally; overall quality infrastructure system in the top 10.

Details –

• India’s national accreditation system under the Quality Council of India (QCI) has been ranked 5th in the world in the  Global Quality Infrastructure Index (GQII) 2021.
• India’s overall QI system ranking continues to be in the top 10 at the 10th position, with the standardisation system (under BIS) at 9th and the metrology system (under NPL-CSIR) at the 21st position in the world.
• QI is the technical backbone for international trade, with metrology, standardisation, accreditation and conformity assessment services providing reliability and trust between trading partners.
• In India, the National Physical Laboratory under the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (NPL-CSIR) is the national metrology institute, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is the national standards body and the constituent national accreditation boards under the Quality Council of India support are the custodians of the national accreditation system.

About Global Quality Infrastructure Index (GQII):

• The GQII program is an initiative of the independent consulting firms Mesopartner and Analyticar to research and disseminate data on Quality Infrastructure.
• The GQII ranks 184 economies in the world on the basis of Quality Infrastructure (QI).
• It is an initiative on metrology, standardisation, accreditation and related services, supported by Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Germany.
• A formula calculates a score for each country based on its position in the sub-rankings for metrology, standards and accreditation.
• The 2021 GQII rankings are based on data till the end of December 2021, collected and analysed through 2022.

5. Lahari Bai

Syllabus – Miscellaneous

Prelims – International Year of Millets 2023

Context – Shri Narendra Modi lauded the efforts of Lahari Bai for preserving more than 150 varieties of millet seeds.

Details –

• Lahari Bai is a 27-year-old tribal woman from Dindori, Madhya Pradesh. She has preserved more than 150 varieties of millet seeds thereby becoming the brand ambassador of millets.
• 72 Nations and the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) declared 2023 as the International Year of Millets in 2021.

Read the previous PIB articles here.

February 9th, 2023, PIB:- Download PDF Here